Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins Celebrate Arrival of First Son, Brave
“Our hearts are just in a big ole puddle with this precious baby BOY.”
Photos Courtesy of Thomas Rhett, Lauren Watkins
It’s a boy! Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins have announced the arrival of their fifth child, Brave Elijah Akins.
The couple shared the news with the world on Friday evening (Feb. 27), a week after their little one came into the world. Their post featured a carousel of adorable newborn photos, and unforgettable family moments captured in the hospital with alongside Their four daughters: Willa Gray (10), Ada James (8) , Lennon Love (6), and Lillie Carolina (4).
This was an especially celebratory day as Brave is the first baby boy to join their family. Lauren revealed that he was born at nearly 10 pounds. She jokingly thanked Jesus for an early delivery and that her “big boy” didn’t want to wait another two weeks to make his arrival.
“Oh. my. goodness. Our hearts are just in a big ole puddle with this precious baby BOY 🩵 🦆🩵⚾️🩵🦌🩵🐟🩵,” she wrote.
The mom of five went on to gush over her biggest supporter throughout it all, Thomas Rhett.
“Thomas Rhett was my biggest champion in labor & delivery🤍 He helped deliver him (😭), was the first one to see and *tearfully*, mixed with a bit of shock announce to us all in the room “It’s a BOY”😭🩵🥰”
She continued, “We are so grateful God chose us to have YOU cutie pie🥰🥰 Your four sisters are smitten and we are completely over the moon in love with you big Brave boy 🩵🌙🩵”
This news dropped just a few weeks after the country star and his dad, Rhett Akins, were set to perform at the Grand Ole Opry for the 2026 Conservation Aid concert on February 11. Due to Lauren going into early labor that day, he announced to the crowd that they would be taking the stage early.
Thomas explained he was very nervous about two things that evening: one, standing in the iconic Opry circle and two, that his fifth baby could be born prior to his due date. So he asked the audience to spare a few prayers as he was likely headed to the hospital after his performance.
For this pregnancy, the couple decided that they would wait to find out their baby’s gender until he or she was born, however it seems that the most popular guess among the people around them was that Lauren was carrying a boy. She and Thomas recently appeared on Annie F. Down’s That Sounds Fun Podcast, where she revealed that this pregnancy did in fact look different than her other three.
“I’m not sick…I’m also carrying a lot different. This is also the first time in my life that I’ve worked out through a pregnancy. So then my sister-in-law, who is well-versed in all things pregnant and baby, and she was like, ‘You’re stronger’…And so that explains that. But what is funny is every time I go into a place, especially our post office here, the sweet lady named Phoebe, every time I walk in, she’s like, ‘alright, turn to the side.’ She’s like, ‘Yep, it’s a boy.’”
Lauren went on to say that “consistently, across the board,” all signs have pointed to it being a boy. In fact, around 14 people, including her own daughter Willa Gray, have also shared that they had dreams that she was having a boy.
“It’s a lot. I mean, I have a list and it’s all about boys. It’s all like ‘I saw you and you had a boy’ and that’s never happened to me before.”
Thomas also joked that he desperately wanted to know the gender but was committed to waiting until the very end. It turns out, all the guesses sent their way turned out to be true.
They shared the exciting news of Lauren’s latest pregnancy on August 26 using a sweet video that found her asking Rhett, “Are you ready, honey?” from behind the camera. She then joined stepping into the frame to join Thomas and showed off her growing baby bump.
As he strums the guitar, Lauren reveals her ultrasound photos with a big smile.
They captioned the clip, “Here we go again! We’ve got some really excited big sisters in our house. God is so good.”
At the top of the year they also welcomed their second of two new puppies into their home: Nero and Moose. Their new four-legged friends joined their family after the heartbreaking loss of their two beloved dogs, Kona and Cash. The “Old Tricks” singer admitted the pain of losing the pets was too much to handle, and he knew they needed to fill the void quickly.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my life. I’ve not lost many people in my life…but when we lost our lab Cash, I mean, I was hunched over wailing in the yard,” he shared with Annie F. Downs. “I was like, we’re getting another one today. I’m that guy, I’m like let’s just get some rebound dogs.”
So technically, the Rhett household is now a family of nine, with the addition of their fifth child and newest furry friends.
Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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