Courageous Mother Delivers Baby in Moving Vehicle with Assistance from a Stranger.
Gayla Thompson knew she wouldn’t make it as she was speeding along the highway near the exit, laboring and in pain. She gave her husband Ryan, who was behind the wheel, an ultimatum: either speed up or call an ambulance.
Convinced that Gayla wasn’t actually in full labor, Ryan chose to keep driving, a decision that their poor Jeep would never forgive him for.
Gayla, a newborn photographer in Nashville, Tennessee, revealed that she didn’t realize she had been in labor for two days prior to the roadside birth. “Contractions were painful the day before, but super irregular, so we just figured they were really bad Braxton Hicks contractions,” she said.
She explained that in her area, children under 12 aren’t currently allowed in the hospital, so she had to pack a bag for her five-year-old son, Connor, and drop him off at daycare, which was in the opposite direction of the hospital.
“I made a few phone calls while dropping him off and headed to the hospital. It was halfway there that the contractions got so bad that I could no longer scream and just went totally silent. That was the sign that told me the baby is on the way, and we won’t make it!”
That’s when Gayla told her husband that he had a decision to make.
“I gave Ryan the option to get us to the hospital and speed up, or call 911. He refused to do so because he was still convinced it was false labor. He finally called when Carson’s head crowned.”
Gayla said, “Carson was born at 8:56 am on the side of Interstate I-440! His head was stuck for two solid minutes between contractions/pushing. Ryan pulled him out on the next push, and we held him while I ripped my top off for skin-to-skin. He grabbed some shirts from the back to cover him while we waited for paramedics.
“It was the quickest and longest 10 minutes waiting for them! They took me and the baby to Vanderbilt Hospital, as Ryan followed. I delivered my placenta at the hospital (which was WAY more painful than the natural Jeep birth). I lost a ton of blood that prevented me yet again from getting any drugs. But all is well, and the baby is totally healthy! My poor Jeep LOL.”
Sheridan’s path to motherhood was filled with heartbreak. Miscarriages, months of invasive treatments, and IVF left her feeling dejected and praying for a miracle.
What happened was beyond anything Sheridan and her husband Andrew could have ever dreamt of. They were finally pregnant—with twins. But with only one embryo implanted, how was it possible they were expecting twins? Incredibly, Sheridan had become pregnant naturally while she was already pregnant through IVF.
Andrew and Sheridan had always known they would try for a baby as soon as they married, so when the NSW couple tied the knot in November 2018, they didn’t waste any time. In March 2019, they were ecstatic to discover that they were expecting.
“Andrew works away on weekends in Narrabri, so he’s away from Thursday to Monday every week. My first ultrasound appointment at 10 weeks gestation was booked when Andrew was away, so I attended the appointment by myself.
I lay on the table, bladder full, watching the screen, the technician went quiet and asked me how many weeks I thought I was. I knew at that moment that it was not good news; the embryo had stopped developing at around the 6-week mark. I left the appointment in a daze and somehow managed to make it home before I fell into a heap on the floor in tears.”
Andrew and Sheridan embarked on a journey full of hope but had no success. So the next step was to proceed to IVF. But with Covid impacting elective surgeries and procedures, it was another two-month wait before they could start the process.
Hits: 2
