GH Alum Josh Murray Welcomes Son After Wife’s Marathon Labor

In the late summer and early fall of 2021, actor Josh Murray recurred on General Hospital as Russel, a Cassadine guard who was helping keep Drew hostage. The actor’s run may have been brief but he caught the eye of many fans who wanted to see more of both the performer and his Australian character. Russel wasn’t on long enough to find out if he had familial ties to anyone in Port Charles, but Murray’s family is expanding in real life.

Josh Murray: Catherine the Great

Earlier this week, on February 12, Murray and his wife Catherine welcomed their first child, a son, Ethan James. He weighed in at a wopping 10 pounds 9 ounces and measured 22 inches long. Murray praised his wife for enduring a challenging delivery.

“After approximately 43 weeks of pregnancy, 5 days of labor, and 7 hours of pushing, we finally met our son,” Murray posted on Instagram. “He is his own special story, but first I want to publicly honor the extraordinary woman that chose to spend her life with me.

“So we had planned all along to deliver in the comfort and safety of our home with a licensed midwife, completely naturally, to give our child the healthiest start possible,” the actor continued. “But due to state laws, we had to deliver at a hospital as we exceeded the cutoff time for late-term pregnancies. When we got to the hospital, the doctor repeatedly misdiagnosed her dilation and, unfortunately, he and the staff pressured her to try and push the baby out prematurely, which led to a grueling and traumatic 36 hours more of (mostly sleepless) labor and escalating interventions we reluctantly accepted. Throughout it all, we firmly held on to faith that there would be no C-section or other surgical procedures.

“Seeing Catherine slumped on the floor of the shower, shaking uncontrollably in a puddle of exhaustion and agony, asking me to make it stop was so hard to see for even an hour, but her having to continue to suffer through the labor in uncertainty with warnings from the medical staff about our chances of success all day and night again before even beginning delivery was grueling,” Murray revealed. “And having no guarantee if or when there would be an end in sight was so disheartening. She had a couple of dark nights of the soul where it felt like her body was failing, and she simply couldn’t go on.

“But by God’s grace and the support of a great many prayers, she endured until the victory,” Murray concludes. “And she gave birth to a boy 10 pounds 9 ounces without so much as a stitch, tear, or stretch mark! Catherine isn’t a tough person, she is sensitive yet strong. And I got to see her truly step into how strong she is in faith, meekness and sacrificial love the past few days. I love you, Catherine, and I am ever proud of you, baby.”

In a follow-up post, Murray explained why the name Ethan James was chosen. “I’ve always liked the name Ethan since I read about the early American hero and his Green Mountain Boys growing up,” the actor shared. “It is also the title character in my dad’s first action film script. And James is a family name for Catherine.

“Catherine and I had a hunch it would be a boy and were considering the name in advance but were waiting to meet baby first before deciding,” the proud family man adds. “After all we went through to deliver him, we decided it was definitely an apt description. After our long and harrowing labor experience, the moment they pulled Ethan out of her womb and placed him on Catherine’s stomach, he opened his eyes, lifted his head up to her all on his own, and smiled. May he always Endure with such resilience.”

Soap Hub congratulates the new parents on their bundle of joy.