Come hell or high water, newborn cousins defy the odds during flood chaos
Meet the flood cousins: Two babies born days apart who will share a rare legacy from the Brisbane floods.
As the floodwaters kept rising in Brisbane and surrounds, Kate Albion and her sister Jessica Lane were each awaiting the arrival of their babies, both Ā scheduled to be delivered at Brisbaneās Mater Mothersā Hospital.
But the new arrivals made anything but a smooth appearance.
Traffic chaos caused by the flooding meant that one of the cousins, Joseph Albion, arrived before his mumās obstetrician could reach the hospital. The infant was unable to breathe alone and required emergency treatment.
Ms Albionās sister Jessicaās daughter Isobel had arrived three days earlier, but was suffering fluid on the lungs. So the two cousins got to know each other in the Special Care Nursery at Mater Mothersā ā while the two mums caught up on some rest in rooms just three doors apart.
Kate, of Upper Kedron, and sister Jessica, of Ferny Hills, said their āflood babiesā were extremely lucky and their birth stories were unforgettable as chaos surrounded them.
The Brisbane sisters share the same obstetrician and paediatrician.Ā āEverything happened so quickly for us and we were so lucky we had another obstetrician step in and great care by the midwives and nurses,ā Albion said.
Joseph and Isobel are now thriving.
āIām really close to my sister and itās comforting our little babies have shared this Special Care Nursery journey together,ā Jessica said.
Driving through torrential rain on Tuesday to get to the hospital, Kate gave birth to her second child Joseph at 3.30pm weighing 3.3kg.
āThere was so much rain and we were lucky to get to the hospital,ā Kate said.Ā āIām so glad we were there because Joseph ended up coming so fast. Even our obstetrician ended up being stuck in traffic and missed the delivery.ā
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She said it was comforting to know Jessica was on the same hospital ward, having given birth safely to Isobel, just three days earlier.
āThe situation is actually pretty cool,ā Kate said. āItās not something we really expected.ā
Jessica said she was really glad Isobel was born on Friday and not any later.
āIt was really exciting to find out they were expecting at the same time, and then to realise it was within days of each other was a nice surprise,ā she said.
Mater Mothersā Hospitals is Australiaās largest maternity services provider, with more than 12 000 babies born every year.
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