Retired three-time Australian Olympian Alicia Coutts and her husband Steve Hardy have welcomed their fourth bundle of joy to their family, a baby boy named Hugo.
Hugo Stanley Hardy was born at Mater Mothers’ Hospital in South Brisbane on 2 July and is a “missing piece to the puzzle”, said the swim champion who retired in 2016.
With the Paris Olympics just weeks away and baby Hugo now enjoying life at home with his big brothers Noah (7), Leo (4), Mason (2), Mrs Coutts said she was gearing up to cheer the Australian Olympic swim team on from her Wellington Point home.
“Now that we are back home and our family is complete, it’s time to adjust to life as a family of six and enjoy the Olympics,” she said.
Mrs Coutts, who won five medals at the 2012 London Olympics, said her three older sons adored Hugo and fought over who could hold him first.
“The boys will be best friends for life,” she said.
“By the time summer arrives baby Hugo will be ready to dip his toes in our swimming pool while watching his brothers swim.
“And down the track if they want to go to the Olympics, we’d support that 100 per cent!”
Meanwhile Mrs Coutts said her plans to not find out the gender of their unborn baby were derailed when she saw “something” during her 24 week pregnancy ultrasound – which indicated they were expecting another boy.
“I thought surely we’d get a girl this time – but then I saw IT!” Mrs Coutts, 36, said.
“I really needed to confirm we were expecting another boy and it was four weeks later at the next scan that the ultrasound tech confirmed what I had seen,” she laughed.
Mrs Coutts said finding out she was adding another son to her clan was “a little bit of a shock”.
“Knowing we were having another boy meant we could decide on a name and I could bond with him,” she said.
Baby Hugo weighed a hefty 4.5kg however Mrs Coutts said she was used to having heavy babies.
“Noah weighed 4.8kg, Leo was 4.7kg and Mason was 4.2kg,” she said.
“We had a planned birth because we knew Hugo was going to be big.
“We had the best care at Mater – Hugo was my first baby born in Brisbane, the other three were born in Canberra and I just can’t fault the experience we had.”
Feature image: Retired three-time Australian Olympian Alicia Coutts with her newborn son Hugo.
