Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins’ family has officially grown again with the arrival of baby No. 5.
“Welcome to the world Brave 🩵💚🩵” Akins wrote via an Instagram post uploaded on Friday, February 27. “Oh. my. goodness. Our hearts are just in a big ole puddle with this precious baby BOY 🩵 🦆🩵⚾️🩵🦌🩵🐟🩵”
Akins shared that their son was born two weeks before the expected due date and praised Rhett for his support in the delivery room.
“Brave Elijah Akins was born last week at almost 10 pounds and almost 2 weeks early-thank you Jesus this big boy didn’t wait another 2 weeks to be born 😍,” the caption continued. “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 concluded, “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 🩵🌙🩵”
Rhett and Akins have been married since October 2012. The couple became first-time parents in May 2017 when they adopted daughter Willa. Akins subsequently gave birth to daughters Ada in August 2017, Lennon in February 2020 and Lillie in November 2021.
Nearly four years later, Rhett and Akins announced via Instagram in August 2025 that they were expecting their fifth baby. In the accompanying video, Rhett sang his 2017 hit “Life Changes” with a notable change to the lyrics about fatherhood.
“Well, I was wrapping my head around being a dad. Big wrench got thrown in the plans that we thought we had. Now Lauren’s showing — got one on the way. That’s — ,” Rhett sang before briefly stopping as Akins held up five fingers, “five under 10. Hey, what can I say? Yeah, life changes. You wake up, ain’t nothing the same. Yeah, life changes.”
Akins then showed off a sonogram, laughing as she looked at Rhett.
“Here we go again!” the pair captioned the post. “We’ve got some really excited big sisters in our house. God is so good.”
Prior to the announcement, Rhett hinted that he and Akins might be done having kids, sharing in his 2024 Us Weekly cover story that they were “both really happy with four.”
“Lillie’s starting school, so we’ve been like giddy little kids saying, ‘What are we going to do with eight hours a day, three days a week?’” he exclusively told Us at the time. “But it wouldn’t be shocking if a fifth [came along] in the next three or four years.”
Rhett also reflected on his experience as a parent, revealing that he wished he could tell his former self to “cherish it” when he first became a father.
“It’s easy to wish away the hard years. [Lauren] calls them the ‘wiping years’ — wiping tears, wiping floors, wiping butts, all of that. I’ve been a dad long enough to know how fast it goes,” he explained. “One day my problems with my kids are going to be a lot different than not wanting to eat broccoli. I’m learning how to live in these moments.”
With a busy career and a big family, Rhett has a lot to juggle when it comes to work-life balance. Ultimately, he hopes to set a good example for his kids.
“No parent wants to hear, ‘Why do you have to leave?’ I had to learn how to retool my answer, so instead of saying, ‘I know, baby, I really don’t want to go,’ I say, ‘I don’t have to leave. I get to because I have the privilege of doing something I love for my job,’” he told Us. “I want them to know it’s possible to do something you love for a living.”
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