BY ELIZA HAGE
Staff writer
Bethany Jackson had a busy day planned for Monday, June 30. She expected to go to work, meet later with her obstetrician, and — the way things were going — check in to the FirstHealth labor and delivery department that evening to give birth to a baby girl.
A trip to the Whispering Pines fire station was not in the plan, but then babies have plans, too.
Contractions began for the Whispering Pines resident that Sunday night, Jackson said, but this wasn’t her first baby.
“They were a little uncomfortable, but I tried to sleep it off,” she said.
Knowing that she had an appointment with her doctor later, she decided to push through.
She left for work at Southern Pines Smiles, where she is a dental hygienist, and went about the day “like normal.”
At the doctor’s office later in the day, the doctor suggested she go home and pack for the hospital, but there was no urgency. Just wait until your water breaks and the contractions are five minutes apart, Jackson was told. Can do, she said.
By the time she pulled into the driveway at home, everything had changed.
“My contractions went from being a little uncomfortable to being very intense,” she said.
The Jeep was packed, so she, husband Tim and 3-year-old daughter Adaline piled in the car and took off.
It wasn’t long out of the driveway when Jackson realized the short trip to FirstHealth was going to be too long.
“This baby was coming,” she said.
As they drove by the Whispering Pines fire station, they “just so happened to see” that there were a few people outside. Firefighter Reed Novak was out front with assistant chief Glenn Boles; Boles’ wife, Carrie; teenage son, Jackson; and 4-year-old daughter, Ella. The Jacksons wheeled the Jeep in.
Tim hopped out and waved down the firefighters, telling them he needed one of two things: an ambulance or a room to deliver a baby.
The pair snapped into action, but when they got back to Jackson in the Jeep, they realized she wasn’t going anywhere. They decided to shift her to the back seat. No worries, firefighters do this sort of thing all the time, right?
Except that Novak, 18, was working just his second 24-hour shift for Whispering Pines. He only just got hired full-time with Pinehurst last month, having graduated from the fire academy back in December.
“It was an eventful start to my career,” he said.
Boles was more experienced, but not by much.
“We have a handful of pregnancy related calls through the year, but actual birth was pretty unlikely,” he said.
In fact, it had been almost 12 years since a similar incident. Still, no worries, said Boles.
“We’re trained to jump into action at the drop of a hat,” he said, “so I just gathered my thoughts and focused on the comfort of the patient.”
It was a team effort. Boles radioed for an ambulance, Novak grabbed medical supplies, and the two firefighters positioned Jackson in the backseat after realizing she wasn’t going to make it inside. Carrie comforted and coached Jackson, Jackson fetched supplies, and Ella kept Adaline entertained in the fire station.
“Everything else was a blur,” Jackson said.
The whole thing lasted six minutes.
The one moment she clearly remembers? She watched as Tim “caught” their new baby girl, thinking, “My husband delivered our baby.”
Six-pound, 14-ounce Gracelyn began life crying in front of the Whispering Pines fire station.
An ambulance pulled up and ultimately completed the trip of taking Mom and new baby to the family’s original destination, Moore Regional.
The Jackson family — all four of them now — paid a second visit to the fire station a week later on July 7. “We met everybody and gave hugs and said ‘thank you,’” said Jackson.
Both firefighters and Carrie were there to hug their newest friends and show Adaline around the station and the firetrucks.
“It was nice to see them in a less crazy environment,” said Novak, adding that “most of the time when people call 911, it is for a bad situation, so it was nice to see this one have a happy ending.”
Gracelyn is doing great. Jackson said she always liked the name, but her experience at the fire station inspired the choice.
Lying there in the back of the Jeep in front of the fire station, she and Tim agreed. “We should name her Gracelyn,” she said, “because, by the grace of God, we saw someone outside the fire department.”
Contact Eliza Hage at eliza@itsthesway.com.
