For Adelaide's biggest fan, David 'Kochie' Koch, was experiencing the most gut-wrenching AFL grand final of his life. As the number-one ticket holder for the South Australian team, the Sunrise host had flown to Melbourne to see the game.

Much to his dismay, he watched as his beloved team suffered a humiliating defeat to Geelong. But David's sadness turned to elation when he received a surprising phone call from his daughter Samantha.

'It was a record loss, so I was feeling very depressed,' father-of-four David recalls. 'I was in the change room with the team after the game when suddenly my daughter Sam phones through and says: "Hello, Grandad." She had gone into labour during quarter time and delivered during the presentation! The call suddenly turned a very depressing moment into wild celebrations.'

Following an unusually quick labour, Sam, 27, with her husband Toby by her side, gave birth to David's first grandchild, little Matilda Jane Brown, who weighed in at a healthy 3.9kg.

'I started getting contractions at 8am that morning, but the labour didn't begin until 2.30pm -just as we settled down to watch the grand final,' Sam says.

'By the time we got to the hospital it all just started happening. We didn't even have time to call Toby's parents or my mum and let them know what was happening. Matilda arrived at 5.50pm. It was an ideal delivery - although it was very fast!'

Toby says the couple had no idea whether they were having a boy or a girl and were overjoyed to welcome Matilda, who is now six weeks old.

'It was an amazing experience,' Toby explains. 'I was told at birthing classes that my function as the dad would be to distract Sam, so I had all these tricks up my sleeve. But the labour was so good Sam did it all herself.'

Sam's complication-free birth was all the more joyous given that she lost an ovary at 19 when a doctor failed to diagnose a cyst in her body that had swelled to a massive five and a half litres before it was removed. It was a tense time for the Koch clan as they waited to see if the cyst was malignant or if it had destroyed Sam's remaining ovary. Thankfully, she was given the all clear, and she had no trouble conceiving.

'There's no back-up when you have one ovary, so we didn't know how long it would take to conceive,' says Sam, who'll return to her reporting job for Bloomberg Television in March. 'We were just very thankful.'

David, 51, is seeing a lot of Matilda as Sam and Toby are living with he and Libby at their home on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The young couple returned from a work stint in Hong Kong in July and will move into their own apartment once Matilda is more settled.

'It's such a blessing to have Mum and Dad's support since the birth and to ask them for advice,' Sam says. 'Dad's already good at settling Matilda down. He'll come home in the afterno on while I'm frantically doing something and he'll take her and give her a bath. She just loves going to Poppy.'

Indeed, both David and Libby are loving looking after Matilda. 'She's the first grandchild on both Sam and Toby's side so she'll be spoilt rotten,' David says. I'm really looking forward to being part of her life as she grows up. I have my own great memories of hanging out with Jim, my grandfather on my mother's side. I have such vivid memories of him. He was big in Rotary so I remember us going to mow people's lawns together. I think grandparents are such an important part of a kid's life. The fact that Matilda has four grandparents and seven great grandparents is pretty special.'

And it's not just the Koch family who have welcomed Matilda into the world. Sam says many of Sunrise's loyal viewers have sent in good wishes and gifts.

'The viewers have been amazing,' Sam says. 'One lady did Matilda's stars. Another woman's sister knitted her a cardigan - she saw the show while she was here on holidays and sent it to us from England. Another viewer invented a little wrap for when the baby sleeps. You put the arms in two little pockets and slide the legs in. The first night we put Matilda in it she slept through the night - it's been a godsend.'

David adds with a laugh: 'It's great - it's like a baby straitjacket!'

David's also been getting helpful tips from Sunrise co-host and mum of two Mel Doyle. 'Mel's very cute,' he says. 'She'll say things like: "I came up with an idea of what to give Matilda for Christmas - her first Santa sack." I've already given her a music box. I thought I'd give all my granddaughters one. I haven't figured out what to give future grandsons - maybe a Wallabies jersey.'

David's shaping up to be a good grandfather, which is no surprise since he was named Australian Father of the Year this year. Suffice to say, he's already given his beloved daughter some precious advice.

'I've told her to enjoy every minute of parenthood for what it brings - every stage brings its own joy,' he says wisely. 'And I'm also saying the more grandkids the merrier.'