She’s “Doctor Pittman” now but not in her wildest dreams did Jana Pittman imagine herself delivering four babies in one day at the same hospital she would have her own fourth bub, 12 hours later!
This, however, is how it played out for the budding obstetrician and former dual 400-metre hurdles world champion!
“And one of those deliveries was in the carpark of Blacktown Hospital,” she laughs.
The 38 year old, who married Sydney businessman Paul Gatward, 52, just months ago, is bursting with love for their newborn son, Charles Brian Pittman-Gatward – while, Paul, a first time dad, has taken to fatherhood like he’s been around kids all his life.
“It’s gorgeous to watch how natural he is with Charlie,” gushes Jana of her new hubby, who prefers to remain out of the media spotlight.
“And he already wants one more! For me, there’s no difference between having four and five kids, so maybe we will. I already drive a Kia Carnival, so we’re ready for it – and I always saw myself having five children so I’ve already got my head around it. I think my parents and my career want this to be my last pregnancy, but I wouldn’t rule out another.”
Charlie, as his siblings call him, is already adored by his older half-sisters Jemima, three, and five-year-old Emily, who were both conceived through anonymous sperm donation, and big brother Cornelis, 14, from Jana’s first husband and former coach, Chris Rawlinson.
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“Jemima particularly, kisses him constantly,” chuckles Jana, who lives in Sydney’s Hills District, pointing out there’s no jealousy yet.
“They all want to hold him, and the girls are all over him like a rash.”
Like his mum, who’s always on the go, Charlie was in a rush to see the world and arrived two weeks ahead of schedule.
“It threw me a bit,” smiles Jana, a planner, whose intention was to finish her final Masters of Reproductive Medicine exam in the week before birth.
“So they hooked me up to a baby monitor to measure my vitals in hospital and I studied during labour, before sitting the exam four days later!”
The birthing plans were thrown into disarray, too, when baby Pittman-Gatward came rushing out within 90 minutes.
“I was looking forward to the experience of my first water birth, so the hospital room was full of candles and I had my own special music,” says Jana, who discovered she was pregnant while filming the early stages of SAS Australia, in anticipation of an eight-hour labour.
“But he came out within 10 minutes of me hopping into the water, so I didn’t need any of it. Worse still, Paul was stuck in traffic and missed his arrival.”
Jana admits she used to get worried about how she’d make room in her heart to love another baby.
“But I’ve worked out you don’t carve your heart into portions for each, you just add another piece to it, and I fell absolutely in love with my Charlie immediately.”
“He’s the easiest baby I’ve ever had and he’s tolerant of being squished by the girls!”
In another special milestone for the former Olympic hurdler, she tied the knot in a small secret wedding with her partner Paul.
The couple met years ago, before reconnecting last year on a coffee date.
Jana says of her second hubby, “I love his intelligence, the way he communicates, how he calms me and embraces everything about me. I’ve never had that before.”