'Blue Bloods' Star Welcomes Baby Boy: See the First Pic

Vanessa Ray, Will Estes

Blue Bloods star Vanessa Ray, who plays Officer Eddie Janko, and real-life husband Landon Beard have adopted a baby boy—and it was working on the police drama that influenced her decision to start a family by adding son Isaac Ray Beard, who was born on Nov. 7.

"My husband and I weren't totally sure if we were going to have kids, at what point in our life that made sense and all those things," Ray told People, who says she was moved while filming. "I was at work one day, honestly I was about to do a family dinner and I just had this overwhelming sensation of family and what I love about our life and all of these things."

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So, the actress picked up the phone, crying, and told her husband, "I think we're supposed to be parents" and 'I think we're supposed to adopt.'"

The magazine goes on to say that one of the first people Ray told about the choice was her Blue Bloods co-star Bridget Moynahan, who suggested that Ray talk to Peter Hermann, who plays Moynahan’s ex Jack Boyle, because Hermann, along with wife Mariska Hargitay, had gone through the adoption procedure not once, but twice.

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"Graciously, he really held our hand and walked us through everything that we would need to know about adoption," Ray said. "It's a lot of first dates almost. It almost feels like there's a ton of heartbreak that comes along with it."

The adoption process isn’t easy and Ray and Beard began the process of hiring an adoption attorney and filling out the reams of necessary paperwork. And unlike a lot of adoptions that can take years for the adoptive parents to be selected, Ray and her husband posted their request on an adoption website and in less than a week were matched with a potential birth mother, who gave birth three weeks later.

Because it happened so quickly, Ray didn’t have the nursery ready, but she credits her friends with helping her pull together the necessities like a crib, bottles, a sterilizer and diapers.

"We had everything that we needed from our friends,” Ray told People. “We didn't have to buy anything. We really didn't right away, at least for the first three months."

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Since Issac was born just before the strike ended, his mom has since taken him to the set.

"He's met Will [Estes] and Bridget and Donnie [Wahlberg] and Marisa [Ramirez] and Tom [Selleck], and yeah, he's met everybody," Ray says "He's already a real part of the family."

Blue Bloods airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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