Tara Luce, 28, says she started experiencing irregular contractions on Dec. 20 around 8 a.m. CST. It was a very cold day, with a wind chill value around –40.
“They asked me to go shopping or go for supper, as everything seemed fine, but my contractions still were all over the place,” Tara said.
The two walked around the mall in Yorkton, rather than driving back to Stockholm, then returned to the hospital around 6 p.m.
“My contractions were six to eight minutes apart. When they checked me, I was only three centimetres [dilated], and was asked to go home or check into a hotel,” Tara said.
“My contractions were bringing me down to the knees at the hospital, so we went to my mom’s new townhouse [in Yorkton]
Tara had a warm bath to relax as her contractions kept getting stronger.
“Then, I was just relaxing on the bedroom floor. And all of a sudden, I was in pain. I told my brother and my husband to call 911 now,” Tara said.
Minutes later, her water broke.
“It all happened so quickly.”
EMS was tied up on another call, so paramedics didn’t arrive before the birth.
“Even if EMS weren’t doing another call, I doubt they would have made it there as it happened all so fast,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said he was scared, and shocked to see everything progressing so quickly. Thankfully, a 911 operator coached him through the steps — from delivering the baby to cutting the umbilical cord — and soon their son was born, right on the bedroom floor of the townhouse.
“I was shaking and remained in a shock for another day,” he said. “But it was a miracle.”
Tara said it was 6:43 p.m. when they left the hospital and baby Lincoln was born by 8 p.m.
“If the hospital had kept us for two or three hours longer, it would have made a huge difference, since they didn’t do that it was almost a nightmare,” Mitchell said.
“It was a crazy experience. A story to remember for our lifetime, that’s for sure.”
When EMS eventually came, they helped Tara deliver her placenta, then took the mother and child to the hospital for checkups.