The Bachelor Nation couple was watching Hannah Brown's finale just before their son's surprise birth!
Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert's new baby boy is definitely a member of Bachelor Nation!
The couple sat down for a chat with ET's Lauren Zima on Wednesday, as they were "resting and adjusting" just one day after they welcomed their second child in surprising fashion. After beginning to feel contractions on Tuesday night, while watching the shocking finale of Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette, Roper gave birth to the couple's son in their closet just a short time later.
"I was just sitting on the couch -- I've been having labor pains for weeks so I didn't think anything of it," the reality star recounted. "Then I felt this pop and my water broke. So we called my midwife, we were timing my contractions. They were six minutes apart... so I knew it was going to be quick..."
"But not this quick!" Tolbert joked.
"The midwife was, like, watch the time, just don't have the baby in the car. she was, like, joking around," Roper continued. "I got in the bath just to relax and we were going to go to the hospital, and all of a sudden it was just like, the labor contractions just sped up and got so intense. I remember walking by the mirror and looking at my face and just the change of my body, the way it looked, I was like, this is serious."
The couple was struggling to get Roper dressed to try and leave for the hospital when they realized that their son was already starting to enter the world. "The moment I realized that we weren't going to make it to the hospital, I was, like, screaming. It took my pain to a whole other level, because it became fear," she recalled, praising her mom, mother-in-law and Tolbert for helping keep her calm.
"He's like, 'We need to get you down the stairs,' and I was like, 'This is not contractions anymore. I need to push. He's coming,'" Roper added of the surprising and scary birth, which the couple says happened "30, 40 minutes after the water broke -- insanely fast." "We were all in the closet, I'm, like, hunched over clenching this bench, Tanner's calling 911 and they got there in six minutes -- they got there so fast. And then two minutes after they got there, he came out."
After their baby was born, they finally made it to the hospital to get mother and son all checked out. Then they returned home for a few hours of sleep and to start adjusting to life as a family of four.
"I feel like he's just always been a part of our family -- it makes so much sense," Roper gushed of their new addition. "The love really does just expand."
The couple, who married in early 2016, also said their almost-2-year-old daughter, Emme, is adjusting well to life as a new big sister.
"She's been great, she's given him little kisses and been real gentle," Tolbert sweetly recounted. "I'm not sure she understands that we're keeping this baby, like, he's gonna be here every day for the rest of her life, but she's been great with him so far."
They even revealed their closet is looking better than expected.
"It's actually in really good shape, my mom stayed home and cleaned up a little bit, but it was surprisingly clean in there," Tolbert said with a laugh. "I was worried for my shoes because Jade decided to give birth on my side of the closet because she didn't want to mess up her own things. But the closet's in good shape."
"Yeah, somehow a whole white closet is intact," Roper added. "I don't know how."
As for their new bundle of joy, who remains nameless for now, could he possibly get a Bachelor Nation-inspired name, after being born on finale night? Chris Harrison Tolbert, perhaps?
"It kind of has to be now, right?" Tolbert joked.
"I've always liked the name Harrison. I've been joking with Tanner my whole pregnancy," Roper added, though her husband was quick to note, "Maybe [as] a middle name. We're still working through that."
The couple was planning to catch up with what they missed on the Bachelorette finale today, in between rest and recovery, and are hoping to introduce their son to their Bachelor Nation pals at Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon's upcoming wedding, health permitting.
"We badly want to go, for sure," Tolbert said. "We have a doctor's appointment with our doctor and midwife and all that, and we're gonna pick their brain and see what they recommend as far as traveling with a newborn."
"I would love to make the wedding," Roper added, "we just have to see if it's logistically possible for our family."
See more on the couple in the video below!
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