Hafthor Bjornsson and Kelsey Henson Celebrate Their Son’s Birth

2020 has been quite the year for Hafthor Bjornsson. His professional life has included him winning his third consecutive Arnold Strongman Classic title, setting a historic world record by deadlifting 501 kg (1,104 pounds), agree to a 2021 fight with Eddie Hall, and win his 10th consecutive Iceland’s Strongest Man championship. He followed the latter achievement by announcing his retirement from strongman competition. He also has been very busy away from the competitive environment. Bjornsson has been involved with a film project, vlogging his training on YouTube, and is also very active on Twitch.

His personal life has now seen another major moment. Bjornsson and his wife, Kelsey Henson, have officially announced the birth of their first child as a couple. The baby boy was born on September 26th at 11:19 AM local time. It’s Bjornsson’s second child, as he also has a daughter from a prior relationship. Bjornsson made the news public on his Instagram account on September 27th. Along with a variety of photos, he shared a summary of how the entire day went.

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26.09.2020 . 6am Kelsey woke me up telling me she had been losing her water, I immediately jumped out of bed and said alright let’s go, she stayed calm and replied with a laugh and said, no we are not going yet. I then asked to call our midwives to which she replied again no let’s just wait for awhile. . 7:15am we call our friend to come photograph the labour, the midwife and doula. Once the midwife arrived she checked out the progress and we were surprised to learn Kelsey was already 5cm dilated. The midwife asked if she was ready to go to the birthing centre or wanted to try out that bath at home and Kelsey, still remaining calm, decided to try the bath at home. While I was filling up the bath things started escalating quickly, the contractions were much stronger lasting over a minute and were anywhere from 2-3 min apart. The midwife then said she thought we should head to the clinic and finally Kelsey agreed it was time. . 8:40am. We arrived at the Björkin, the birthing centre, after a quick 10 min drive. Right away Kelsey knew exactly what she wanted and asked how long until the birthing pool would be filled. The next fifteen minutes Kelsey paced around between contractions waiting for the tub to be filled. . 9:00am She was in the tub and immediately started to push. Things escalated super quickly. Throughout it all she did amazing. She was in complete control of her mind and body. She had strong opinions on exactly what she wanted and where she wanted to be. I am completely in awe of how strong she is, and so proud of her for everything she did to prepare herself throughout her pregnancy. It cannot be put into words how proud I am and how I feel about this experience. . 11:19am After an extremely hard 2 hours and 19 mins of pushing our healthy, strong, beautiful boy arrived weighing 3530 grams, 52 cm long. . To finish the most beautiful, awe inspiring labour was the most wonderful phone call to my daughter to introduce her to her new little brother ❤️ . 5:30pm We arrive back at home both mom and baby doing super well and spent our first night as three together. . We have decided on a name and cannot wait to share it with you all soon.

A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson) on Sep 27, 2020 at 2:38pm PDT

The child’s name was not made public, but he weighed 7.78 pounds and was measured at slightly over 20 inches long. Bjornsson did say that they have already spent their first night together as a group of three and everyone involved is healthy. The mother shared the news on her own social media as well.

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Our beautiful baby boy made his grand entrance into the world at 11:19 AM on September 26th 2020 after a short and intense six hours. 3530 grams and 52 cm. The birth was the most powerful, life changing, empowering thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. We are all doing well and settling in at home as three! ❤️ . Full birth story on @uncensoredmommy

A post shared by Kelsey Henson (@kelc33) on Sep 27, 2020 at 2:38pm PDT

“Our beautiful baby boy made his grand entrance into the world at 11:19 AM on September 26th 2020 after a short and intense six hours. 3530 grams and 52 cm. The birth was the most powerful, life changing, empowering thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. We are all doing well and settling in at home as three!”
Many of his fellow strongmen and contemporaries have joined in on the celebration by offering well wishes.

“HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!” – Martins Licis
“Congratulations guys! Awesome news. Big love to you all.” – Luke Stoltman
“Aww that’s amazing!!! Congrats and welcome to the world to this little one.” – Jon Ball a.k.a. “Jujimufu”
“I’m so happy for you guys. Congratulations.” – Sebastien Oreb
“Congratulations you guys!” – Nathalie Emmanuel, Game of Thrones Co-Star

Everyone at BarBend congratulates Hafthor and Kelsey on the arrival of their son.Featured Image:

Instagram/thorbjornsson