EastEnders actress Kellie Bright has revealed that she feels her family is now complete following the birth of her third child.
Kellie and her husband Paul Stocker welcomed their baby son, Rudy Joy, in July following IVF treatment.
Kellie, who plays Linda Carter on the soap, told The Mirror that now that little Rudy has joined his brothers, 9-year-old Freddy and 4-year-old Gene, she couldn't be happier with her family.
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"I'm so tired, but it's been amazing," she said. "I'm trying to savour every bit as these first few weeks are so precious and this is definitely my last! I'm sure your body makes you forget how hard the first few weeks are and what that sleep deprivation is like. It's like nothing else!"
The actress added that she "really didn't mind" whether she had a boy or a girl the third time round, as all that she cared about was her baby's health.
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"We didn't have a third child because we wanted a girl and in the back of our minds we expected another boy," she said. "The main thing was that he was healthy.
"I very much have the philosophy that because of the way we've had our children – going through IVF and the frozen embryo transfer – they are really meant to be here. Rudy is no exception and if anything I feel it more so with him because of his journey to get here.
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"He was the last remaining embryo and the one that made it. For whatever reason, I'm meant to bring up boys."
Kellie also spoke about the experience of having a baby in her mid-40s, saying that she knew that she wasn't ready to stop having children just yet.
"I know it's not for everyone and there's millions of women my age thinking, 'God I wouldn't want to go back to that.' But for me, I just never had that feeling of being done with having children," she said.
"It's a really special and unique thing. I do feel very lucky I've got to experience it again. But now, 100%, I feel the family is complete."
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Kellie is currently on maternity leave and has left Albert Square behind for a while, but that certainly doesn't mean that she hasn't been in contact with her EastEnders co-stars since welcoming Rudy.
"They've been really lovely," she said. "I have a WhatsApp group with my television family and I've sent pictures. I've spoken to Danny Dyer (Mick Carter) and Maddy Hill (Nancy Carter) and had texts from Linda Henry (Shirley Carter) and Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts), who I'm good friends with.
"They don't feel like colleagues as I've been with them for eight years, so they're like family to me. I haven't introduced Rudy to any of them yet – that will be starting very soon!"
EastEnders airs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One.
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