IN ALL of the ‘doom and gloom’ circulating the globe, there are a few happy (and interesting) tales to tell and the arrival of Jasmine May Murrell is one of them.

Paige and Darren Murrell welcomed their little girl – their first child – into the world at 7.6pm on April 8, just four hours short of her due date.

Weighing in at seven pounds, 12.6 ounces (3.53 kilograms), Jasmine is just a little bigger than her mum was when she was born, but nowhere near her dad’s achievement.

“I think I broke the hospital records,” Darren said.

While most newborns are greeted with visits from the grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and an endless supply of gifts, like many of life’s celebrations, adjustments have had to be made to deal with the restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paige’s parents Deb and Glen Cameron are the only rellies to have met the new addition to the family, grabbing a brief window of opportunity to meet their first grandchild.

“My dad normally goes to bed around 8.30pm, nine o’clock if there’s a good program on the telly,” Paige said.

“But they sat up waiting for us … we rang them about 10 o’clock and they were still up, so they got to see her in the hospital, just once.

“Darren’s parents haven’t met her yet, they can’t come over (from South Australia) because of the border restrictions and the health restrictions.

“They are up with video calling on the phone and we’ve done the pics on social media, so they’ve seen all the photos and we’ve talked to them, but I think when the restrictions are lifted, they’ll be over the border before we can get out the door!”

Also yet to meet the new addition are Paige’s grandparents, Margaret – who shares her middle name, May, with Jasmine – and Max Grigg.

But it’s not just meeting the family that was thrown out by the current health crisis.

“When she was born, they told us we had a girl and asked what her name was,” Paige said.

“I had to say ‘can we let you know’!

“We had a short list, but with everything going on, we just hadn’t got it down to one name yet.”

Names were not the only thing the Murrell household was running short on when Jasmine made her entry into the world, but thanks to Nanna Deb’s love of tradition, the shortfall is well and truly filled.

“We didn’t buy a lot of clothes, because we knew when the baby was born that everyone – family and friends – were going to go crazy buying things,” Paige said.

“I rang mum and told her I had nothing to dress her in and she turned up with this!”

‘This’ is a collection of hand-knitted, pure lambswool baby garments, everything from booties and skull caps to matinee jackets and dresses, lovingly created by the women in the Cameron and Grigg families, a couple of decades ago.

“Mum kept everything from when (Paige and sister Kate) were babies and because mum had girls, everything was pink and white … they’re just beautiful … you just can’t buy things like this now, so she’s a very lucky little girl,” Paige said.