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Exclusive: Ashley James reveals daughter's name and special meaning

DJ and podcaster Ashley James has revealed her newborn daughter’s name in an exclusive interview and photoshoot with HELLO! magazine.

Ashley and her partner of four-and-a-half years Tommy have named their little girl Ada Isabella Blue Andrews, a sister to their two-year-old son Alfie.

Explaining the reasoning behind her name Ashley, 35, says: "We thought Ada was a really beautiful name and I was also inspired by Ada Lovelace, who was a famous mathematician and scientist. She was hailed as inventing computer programming and Tommy works in tech, so we liked that link. Isabella is named after my gran who is an amazing woman, and we chose Blue because Alfie's middle name is Rivers and I love water references."

Ashley also tells the magazine that Alfie was first introduced to his little sister just hours after she was born on March 4 weighing 7lb 9oz at London’s St Thomas's Hospital and he took to his new role immediately.

ashley-children
ashley-children

Ashley with Alfie and Ada 

"Alfie has actually been amazing - a lot better than we thought because typically he prefers older kids. He'll give her lots of cuddles and kisses and keeps saying 'baby sister'. We have to be a bit careful because he's quite over enthusiastic but he has shown her so much love."

The baby was delivered via caesarean section, with the birth planned on the day that Ada was 39 weeks, so Ashley and Tommy checked into a hotel near the hospital the night before, enjoying a last date night before arriving at St Thomas’s at 7am. At 9.04am, Ada made her way into the world.

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"It was really calm," she recalls. "I got to pick my own music playlist and they said to me: 'If you want a specific song for the birth, you can put that on now as she'll be born in the next minute.' It was really emotional. I was crying once I lay down because I was thinking: 'I have waited so long for this.'"

As the George Ezra song Be My Girl was played, Tommy started to cry and then, when London Song by Matt Hartke came on, Ada was born.

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"Seeing her for the first time was surreal. And I definitely did have that 'love at first sight' feeling, which I didn't have with Alfie, probably because of how traumatic it was. I was very excited but mainly just grateful she was okay."

Tommy cut the cord and was as moved as his partner. "We both felt really emotional. She was crying but the moment they put her on my chest she stopped so it was like 'Oh, she recognises her mummy.'"

To read the full article, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale now. Subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.