By Megan Hansen

mhansen@marinij.com @HansenMegan on Twitter

Stephanie and Thiemo Blank of Mill Valley hold their newborn daughter Lucia Marlene at Marin General Hospital on Friday. Lucia was the first baby born in Marin in 2015. (Alan Dep Marin Independent Journal)

Zen priests Stephanie and Thiemo Blank of Mill Valley were a bit anxious about their baby daughter still being in the womb past her due date, but little did they know she was simply waiting to make her appearance on New Year's Day.

Lucia Marlene Blank was born at 3:15 a.m. Jan. 1 at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, making her the first baby to be born in Marin County in 2015. The healthy baby girl weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces.

Stephanie Blank, 37, said she was only in labor for seven hours before Lucia arrived, a vast difference from her first child's birth, but that both births had their fair share of difficulties.

"She came so fast it was a challenge to keep up with the progression of labor for me," Stephanie Blank said. "After she was born I went into surgery for three hours because they had to repair a tear."

With her first birth to son Miro, who is now 19-months-old, the process was even more complicated than dealing with excess bleeding. He was born early, weighing only 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and had to be delivered via cesarean.

Stephanie Blank said she wasn't even able to hold her son for the first 24 hours after his birth, so being able to immediately hold Lucia was gratifying.

"I was just so happy to be able to have a natural birth following the cesarean of my first child," she said.

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Marin's first baby of 2015 born to Zen priests from Mill Valley