By Melinda Lephew as told to Olivia DeLong
I found out I was pregnant with my third baby when I was about five weeks along. My husband, Cameron, and I were completely shocked, but very excited. The entire pregnancy (well, until the end), was healthy and uneventful, just like my last two. Our first son, Nolan, who was born in 2016, came four days past his due date after a 20-hour labor. My second baby, Isabelle, came in 2021 after a scheduled induction and 19-hour labor.
Since Isabelle and Nolan both arrived after nearly 20 hours of laboring, I had no reason to believe this third baby would come any quicker than that. We did have an induction scheduled for 39 weeks, but when I was 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant, things got interesting.
That night, a snowstorm hit here in Salem, Virginia, leaving six inches of snow on the roads. As we were going to bed, my husband jokingly said, "Baby boy better not decide to come tonight of all nights — we'd have a time getting to the hospital in this mess!" Little did he know the adventure that awaited us in just a few hours.
I woke up and was surprised to find my water had broken
Around 6 a.m. the next day, I woke up and felt a tiny pop in my lower abdomen. I stood up and noticed that I was leaking sporadically when I walked around, but felt normal. Since I assumed my water had broken, we set "operation baby" into motion: We called the hospital's labor and delivery department, called our children's grandparents (who live an hour away), cleared snow off the car, threw all of our bags into the trunk and started getting the kids up and ready.
When we woke up our 2-year-old, we found out that she'd had the blowout to end all blowouts in her crib. We stripped the sheets (and actually just threw them in the trash outside since we didn't want poopy sheets sitting in our house while we were gone), and quickly showered her to clean her off. Once both kids were cleaned and dressed, we ran them over to our neighbor's house so they could stay there until their grandparents came. We didn't have much time to say goodbye, so we gave them some quick kisses and I love yous (surprisingly helped avoid any tears!).
Around that time, I quickly went from barely feeling anything to having fairly intense contractions, just about every four or five minutes. The intense tightening and cramping in my lower abdomen stopped me in my tracks. I had to squat down and bend over with each one. I told my husband we needed to "GO NOW" and we set off to the hospital, which was 30 minutes away — but there was six inches of freshly-fallen snow on the ground and it was rush hour.
Once we got in the car, things escalated quickly
It was immediately clear that this delivery would be nothing like my other two. When we got in the car, I told my husband that I didn't think we'd get to the hospital in time for an epidural. I was worried that I hadn't prepared to give birth without one. The idea of giving birth before I got to the hospital didn’t even cross my mind. After all, that's one of those things that you only see in movies or on the news!
We drove as quickly and safely as we could given the road conditions. I’ll admit that we ran a few red lights when there were no other cars around. About 10 minutes from the hospital, the contractions started coming hard and fast. That’s when it actually dawned on me that we might not make it. The contractions were hurting enough for me to double over in my seat and gasp and breathe through the pain.My husband called 911 from the car’s bluetooth speaker. They asked if we wanted to pull over so they could talk us through what to do until an ambulance could reach us. We thought we could make it so we kept driving with 911 still on the phone. I had a notion in my head of how painful a natural and medication-free birth would be — I figured if I hadn't reached that screaming at the top of my lungs, crying, the worst pain imaginable yet, I'd have a few more minutes to make it to the hospital. I was very wrong.
Two intense contractions later, my baby was here
When we were about one mile from the hospital, I felt my baby's head crowning. I reached to recline my seat, but my kiddo’s car seats were in the way, so I just pulled my leggings down to my knees and squatted in place. Seconds later, at 8:00 a.m., sitting upright in the passenger seat of our moving car, I delivered my baby boy named Miles.
Before my baby even had a chance to make a peep, I heard a scream like no other come from my poor husband, but he managed to keep the car on the road. I kept repeating, "he's ok, he's ok, we're ok" as he drove.
The cord was wrapped twice around Miles' neck, but he was moving, making sweet little crying and whimpering sounds, and clearly breathing. I didn't trust myself to unwrap it while we drove (newborns are slippery!), so I continued to cradle him between my knees. Instinct took over and I slid my index fingers under the cord and stretched it enough that it wouldn't put any pressure on his tiny neck.
About three minutes after Miles was born, we pulled into the parking lot at the hospital's emergency room. My husband laid on the horn and could only manage to shout, "BABY! BABY!" while pointing over at me. Luckily six EMTs were out there on break and helped me waddle from our car to the stretcher, pants around my knees, holding my baby still attached to me by the cord. Any shred of dignity I had left at that point was gone, but we were finally at the hospital and that's what mattered most.
In the ER, doctors quickly clamped the cord and checked our vitals to make sure the two of us were okay. We were covered with blankets and moved to the labor and delivery floor. This is where things started to feel more normal. The labor and delivery nurses cleaned up Miles, measured him, weighed him and took his APGAR scores. My OB/GYN was not on call that morning, but another doctor from the office helped deliver the placenta and checked that all was well with me. He joked that I was his easiest patient of the month: "You've already done my job for me!"
Miles joined his big siblings at home after a week in the NICU
Miles's pre-discharge routine bloodwork came back indicating critically high bilirubin levels (which means his liver wasn't functioning properly), so he was immediately started on phototherapy. Because there was a delay with clamping the cord since we delivered him in the car, he had extra adult red blood cells transfer back to his little body. Doctors were concerned he might have liver function issues or other serious problems, so two days after he was born he was transferred to the NICU. I was discharged that same day.
Eight stressful days later Miles started to improve and was allowed to come home. From there, his blood levels were monitored by a pediatric hematologist and GI doctor for three months. He has now happily "graduated" from those specialists since his levels have all normalized.
After an absolutely crazy entrance to this world, our baby boy is now a perfectly healthy, thriving, beautiful one-year-old hitting all of his milestones. He is truly one of the most happy-go-lucky, content, sweet and laid-back babies I've ever been around. While he loves to explore and keep up with his siblings, he's also happy to just take in the world around him. Cameron and I often call him Smiles instead of Miles, which truly fits his sweet and friendly personality. We like to joke that he got all his drama and excitement out of the way at birth, and now he's just relaxed for life — or, that he was just so excited to meet everyone he just couldn't even wait to get to the hospital. Thanks to his unexpected birth, Miles is sure to be strong and resilient for the rest of his life.
Yes 
No 
Trending On What to Expect
