Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Nicole Richie, 26, and daughter Harlow Winter Kate, 7 weeks on Friday, are featured on the latest issue of People, available nationwide on Friday. Inside the issue, Nicole and Good Charlotte's Joel Madden, 28, talk about parenthood, address questions about her body, why they chose the name they did, who their daughter looks like, and more.

After Joel warms a bottle of breast milk and settles down with Harlow for her evening feeding -- stopping to burp every two ounces! -- the couple chats with People while Harlow sleeps on Joel's chest.

Looking back a year ago:

J: [Parenthood] was not in the plans. But it's the best thing that's ever happened to us. It was a gift from God. It was a big surprise but neither one of us even skipped a beat.

N: Yeah, it was never like a bad thing. It's weird -- even though we had only been together a few months, we had lightly talked about having a family. I think we always knew.

J: We just get each other. We're both laid-back people. It's never been a job to be in this relationship.

How Nicole told Joel she was pregnant:

N: I picked a really bad time! I couldn't hold it in. He was flying from Japan to Europe, so right before he gets on a 16-hour flight I was like, "I have to tell you something."

On the pregnancy:


N: I didn't have morning sickness, and I was waiting for it. I was tired a lot but that was really the only thing. And according to [Joel], my hormones were really bad.

J: Nicole is really laid-back. You can tell her anything and she's like, "Whatever." And that was the first time I'd seen her get worked up. I'd be like, "Whoa, this is not the girl that I know." Like, if I was late -- which is usually no big deal -- it was like, "Where were you? You know that I've been waiting here, you couldn't even think to call?" It was cute.

On cravings:


N: Nothing really crazy. I would eat breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast.

J: She never liked chocolate, and now she likes chocolate.

N: Yeah, I've always been a cheese/salt person.

On the labor and delivery:

J: The whole pregnancy -- the whole thing was easy. Well, I'm not saying the birth was easy for you.

N: It actually was! I just didn't feel well [when I was going into labor].

J: She was like, "I think it's going to be soon, so let's go while it's 2 a.m." So we snuck into the hospital [on Thursday night]...

N: And we just settled until I had the baby [on Friday night]. It was really mellow. I don't know [how long I was in labor], because I don't know what time I actually went into labor, but I pushed for 10 minutes. Three pushes and she was out.

J: She came out and she was crying. The doctor goes, 'Well, it looks like you got a little girl!'

N: I cried right away.

J: Right when she came out, you know that cry that's like an internal cry where you shake a little bit? [To Harlow] You made me cry!

N: She came out, and I just knew she looked like me, and I was holding her, and it was something that was so much bigger than me. Now she looks a little more like Joel, but when she was born, it looked like Joel had nothing to do with it.

J: Thank God she looks like Nicole!

N: They put her right on my chest and I breastfed her. I didn't know anything about breastfeeding, so I fed her for 35 minutes on one side! And the doctor was like, "You should probably switch sides."

I feel like a superhero. I have such a newfound respect for my body.


Post delivery:


N: Well, right after I had her, I remember saying to Joel, "I need food. Get me apples."

J: I ordered her a steak.

N: I don't know what I was asking for but I felt like I was going to die. [Harlow stirs on Joel's chest] She woke up for the story. She likes this story!

J: [to Harlow]: This is the story of how you were born!

On nursing:

N: There's just so much I can't eat because she's sensitive. I eat really bland [food] -- chicken noodle soup, vegetables, fish. I had to cut out milk, no tomatoes, no lettuce. You think you have to cut everything out when you're pregnant, but you really have to cut everything out when you're breastfeeding!

On her newfound breasts:

N: He's enjoying it! I don't really like it. It doesn't really fit with my wardrobe; it's not who I am. I never had to think about wearing a bra, so it's a whole new world. But you know, whatever.

J: I like you both ways.

On choosing their daughter's name:

N: I wanted a hippie name and he wanted a more biblical name.

J: I really like Jean Harlow the actress, and she likes Shalom Harlow the model. Harlow's cool because it feels like a classic name.

N: And no one has it.

J: Winter was so serene and quiet and that's how she is.

N: I always liked the name Kate, but I knew I'd never name my kid that because it was just too plain.

On being parents to a newborn:

N: I was joking with Joel today -- I think it's impossible to be on time with a newborn.

J: It takes an hour just to get out of the house. Like, 'Oops, now she has to eat. Now she has to change!

On milestones:

N Well, actually [Joel's identical twin] Benji [got the first smile].

J: Now it happens all the time. We live for her smiles. When she smiles ...

N: We feel so good. I don't know if it was this morning -- my days are blended -- but I was watching her in her crib and she happened to wake up and I was like, "Good morning!" And she smiled and it was the cutest thing ever.

On the importance of family:

J: We don't have a nanny. We have our moms. They've helped us a lot.

N: And we have to give credit to Benji. He lives six houses down. He babysits, like really babysits.

J: There was a day when I'd been at work all day and Nicole hadn't left the house for 48 hours, and I was like, "Let's go to a restaurant down the street," and Benj was with the baby. Then someone said they read somewhere we were out all the time. It's crazy. You leave the house for one hour and everyone's like, "She's out! She's leaving the baby!"

Also, Lionel's a great granddad. He's the best. She loves him. You have to be around Lionel to see how he is. He's just happy.

N: I just think without even consciously talking about it, the family has gotten closer. [Harlow] is really the focus, and everyone has the same goal: to love her and to make her happy.


When Joel and I got together, he was always like, "Let's go to your dad's, let's go to your mom's," so we started going over there more. My dad always says Joel really brought the family together. [Joel blushes.]

On their differences as parents:

N: Joel joked my whole pregnancy that he thought he would be the strict parent because I'm so laid- back and free-spirited.

J: She's the strict one!

N: And since she was born, I've been so protective. Now Joel's like, "I'm going to be the fun parent!"

J: Nicole can tell the difference between a whine and a cry. I'm like, "Oh, she's making a noise, I gotta go in there." And Nicole's like, "Let her self-soothe for a minute and see how she does."

N: I'm with her all the time. And she was a part of me for so long. I know when something's wrong.

On meeting Paris Hilton:

N: Yeah. They went to the Ivy. Just kidding. I have to say, all of my friends, their demeanor completely changes when they're around the baby. When they come in the house they're really mellow and careful and sweet with her. And when you're with a baby, you don't think, like, "Oh, I'm this person." She spits up on you and throws up on you or goes to the bathroom or passes gas.

On motherhood:

N: It's crazy. It's almost like I don't even remember what life was like before her. She gives life a whole new meaning and a whole new purpose.

I didn't just wake up one morning and say, 'Okay, today I'm going to change. It was more of a gradual, day-by-day thing.

Now that I look back on it, I was a different person last year than I am now. And, listen, sometimes I'll be here and I'll think to myself, 'I used to be fun! What if I'm not fun anymore?' I have all those feelings. But you know what? I am who I am. I'm still fun, just not in that way.

J: People have this perception that Nicole was, like, in an opium den.

N: And I wasn't.


J: She made some mistakes. But look at where we're from: I'm in a rock and roll band. Nicole is who she is. It's not like we had to give so much up because of the baby. It's just time to be parents.

N: Everything I do, I think about how it will benefit her or hurt her. She's never out of my mind. I stop doing things for me anymore. Everything is for her.

Image Attachment(s):

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

What a beautiful picture
And what a sweet artical.
This made me tear up:

"J: Right when she came out, you know that cry that's like an internal cry where you shake a little bit? [To Harlow] You made me cry!"

Sooooo sweet.

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

That is a great picture!

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

That is really sweet. I hope, for the baby's sake, this is the couple that "makes it". They really seem to care deeply for each other and really love that baby.

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

i loved reading that
i officially love them

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

I love them as a couple, and now as a beautiful family

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Here is another pic. I think he really changed her life for the better.

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Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

that seemed very genuine and sweet!!!

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Posted by sticklee

i loved reading that
i officially love them

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Beautiful pictures!

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

aww that picture is just absolutely beautiful.. im so HAPPY for them


eta: that baby looks soo loved, i love it!

Message edited 2/29/2008 8:35:09 AM.

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Awwwwwwwwwwwww

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Message edited 2/29/2008 9:37:04 AM.

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

I think I just fell in love with Nicole and Joel! Harlow is

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

I just noticed the matching bands on there fingers.....

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

did anyone else notice how they both have rings on their wedding fingers??

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Posted by sticklee

i loved reading that
i officially love them

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

i loved reading this...im so happy for them!!!

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

I didn't read the article about them but the baby is very cute. Good for her that she seemingly got it together. She was a drug addict and an anorexic so I'd say that this is a pretty awesome outcome for anyone, let alone for someone who so horribly abused themselves in the past. I hope they make it as a couple.

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

she looks awesome! I hope they make it, they look like such a beautiful family!

Re: Nicole,Joel & Harlow

Beautiful article, beautiful family.

I love that they don't have a nanny