'American Idol' alumni Scotty McCreery has become a father.
Scotty McCreery and Gabi have been married since 2018
The country music star and his wife Gabi welcomed a healthy baby boy named Merrick 'Avery' McCreery into the world on Monday (24.10.22), 11 days before the tot's due date.
Alongside a series of snaps from the hospital, the new dad gushed on Instagram: “Never known a love like this. Merrick ‘Avery’ McCreery joined us 11 days early on October 24th at 4:34am! 7 lbs 13oz of nothin but love.
”Thank yall for all of your prayers during this exciting season of life! Healthy baby and a healthy mama! Praise God."
The 29-year-old singer has been married to nurse Gabi since 2018, and upon announcing the pregnancy in June, he said "now feels like a good time to settle down".
He said: "We got a little man on the way! We always knew we wanted kids, but we always knew we wanted the first few years to travel and have time on the road, to see things and experience life. We've gotten to live a lot of life and do some cool things, so seems like now's a good time to settle down a little and expand the family."
The 'Damn Strait' hitmaker - who shot to fame when he won 'American Idol' back in 2011 - went on to explain that he initially suspected that the baby would be a girl because of their combined family histories but it was a "nice surprise" to find out otherwise and he's excited to teach his son sports.
He told PEOPLE at the time: "I was the only boy on both sides of my family, the last McCreery boy out there. Gabi's from two sisters in her family, so I just figured it would be a girl. But we got a surprise of a boy! We would've been stoked with either but I grew up playing sports, so getting to introduce him to baseball, which was my first love right there with music, and golf are just little things that [will be great]!"
Gabi claimed her career as a nurse has "definitely prepared" her for motherhood.
She said: "Being a nurse definitely has shown me the ropes a little bit. Even just down to changing diapers multiple times in a day, and figuring out how to soothe the baby when they're upset, for sure has helped. I definitely feel like it's prepared me in many ways."