Introducing... Hazel Sofia Richards!

And just like that - we are now a family of five!

After a very (very) long wait, I can finally now proudly announce that we have an official fifth member of the Richards/Simmonds clan: (drumroll, please...)

Hazel Sofia Richards.

Freshly born

Though it has a relatively ridiculous amount of pictures, this blog post is really just a short chronicle of the first three days of our life as a family of five.  Part of me was tempted to offer a full-blown account of more salient details of the labour and delivery, but I decided in the end that if anyone is interested in those, you should drop me a line... or better yet, come for a visit!

In a nutshell, however:

- My water broke almost at the drop of midnight on July 10th (12 days overdue, for anyone keeping track). Contractions started pretty much immediately thereafter.

- We had planned and prepared for a home birth, and I was super excited to finally have the opportunity (both Juniper and Linden could have been home births, but the midwifery program had not been completely sorted either time, and home births therefore weren't offered).  When my water broke, however, it was full of meconium, which suddenly turned the delivery into a necessary hospital birth. 

- The labour lasted almost exactly 14 hours.  Hazel was born at 2:01 pm, July 10th.

- Stats: 

Weight: 8 lbs 14oz

Length: 22 inches 

This puts her right in the middle of Juniper (8lbs 2oz) and Linden (9lbs 10oz).  I clearly brew large babies!

- The birth was attended by two of the midwives on my team - first Kelly, and then Katharine; by a fabulous nurse; by Zsofi (my honorary doula, who was also there for Juniper's birth); and of course by Clark.  At the very end, it was also attended by a whole team of specialists, who were there to help guide Hazel and her stuck shoulder out as efficiently as possible (and also to make sure the meconium had had no adverse effects).  It was a zoo!

- Everyone was healthy and happy post-birth, and we were able to go home that evening, which was awesome. Hazel is incredibly strong (she has ridiculous neck control already), is a champion nurser, and is super chill for the most part. Not so much at night, unfortunately, but that will all change in time.  The kids think she's awesome, and are full of kisses and love and songs. 

And that's it!  I'll divide the pictures into days, with a bit of commentary here and there.  Otherwise, prepare yourselves for a LARGE number of (ridiculously cute, imho) newborn shots.  

 DAY 1: At the hospital

Immediately post-birth, with a hilarious little hat that refused to stay on 

Clark holds Hazel for the first time

Oh the outrage of being left alone so unceremoniously! 8 lbs 14 oz.

Zsofi finally gets to hang with Hazel

Snuggling with me.  Have you ever seen a newborn child with so much hair?  

Cherub

Juniper gets to hold her sister for the very first time...

... and then Linden...

... and then Mary

Everyone was pretty smitten

Finally, Clark gets to reclaim her for a bit

 Day 2: Hanging at home

The very first morning: Linden reads "Goodnight Moon" to Hazel.  She was not paying quite as much attention as he would have liked

Mary likes to claim snuggle time as much as humanly possible...

... but sometimes the kids get a turn too!

How cute are these guys?

The three amigos

Look at that personality! I truly think she's an old soul.

Sharing a joke with her dad...

... and then another good laugh about being a pumpkin head

Quick shot with Katharine (my fabulous midwife) on the day 1 home check-in

Day 3: Falling into a rhythm of sorts

It's pretty amazing to see the three of them together

My mom's happy place

Sometimes when you want snuggles, you have to triple up and share

Katharine comes back for the day 3 check-in, and to see how much weight Hazel has lost and recovered post-birth

8 lbs, 12 ounces - almost back to birth weight! Like I said, a nursing champ

The photoshoots: Both kids got to choose an outfit of choice for Hazel (and for them), and then got to hold her for a bunch of photos.  We then decided to take advantage of the glorious afternoon light, and do our first family shots as well.

The superhero holds the beautiful princess

So many kisses! (though I have tried to keep them away from her actual face as much as possible)

Close up on Hazel, who has been pretty consistently finding her thumb when she's in need of a suck. She might just be a genius baby.

Juniper's pick: a little hand-embroidered linen/cotton dress

Proud big sister!

Clark in the hammock swing (no costume change, but beautiful light!)

The family shot...

... and of course, the silly shot!

Happy to be part of the world!

If you hadn't noticed by now, Hazel looks a *little* bit like Juniper did when she was born.  Uncannily so.  For reference:

Juniper, Day 3

Hazel, Day 3

Need I say more?  All right, I'm sure there will be a little urchin demanding some milk very soon, and then begins the nightly struggle of how best to sleep as much as possible.  I'm pretty much planning to just be perpetually tired for the next little while, but I must say that it's balanced at least a little by the amount of newborn cuteness and snuggles that we have all been treated to.

The challenge going forward will be to figure out a way to keep Juniper and Linden properly entertained while simultaneously staying sane, and re-learning how to parent a newborn.  It's still pretty surreal, I have to admit. But I imagine this will be easier to manage than it was with a newborn and a two-year-old (like we did the last time), and I am still riding the high of no longer being pregnant.  Holy crap, it is nice to be past that stage - that was a lonnnngggg haul.

I'm sure there will be many more photos and stories in the days to come, so stay tuned for when I next muster the energy to check back in.  I will leave you with this little note, that we found when we got home from the hospital: