Amidst all the controversy surrounding the final days of her pregnancy, actress Katie Holmes, 27, welcomed her first child into the world this morning (April 18).

Her fiance, actor Tom Cruise, 43, was present during the birth, which was a "silent birth" held according to the Scientology ways the couple follows. In an interview with Diane Sawyer last Friday, Cruise cleared up exactly what "silent" referred to when he said it just meant that people around the mother needed to be as quiet as possible during the birthing process, not that Holmes herself needed to be completely quiet.

"It's basically respecting the mother," Cruise said on the "Primetime Live" segment. "She does what she's got to do. If she needs medicine, if she needs an epidural, fine. She gets it. She can make noise. Why have others make noise?"

People Magazine first broke the news of the birth this morning, but by the afternoon a rep for Cruise issued the following statement:

"The child weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 inches in length. Both mother and daughter are doing well."

The statement went on to say the happy couple named their daughter Suri. According to several sources, the name is Hebrew for "Princess," though the rep noted it also meant "red rose" in Persian. Cruise alluded to the choice of name during the Sawyer interview stating, "We were given a book and we opened it, and there it was."

The young lady is Cruise's third child; he has two older children, whom he adopted with his second wife, actress Nicole Kidman. The two divorced in 2001 and now amicably share joint custody of Connor, 11, and Isabella, 13.

Holmes' entire pregnancy was high profile from the start. Just six months after the couple declared they were dating, they were already engaged and announcing her pregnancy. Much speculation has also been made about the role Scientology will play in the baby's upbringing, which Cruise also discussed in the interview with Sawyer. He stated that the child will be brought up as a Scientologist, and even though Holmes was brought up a Catholic, there will be no Catholic baptism.

"I mean you can be Catholic and be a Scientologist. You can be Jewish and be a Scientologist. But we're just Scientologists," Cruise explained.

The couple have yet to set a date for marriage, preferring to concentrate solely on the pregnancy. However in previous interviews, Cruise has said they were discussing a late summer/early fall 2006 wedding.

Holmes is currently starring in the critically-acclaimed comedic satire, Thank You For Not Smoking, now playing in theaters.

Cruise begins press jaunts tomorrow for his upcoming blockbuster film, Mission Impossible 3, due in theaters May 5.

We at BellaOnline send our best wishes to the happy couple on their new addition!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------