Aly Michalka and her husband, Stephen Ringer, are officially parents.
The Aly & AJ singer, 35, and Ringer, 39, welcomed their first baby, son Jack Francis, on April 21 — about two weeks ahead of her due date.
“It was a very peaceful and calm birth, which is really what we were hoping for,” Michalka told People in an interview published on Monday, June 10. “He’s just a great little guy. He’s got a really special disposition about him.”
Michalka gave birth at home with help from a midwife and two doulas after realizing a hospital birth wasn’t for her.
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“It was just wonderful,” added the actress who was in labor for a total of 50 hours. “It was really everything we could imagine it would be.”
Michalka and Ringer looked to their family history for inspiration when choosing their son’s name. Jack was inspired by Michalka’s late maternal grandfather, while Francis came from Ringer’s side. “We just kind of knew immediately like, ‘Oh, yeah, he’s a Jack,’” Michalka told People.
Aly was actually at her sister AJ Michalka’s house when her water broke. The sisters had been working on a new album before Jack’s arrival.
Aly announced her pregnancy in January. “It’s been a really easy pregnancy, which I feel really lucky and blessed to have experienced,” she told People at the time. “It’s been really smooth sailing so far, and I was lucky I didn’t get any nausea at the beginning. I’ve just been just trekking away as usual.”
She found out she was expecting after playing a sold-out show with AJ, 33, at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
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“In another world I could have waited to take a test another day, but for whatever reason I was like, ‘I’m past a week being late, and I should just take the test,’” Aly recalled. “And then it was just like, ‘Oh, my gosh. We play this huge show tonight, and now I’m holding in this huge secret.’”
Aly and Ringer started dating in 2013 after meeting on the set of her movie Sequoia and tied the knot two years later. They waited nearly a decade before trying to start a family, but Aly was always sure that Ringer was the right person to share that journey.
“I can see Stephen being a really great dad, obviously, which I think is a reason why I wanted to have kids with him,” she explained. “He’ll be very tuned in to their feelings and emotions.”
