Parents toast city’s first boy born in 2022
Ashley Jnr enters world at 1am on New Year’s Day after mum overcomes Covid
PROUD parents are celebrating having the first baby boy born in the city this year after the mum overcame a battle with Covid in the days leading up to giving birth.
Portsmouth couple Jessica Powell, 34, and Ashley Twells, 35, were delighted to welcome Ashley Junior Twells into the world on New Year’s Day at 1am, weighing 7lb 7oz.
Jessica, who was put into isolation for 10 days after catching Covid two weeks before giving birth, said Ashley Jnr was doing ‘amazing’.
She said: ‘I was rough for a couple of weeks from Covid and had to go into isolation.
‘It was a bit of a worry for that to happen at such a tense time and not know what to expect.
‘It only felt like I had a cold but it wasn’t in the plan.
‘The hospital was really good and told me to give birth in isolation, which meant I got my own room so it wasn’t all bad.
‘Now I’m out of isolation and we have our baby here we can start to look forward and move on.’
Jessica also said it was a happy moment for them to have the first baby boy of the year.
‘It is amazing for that to happen,’ she added.
‘A friend said it could happen but we had never even thought about it. It just makes the whole thing even better.’
The birth itself went smoothly, with Jessica going into labour at 7am the previous day before Ashley Jnr – who will be known as AJ in future – was born.
Jessica continued: ‘It all went really well. He was the perfect weight.
‘It feels amazing. We’re now just recovering and looking after the baby.
‘We’ve got a big extended family and everyone is very excited.’
Jessica’s partner Ashley added: ‘It feels brilliant and we’re glad everything went well.
‘It was a bit of a worry going into the birth with Jessica having Covid but the hospital was as good as gold.’