diff --git a/api/v1/cosmosfullnode_types.go b/api/v1/cosmosfullnode_types.go
index 0e1bae31..679ec5ab 100644
--- a/api/v1/cosmosfullnode_types.go
+++ b/api/v1/cosmosfullnode_types.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ const CosmosFullNodeController = "CosmosFullNode"
 type Ordinal struct {
 	// Start specifies the initial ordinal number for pod naming
 	// +kubebuilder:validation:Minimum:=0
-	Start *int32 `json:"start,omitempty"`
+	Start int32 `json:"start,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // FullNodeSpec defines the desired state of CosmosFullNode
diff --git a/api/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/api/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index c83f6129..4dba169e 100644
--- a/api/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/api/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ func (in *FullNodeSnapshotStatus) DeepCopy() *FullNodeSnapshotStatus {
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *FullNodeSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *FullNodeSpec) {
 	*out = *in
-	in.Ordinal.DeepCopyInto(&out.Ordinal)
+	out.Ordinal = in.Ordinal
 	in.ChainSpec.DeepCopyInto(&out.ChainSpec)
 	in.PodTemplate.DeepCopyInto(&out.PodTemplate)
 	in.RolloutStrategy.DeepCopyInto(&out.RolloutStrategy)
@@ -456,11 +456,6 @@ func (in *Metadata) DeepCopy() *Metadata {
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *Ordinal) DeepCopyInto(out *Ordinal) {
 	*out = *in
-	if in.Start != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Start, &out.Start
-		*out = new(int32)
-		**out = **in
-	}
 }
 
 // DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new Ordinal.
diff --git a/controllers/cosmosfullnode_controller.go b/controllers/cosmosfullnode_controller.go
index 02935680..e5a9929d 100644
--- a/controllers/cosmosfullnode_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/cosmosfullnode_controller.go
@@ -115,11 +115,6 @@ func (r *CosmosFullNodeReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Reque
 		return stopResult, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
 	}
 
-	startingOrdinal := int32(0)
-	if crd.Spec.Ordinal.Start != nil {
-		startingOrdinal = *crd.Spec.Ordinal.Start
-	}
-
 	reporter := kube.NewEventReporter(logger, r.recorder, crd)
 
 	fullnode.ResetStatus(crd)
@@ -179,7 +174,7 @@ func (r *CosmosFullNodeReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Reque
 	}
 
 	// Reconcile pods.
-	podRequeue, err := r.podControl.Reconcile(ctx, reporter, crd, configCksums, syncInfo, startingOrdinal)
+	podRequeue, err := r.podControl.Reconcile(ctx, reporter, crd, configCksums, syncInfo, crd.Spec.Ordinal.Start)
 	if err != nil {
 		errs.Append(err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/fullnode/pvc_builder.go b/internal/fullnode/pvc_builder.go
index b895872a..1e98b7f9 100644
--- a/internal/fullnode/pvc_builder.go
+++ b/internal/fullnode/pvc_builder.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func BuildPVCs(
 	}
 
 	var pvcs []diff.Resource[*corev1.PersistentVolumeClaim]
-	for i := int32(0); i < crd.Spec.Replicas; i++ {
+	for i := crd.Spec.Ordinal.Start; i < crd.Spec.Ordinal.Start+crd.Spec.Replicas; i++ {
 		if pvcDisabled(crd, i) {
 			continue
 		}