WASHINGTON — Erika and Jordan Owings were expecting their second child, just not so soon. Now their baby boy, born last week, has quite the birthday story.
Erika’s due date was September 8; but, a week and a half before the big day, Erika’s water broke. Her husband, Jordan, was downstairs in their house starting his work day, when he got a text from his wife, who was upstairs.
“I think today’s the day,” she wrote.
They both showered and packed bags for the hospital.
“It didn’t feel super urgent at the time," she contnued. "Little did we know, you know, ten minutes later what situation we would be in.”
Erika started having small contractions. They called their doctor and he told them to head straight to labor and delivery at Sibley Memorial Hospital, and he would meet them there.
Erika asked the doctor, “What if I have the baby in the car?” She says the doctor replied, “You’re not going to have the baby in the car and if you do, call me, and I will walk you through it.”
Jordan loaded up the car, with Erika helping to carry a bag, and they started heading to the hospital, which they say is about a 17-to-18 minute drive from their house.
Five minutes into the trip, the pain became increasingly worse. Erika, in a panic, tried to calm herself down while also listening to her body. She finally said, “This is not normal, this is not a contraction. Something is there.”
At this point Erika felt the baby’s head crowning. Jordan still thought he had time to get to the hospital before the baby was born. But Erika thought a call to 911 was needed.
The call was made as the couple approached 16th Street near Rock Creek Park.
The 911 operator tells Jordan to pull over immediately so they can dispatch an ambulance.
Jordan, still in denial about making it to the hospital in time says, “I’m pretty sure I can get us there faster than an ambulance would.”
The 911 operator told Jordan, “I don’t think you understand, sir. This is a very serious situation. You need to pull over immediately.”
Jordan quickly pulled their car over near the Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park.
Jordan, still in the driver’s seat, has 911 on the Bluetooth in their car and their doctor on speakerphone. The doctor then asks Jordan to go look and confirm that the baby is in fact coming. Jordan recalling this moment, says he went around to look and, “To my dismay, I did in fact see his head. Which was … terrifying.”
At this point, Jordan says he started yelling for help to nearby strangers, but in the world of a pandemic, people kept their distance and the couple understood.
With the ambulance on its way, and their doctor on the phone, the doctor tells Erika that if she feels like she has to push, she needs to push.
Jordan and Erika both not wanting her to push, but knowing that she must, start to panic. There was no one around, it was just them in that moment. Jordan laid down a hand towel, the only thing they had with them.
Erika pushed, and the baby’s head came out.
Jordan carefully following the doctor’s instructions, holds their baby in his hands and helps guide him into the world.
As they held their newborn baby boy in their car, on the side of the road, they heard the ambulance approaching.
Erika says she was worried. Asking if her newborn son was OK. He was crying, but only a little bit. “Was he crying enough,” she asked herself?
Luckily, there were no complications. Elijah, her second son, was healthy.
Reliving these moments still brings tears to Erika’s eyes and the couple feels extremely grateful that things turned out the way they did.
The EMTs who arrived on the scene cut Elijah’s umbilical cord, and moved Erika and Elijah into the ambulance to take them to the hospital.
Jordan was not allowed to ride in the ambulance with his wife and newborn son. So, he took off, still full of adrenaline from delivering Elijah, toward the hospital.
When Jordan arrived at the hospital, he was greeted by the doctor.
“You’re one of us now,” said the doctor.
To which Jordan says he replied, “I hope you’re not charging us for this delivery, Doc!”
“I think looking back on it, it’s probably the most remarkable experience of my life,” says Jordan. “It’s still very surreal.”
Erika, still emotional from the experience says, “It happened so fast and was such a shock. It was completely out of my control. I’m just thankful that, you know, someone was looking out for us, and that Jordan didn’t pass out, and he was able to help me. There are a million things that could happen in that situation and we were able to get through it and it was pretty amazing, so I am just really grateful.”