The curling star will make her season debut in Penticton when she skips her team in the World Financial Group Continental Cup.
Jones not only had Isabella a month early in mid-November but has also recovered from knee surgery she had last spring to clean up ligament issues in her right pushing leg.
“It caught me a little off guard but she’s healthy,” Jones says of the surprise birth in Barrie, Ont., while she was visiting partner and Glen Howard second Brent Laing.
“I’ve been back on the ice for a few weeks now and I feel great.”
That positive attitude hasn’t been hurt by the performance of her team while she was away.
“I’m so proud of them,” she said. “They had a great fall and they’ve been playing really well and hopefully we can continue their great play into the new year.”
Team Jones, with third Kaitlyn Lawes in charge, made it to the final of the Canada Cup Dec. 2, dropping a close one to Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton.
Jones is on maternity leave as a corporate lawyer with the former Wellington West Group, now owned by National Bank and part of National Bank Financial.
But she’s not on mat leave from curling, as she gets ready to lead her squad into a season that will prepare them for next December’s Olympic qualifier in Winnipeg.
She earned one of the first spots in the qualifier in 2011, easing a lot of the pressure other teams are now facing.
“For us, this fall was just all about trying to get some games in and the timing worked out great for me to take a little bit of a break,” she said.
This was the second season in a row that Jones’s team has missed one of its members for the early part of the season. A year earlier, veteran second Jill Officer also took the fall off to have a baby but returned quickly.
The Continental Cup is set for Jan. 10-13 and Jones won’t have a lot of downtime afterward. The Manitoba Scotties are set for Jan. 23-27.
