Hazel Grace Taylor

When I agreed to take Violet to school and watch Lincoln while Melissa and Jamie went to Melissa's weekly doctor appointment, I never dreamed my babysitting gig would last over 12 hours.

My day started with dropping Violet off at school.

Lincoln and I went back to the house so he could play until the doctor appointment was over. Around 11:00, I was giving Melissa and Jamie 20 more minutes before Lincoln and I headed out to McDonald's - we were both getting a little hangry!

Plans changed again just as Melissa and Jamie got home. We still got to go to McDonald's but then Jamie took Lincoln to go play at the park and get haircuts while I took Melissa to the hospital to have a baby. She wasn't fully in labor but her doctor thought it might be a good idea for her to be induced. She'd been having slight, hard, irregular contractions for a couple of weeks.

After Melissa got settled in her bed and contraction and heart rate monitors in place, one of the worst experiences of my life happened. The baby's heart rate dropped dangerously low and in a matter of seconds, the room was filled with, I swear, every nurse and aide in the hospital. I was practically hiding in a corner under a table trying hard not to scream yet trying to stay calm so they wouldn't throw me out of the room. Things quickly changed for the better and the heart rate came back up. The only explanation the nurse could give was either the baby was grabbing the cord or between Melissa and the baby, they were both crushing the cord. Or maybe some other explanation that I can't remember. I quickly called Jamie to come back to the hospital just in case it happened again. This just proves I'm extremely useless in an emergency.

As it was close to Violet getting out of school, I took Lincoln and went to get Violet. Violet was so excited to hear she was going to see her baby sister that day. But not that excited that we couldn't stop at Menchies (her favorite frozen yogurt place) for a quick snack.

We headed back to the hospital and after a round of hugs for Melissa, the kids settled down to play while we waited for baby Hazel to arrive.

In the meantime, Melissa started complaining of pains in the booty area so she called in the nurse. It was time for baby Hazel to enter this world. I literally had minutes to gather up the kids and their toys and head to the waiting room. But not before Melissa could get one last shot of their family of four.

Six minutes later, Jamie sent me this picture of Hazel. SIX MINUTES!

This is Jamie cutting the cord. I think he would have preferred his pocket knife but the hospital staff made him use their scissors.

Hazel was born at 5:35 pm, weighed 8 lbs 1.5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She beat Violet in weight by 2.5 ounces.

It was finally time for Violet and Lincoln to meet their new baby sister. As you can see, they love her.

Even Michael was able to slip away a little early from work to meet baby Hazel.

Melissa may have delivered a baby today but look at her. She looks like it was nothing.

Me, on the other hand, after watching Lincoln (a three year old) all day and Violet (an anxious 6 year old) before and after school, I look like I've been run over by a truck. So which job do you think is harder? I'm so glad Hazel is here. It's one more thing I can check off my list of things to do!