James and Ola Jordan have certainly had a turbulent few weeks following the arrival of their beautiful daughter, Ella, back in February. After James' dad spent a month in hospital after suffering a second stroke, where he also contracted COVID-19, and rushing Ella to A&E after she struggled with reflux, the pair were hit with another terrifying ordeal this week after Ola's mum suffered a heart attack.
"It's been an eventful week again - Ola's mum had a heart attack," says James, sadly. "She had one eight years ago and had stents put in. This time, she was at home and having pains in her chest, heart attack-like symptoms. The doctors were going to put more stents in but ultimately decided against it, and because it's been eight years since the last one they've changed her medication and she's feeling a lot better. They let her go home because they didn't want her to stay in the hospital for too long because she'd be high risk if she got COVID-19."
Ola's mum is on the mend
Ola admits how challenging it is to be unable to visit her mum in Poland at a time like this. "Poland is the same as here, everything's locked up so my dad couldn't visit her in hospital. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse! I said to James, 'Please don't ever say it couldn't get any worse', because it absolutely could. It a difficult time because there's no way I can fly to Poland right now, so it's hard."
WATCH: Take a tour of Ella's nursery
While Ola's mum is thankfully on the mend, it is hard for the couple not knowing when they might be able to see her again. "She seems to be much better so finger's crossed she's fine," Ola says. "It's good she came out of the hospital very quickly. She's at home with my dad, so that's good. We've been FaceTiming all the time. I don't know when I'll be able to see my mum and dad, even when the lockdown is over, I don't how I feel about being able to get on a plane and fly. It's horrible really. They were planning to come for Easter and obviously that didn't work out and now I wouldn't even want them to fly with the virus still going around." James adds: "Ella's going to be three months in a couple of weeks too and Ola's parents still haven't seen her."
Ella is now ten weeks old
Now ten weeks old, the former Strictly pros also opened up about little Ella's progress. Ola says: "Ella is smiling a lot more now. When she wakes up in the morning she gives us an amazing big smile. She doesn't like being left on her own! She's started trying to talk too, making a lot of noises, and she's learned how to hold things now. She holds my fingers a lot. We have a little baby gym and she's started to hit a toy that makes noises. James thinks she hits it because she knows it makes noise, and I say it's a fluke."
READ: Take a look inside James and Ola Jordan's dreamy family home with baby Ella
James chimes in: "But she does it a lot! I don't see how that's a fluke!" Laughing, Ola adds: "I say that she's not that clever, and James says, 'She is clever, she's just like me!' She likes noises but she likes listening to us too when we talk. Right now, she's watching me and trying to make noises herself!"
James and Ola open up about little Ella's progress
They explain that they are giving Ella plenty of tummy time, but she isn't happy about it! James says: "She really hates tummy time however we know how important it is for her. It strengthens her neck and helps her digestion. For five, ten, 20 minutes. But she hates it, she kicks off! It's funny because when I was young they were told to put babies to sleep on their belly, but now you absolutely can't. So when you're doing tummy time you have to watch her."
The new parents also lament that Ella doesn't seem to be a fan of dummies, and are worried she might start sucking her fingers instead. Ola says: "She doesn't like dummies! It's really annoying. I thought all babies like dummies but she doesn't like it or want it. A dummy is a soother so it would be nice for when she was crying to soothe her to sleep. She started to suck on her hands and we don't want her to because you can take a dummy away but you can't take your hands away!"
Ella is the couple's first child
James adds that he did the same thing as a baby, saying: "My parents were told not to give me a dummy and me and my sister ended up sucking our fingers for years. I used to suck two of my middle fingers in between my index finger and my baby finger - those two fingers - on my right hand. The other day we turned around and she's doing the exact same thing, which is really funny!"
The pair also admit that they haven't been able to resist picking Ella up every time she fusses. "During the lockdown, it's nice that we can cuddle her, but today I found she was in my arms a lot and I realised I couldn't get anything done," Ola says. "I don't want her to get too used to it." James agrees, saying: "I'm really bad. When she cries I pick her up straight away and I always said I'd never do that but I'm weak with her! As soon as she cries I'm like, 'Oh my baby!'"
Check back next week to hear more about Jame and Ola's parenting journey, and read their latest HELLO! columns here
