Pictures: Robert Trathen, Racheal Trail Photography.
After a lightning-quick labour with her firstborn Harry, Erin Simpson always knew her second baby might come in a hurry too. Yet nothing could have prepared the TV star and her husband Zac Franich for just how speedy their little boy Harley was, aptly arriving on Labour Day just moments after his mum and dad made it to the hospital.
“Every red light was a nightmare,” tells Erin as she introduces her beautiful baby boy. “I was in the backseat, with one hand up against the window and the other against the seat while Zac drove like a maniac. I really thought he was going to be born on the side of the road.”
It might have been a panicked start, but 12 weeks on, all is calm at Erin and Zac’s Auckland home. Harry is down for his lunchtime nap and Erin is feeding baby Harley on the couch, while former The Bachelor New Zealand star Zac, 35, tidies up around her.
Erin admits she’s barely left the house since their beautiful baby boy was born and juggling a toddler with a newborn isn’t for the faint- hearted. But welcoming their second little lad has brought the couple, who married five years ago, the greatest joy.
At 42, Erin never took it for granted that she would fall pregnant again after having Harry two years ago, so Harley’s arrival feels all the more special.
“Our family is complete now and I really couldn’t be more grateful to have two healthy little boys,” she shares. “They’re my whole world.”
The couple smile as they recall the day their second baby boy made his hurried entrance. Erin had been booked in for an induction on her due date of 31 October because doctors considered her pregnancy high risk due to a low-lying placenta. However, on the 28th, she woke up with a stomach ache. Putting it down to her coeliac disease, which causes frequent cramping, she went about her day, took a trip to the supermarket and spent time with Harry and Zac. But at lunchtime, she realised her pains felt like contractions.
She recalls, “I was bending over the sink thinking, ‘Oh, my God, it’s happening’. I was in so much pain.”
While Erin’s mum Sue was planning to be at Erin’s side for the birth, she was in Whitianga at the family beach house for the long weekend, so Erin knew there was no point letting her know what was going on.
Instead, she phoned the midwife, who advised her to get to hospital. Then a babysitter, who was half an hour away. “I was doing the maths, thinking it’s 30 minutes till she gets here and then a 30 minute drive. I knew it was touch and go.”
By the time they set off, things were really ramping up. The couple pulled up in front of North Shore Hospital at 2pm, where a midwife met them with a wheelchair. Just 20 minutes later, their bonny baby boy was born.
Says Erin, “I remember looking at the clock when I got into the delivery room. It said 2pm, then the next thing I knew, I had a baby in my arms! It all happened so fast, I think I went into shock. Harry was fast too, but nothing like this.”
But seeing their newest baby, whose sex they’d kept as a surprise, was overwhelmingly emotional. Erin says a huge surge of relief hit her when he cried moments after his arrival.
“You carry that anxiety the whole time you’re pregnant, so to know you have a healthy baby is the greatest feeling ever,” she enthuses. “And we’re so happy to have another little boy.”
Erin says she knew her mum would have panicked, and driven home from the beach stressed and upset if she’d known about the birth. So instead, she and Zac waited till Harley was two days old to share the news as a surprise. Erin later posted on social media the video of the heart-warming moment Sue arrived to find her newest grandson already born and has been amazed by the reaction (click the video below to watch).
“That video has gone viral,” she says. “It had 23 million views! Everyone around the world was like, ‘This is the best mum ever! She’s hugging her child before she hugs her grandbaby’. She just couldn’t believe he was here already.”
While Erin was nervous about how her precious firstborn would cope with a baby in the house, sweet-natured Harry has blown her and Zac away. From the moment he laid eyes on his little brother, he’s been besotted.
“I was expecting some tantrums and jealousy, but it’s been the polar opposite,” tells Erin. “As soon as the baby starts crying, he pushes me towards him, like, ‘Mum, go help the baby’. He’s forever asking if the baby needs milk, and he takes the dummy to the baby, rocks him, and gives him kisses and cuddles.”
Erin is refreshingly honest about the realities of life with two small children. She admits that amidst the joy and love, there have been some tough moments. One of those was when Harry fell at home and knocked out his front tooth.
“Poor boy, he’s going to have a gap now until his adult tooth comes along!” she tells.
And on the nights when Zac, who is general manager at Surf Life Saving Northern Region, is working late, Erin finds herself at a loss when it comes to getting both boys to sleep at the same time.
“I haven’t figured out the nights I’m on my own because they both need one-on-one time,” says Erin. “There have been a few times where it’s ended with me crying and Harry still awake at 9pm.”
But she credits Zac for getting her through. She says he’s a deeply supportive husband and a “beautiful, devoted dad” who lives for his kids. And Zac can hardly contain his emotion when it comes to seeing Erin with their boys. While she has always maintained she’s not a maternal person, he says she’s the best mother in the world.
“Erin is incredible,” he gushes. “Seeing her give birth and watching her be the most amazing mother, it’s an indescribable feeling. I always tell Erin she’s made all my dreams come true. Every single day, I feel grateful for how lucky we are.”
And they’re excited about watching their sons grow and take on the world together.
Says Erin, “They’re both amazing little boys. If we can guide them in the right way and be there for them, that’s all we can ask, really. We want to give them the best chance and the best life we can.”
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