Erin and zac 'HARRISON'S THE BEST PRESENT EVER'

His arrival was hasty, but the celebrity couple couldn't be happier with their new bub

Erin Simpson had always imagined ringing in her 40th birthday in Las Vegas. There'd be E Champagne, dancing, and all her friends and family. As it turned out, her milestone day couldn't have been more different she and her husband Zac Franich were instead quietly settling into life as a family of three after welcoming their bonny baby boy Harrison Trevor several days earlier.

"My 40th was very different to what I'd imagined when I was younger, but totally lovely because I got the most epic present ever," beams Erin, her baby sleeping in her arms. "I wouldn't have called myself maternal before, but the love I have for this little guy has just blown me away. It's incredible."

Harrison was born at Auckland's Waitakere Hospital at 7.30 pm on 10 June. The couple, who met after Zac, 33, found fame on The Bachelor NZ back in 2017, smile as they tell their birth story, both still slightly amazed by their little man's hasty arrival. While influencer and broadcaster Erin had been happy waiting for her baby to come in his own time, a scan at 40 weeks detected a reduction in amniotic fluid.

"I remember the radiographer saying, 'Things are going to happen quite quickly now," recalls Zac. "I started to panic a bit."

Erin was told to go to the hospital the following morning to be induced. They were thrilled to learn that under COVID restrictions, Erin's mum Suzie was able to be at the birth too, so the trio converged on the labour wing the next morning, full of excitement that they would soon meet the newest member of the whanau. After taking the first few doses of induction medication, nothing happened for several hours, but by late afternoon, Erin was experiencing contractions. Although when she tried to tell Zac she was in labour, he didn't believe her!