A pregnant Pennsylvania mother was in the car with her fiance when she started feeling pain. What happened next shocked the parents. Photos of the incident are going viral. (Warning: The photos below are graphic.)
A mother named Raelin was 29 weeks pregnant with her second child when she began to experience pain. She assumed the pain came from Braxton Hicks contractions, which are sometimes referred to as “practice contractions.” Braxton Hicks are usually experienced after 20 weeks of pregnancy. They occur as the uterus prepares for labor and are generally painless. Some women can experience strong, painful Braxton Hicks contractions.
Shortly after the pain started, Raelin realized the pain was not from Braxton Hicks contractions. She noticed that her contractions “started to get closer together and more intense,” so she had her fiance, Ean, take her to the hospital.
“So I decided to go in,” Raelin told Kidspot. “I live about 15 minutes from the hospital But I had to drop my daughter off to her godmother which added about five minutes.”
While Raelin and Ean were on the way to the hospital, the mother tried to call 911 as the pain became unbearable. The dispatcher was unable to understand what she was saying, so she had to hand the phone to her fiance. Meanwhile, Ean was trying his hardest to get to the hospital quickly and safely.
“He drove the wrong way in the bus lane because there was traffic,” she recalled. “There were no buses coming so he got in the bus lane to make it to the hospital faster.”
Photo Credit: Leesa Smith via Kidspot
But before the couple got to the hospital, Raelin knew she was running out of time.
“I felt the baby in the birth canal and knew it was time,” she said. “So I pulled my pants off and reached down and felt his head. I pushed one time and he slid out. That’s when I realized he was still in this sac.”
The couple left their house that day at 11:14 a.m., dropped their daughter off at her godmother’s house at 11:22, and at 11:28, Raelin gave birth to their son, Ean Jr., or EJ.
“I knew with him being so early he probably wouldn’t be able to breathe on his own and that he was safe in there so I didn’t disturb it,” Raelin says. “At first the baby wasn’t moving — then I rubbed his face with my finger and he brought his hands and feet to cover his face and I knew he was fine.”
The couple arrived at the hospital seven minutes later with their new baby.
“I stayed in the car and my Ean went in for help,” she said. “No-one was coming until the security guard walked past and saw me with the baby — then he called a code. That’s when Ean snapped this amazing photo.”
She continued, “I looked up a second later and the car was swarmed with doctors. The first one I saw was a doctor that I worked with and he grabbed the baby and broke his sac right outside in front of the hospital. He cried immediately. Then they took him to the NICU. Once the doctors took him from me I actually got out of the car and tried to follow them but one of the doctors pushed me back into the car and made me wait for a stretcher.”
The medical team was blown away by what had happened and were amazed seeing EJ still inside the sac.
Once the shock subsided, the mother fully realized what had just happened and couldn’t believe it.
Photo Credit: Leesa Smith via Kidspot
“It was about two hours before I finally realized what happened and what was going on,” she said. “Then I cried for a while. I was sad at first when I realized I was leaving and my baby wasn’t going home with me but it gets better. But I was also thankful because I knew had he not been born in the sac he probably wouldn’t have lived.”
EJ is healthy and is growing better than doctors expected. Doctors say that he will be held in the hospital until closer to his mid-October due date.