‘One push and that was it!’: Couple delivers baby on highway exit
By Kirsten Mitchell
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WOODBURY, Minnesota (WCCO) — Precious cargo travels on Interstate 94 every day. But on Sunday night, a couple from New Richmond, Wisconsin, delivered something special.
At 6 pounds 15 ounces, baby Ariel is Baily and Tim Bieniek-Phelps’ little bundle of joy.
“She smiles all the time, and then falls asleep [laughs]!” Baily said.
Her calm demeanor is far cry from her grand entrance into the world on Sunday night.
“All of the sudden my water broke, and I was like, ‘Babe we got to go,’” Baily said.
Knowing how fast their other four children arrived, the couple raced on I-94 to the Mother Baby Center in St. Paul — but they only made it to the Radio Drive exit in Woodbury, where Ariel just couldn’t wait.
“Her whole head was already out. And he was such a champ that he just told me to take a deep breath and push, and I did, and she was out,” Baily said.
“I could kind of chalk it up to superhuman mother strength that mothers have with their babies,” Tim said.
After the urgent delivery, Tim called 911 and a dispatch operator walked him through the process to check on Baily and the baby as they waited for an ambulance. “They asked him if he had something to tie the umbilical cord, and that’s when he used his shoelace,” Baily said.
Once the ambulance arrived, the couple said the first responders let Tim cut the umbilical cord. Both Baily and the baby were healthy.
“You just never know the strength of yourself, your significant other or you as a couple until you’re in that moment,” Baily said. “And you definitely come out shining.”
The couple said they had planned to head to the Mother Baby Center on Friday for an induction, but Ariel didn’t seem to want to wait.
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