Carrie Underwood has recalled the “long hard road” to giving birth to her second child

Carrie – who is also mother to five-year-old Isaiah – endured three miscarriages in between welcoming her two sons, and said in her Instagram post that she had “prayed” for Jacob’s safe arrival.

She wrote alongside a picture of her son when he was newly born: “Jacob, we longed for you. We prayed for you. We walked a long, hard road in order to one day hold you. Today you are two. You are silly and strong. You love to play and sing and follow your big brother around. You are loved. You are cherished. You are an incredible blessing from God. Happy birthday, sweet boy! (sic)”

The ‘Before He Cheats’ hitmaker previously opened up on her experience with miscarriages before Jacob’s birth, when she said she struggled with confronting her feelings of grief.

She said at the time: "I have this amazing life. Like, really, what can I complain about? I can't. I have an incredible husband, incredible friends, an incredible job, an incredible kid. Can I be mad? No... and I got mad.

"Mike was away just for the evening, and I texted him, and I was like, 'I don't really want to be alone, so I'm just gonna go snuggle with Isaiah.’ And I don't know how I didn't wake him up, but I was just sobbing. And I was like, 'Why on Earth do I keep getting pregnant if I can't have a kid? Like, what is this? Shut the door. Like, do something. Either shut the door or let me have a kid.'”

Days later, Carrie said she visited her doctor to "confirm" what she thought would be "another miscarriage”, but was instead told her pregnancy was healthy.

She recalled: "[I told God], 'You heard me.' Not that He hasn't in the past. But maybe, I don't know, He heard me."