The actress, 38, and husband Jack McManus welcomed their first child last month, after previously confessing they feared they’d never become parents.
Now former EastEnders star Martine has gushed over her baby boy, insisting the journey to parenthood has made it all the sweeter for her and Jack.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, she said: “I have never been so in love, so content and so full of happiness in my life.
“This boy is the love of our lives and I think the fact this didn’t happen easily for us and we faced challenges along the way has made him even more precious.”
When Rafferty was born Martine and Jack were told he had fluid on his lungs, but thankfully he was fine.
She continued: “I used to think, when I heard people say having a child was their most life-changing moment, that they were just saying it because it was the expected thing to say.
“Basically, his lungs were filled with fluid, but we were told that it wasn’t anything to panic about and that he was being taken to the special care baby unit to be monitored.”
The Love Actually star admitted is was hard to be separated from Rafferty so soon after his birth, but she knew instantly he was a fighter.
She added: “When we went to see Rafferty in the incubator, he was already trying to life his head and I thought, ‘You’re going to be just fine, little man’.”