Kim Kardashian welcomed a baby boy early on Saturday morning.

In a statement on her website kimkardashianwest.com, a representative for the couple wrote: 'Kim Kardashian West and her husband, Kanye West, welcomed the arrival of their son this morning.

'Mother and son are doing well.'

Along with the statement was a picture of the couple holding hands. Such was the flurry of interest that the website briefly crashed under the weight of traffic.

See the latest news from Kim Kardashian after the birth of her and Kanye's son

Big news: The couple announced the birth with a message on Kim's website, kimkardashianwest.com

Happy news: The new parents shared a sweet picture showing them holding hands

Kim's friends and family rushed to offer their congratulations.

Her big sister Kourtney tweeted a simple message, 'baby's breath,' along with a blue heart and praying hands emoticons.

Her mother Kris Jenner also retweeted Kourtney's message, while Kim's twitter account announced 'He's here!'

Younger sister Khloe was one of the first to visit the baby, who was born at the same hospital where the 31-year-old's estranged husband Lamar Odom remains in treatment following his October collapse.

'I know these hospital halls way too well,' tweeted Khloe. 'Hoping from one room to another.'

Family: Khloe Kardashian was seen arriving at the hospital to visit her sister and new nephew on Saturday

Visiting: Khloe's husband Lamar Odom is also receiving treatment at Cedars-Sinai after a drug overdose and coma in October

Auntie: Kourtney Kardashian also tweeted a response to Kim's baby news

Despite arriving three weeks ahead of his due date, the baby was healthy enough to remain at his mother's side, in her luxury hospital suite.

'They both seem excited,' a source told People magazine. 'The baby is doing well, too, and is able to stay in the suite.'

The source added that the new baby had received plenty of attention.

Mom and pops: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, seen on October 20, are the proud parents of a newborn son; they announced the happy news online

'They are receiving a lot of gifts, including baskets and flowers,' wrote People. 'The suite is also decorated with blue balloons.'

Kim had hinted heavily that her son might be about to arrive. On Friday night the 35-year-old posed for a selfie showing her bare bump in her bathroom mirror, captioning it: 'Ready whenever you are lol.'

Kim's baby was due on Christmas Day, which would have made her around 37 weeks pregnant - which is considered full term by medical professionals.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star had made no secret of the fact that she was ready for the pregnancy to be over.

Last bump selfie: On Friday night the 35-year-old posed for a selfie in her bathroom, and captioned it: 'Ready whenever you are lol'

Yesterday she penned a blog post on her subscription based website entitled Body Bounceback.

'A few weeks to go and 60 pounds up!' she wrote in the post.

'I look at other celebrities and Instagram girls who are literally so skinny right after giving birth. How is that possible?!?!'

Kim jokingly added: 'F***, I hope people don't expect that from me, lol!'

New mother: Kim welcomed her son early on Saturday morning

The mother of two-year-old North West also told fans she plans to take her time when it comes to losing the pregnancy weight, and will be 'focused' and enjoy the 'challenge'.

Earlier in the day, Kim shared a selfie with her 53.5 million followers on Instagram, simply captioning it: 'Waiting...'.

During her first pregnancy, the reality TV queen had to give birth five weeks earlier than her due date after her blood pressure spiked.

Proud parents: The couple, seen in September, had been due to welcome their son at Christmas

Kim's second pregnancy had also been classified as high-risk, due to her complicated medical history.

Indeed there was some speculation that she may deliver her son as early as Thanksgiving.

She had also recently had her baby turned from his breech position in the womb in a painful but ultimately successful procedure.

And baby makes four: Kim with her first child, daughter North, two, back in September

Kim's journey to become a mother-of-two was certainly not a simple one.

As viewers of her reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians will know, she struggled to conceive second time round.

Determined to carry her own child - and not use a surrogate - Kim chronicled her efforts to fall pregnant.

'We are trying. We try every single day. You can't try harder than we try,' she told E! adding: 'It's getting exhausting. He always says, "Trying for baby No. 2 isn't as fun as trying to baby No. 1."'

Kim continued: 'But we're literally trying everything that we can to make it happen, so I'm to the point now where it's not as stressful to me. And maybe that's when they say it happens.'

Baby shower: Kim celebrated her new arrival with a Troop Beverly Hills themed party in October

Her attempts proving unsuccessful the reality star approached her doctor, who was seen on camera 'cleaning out' her uterus.

After removing a small portion of what he suspected to be old placenta from her first pregnancy, Kim was given a clean bill of health.

And it worked. Kim announced her pregnancy back in May, via her reality show. She is thought to have undergone in vitro fertilization.

'I just got the blood test back, and I am pregnant!' Kim—who was beaming ear-to-ear—exclaimed to her stunned sister Khloe while on a trip to Armenia.

Kim gave birth to her first child North - Nori, as her family calls her - on June 15, 2013, in Los Angeles - also at Cedars-Sinai.