Every New Year's Day, there are news stories about the first babies born in the new year. But none are quite like the story of a baby in Bangor, Maine, who couldn't wait to make it to the hospital.
Mother Jennifer Sicard-Flood started feeling contractions New Year's Day. She piled into a friend's pick-up truck, and made the one-hour drive to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
As her contractions started speeding up, so did the car.
"I was a little worried, but at the time, your adrenaline is so up there, and you're in so much pain," said Sicard-Flood. "You're just thinking, 'Oh my god, the baby is coming.'"
The driver raced to the hospital, and made it to a parking lot nearby. They were so close, yet so far from the delivery room.
"I had started feeling like I needed to push," she said.
The driver ran out of the truck to get help from the hospital, while the passenger helped Sicard-Flood get into position. With one foot on the seat, and another on the dash, she delivered her baby in the parking lot.
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Paramedics from the Bangor Fire Department beat hospital nurses to the scene. When Lt. Andrew Emery arrived, he found a tired mother and cold, slightly blue baby.
"We gave him oxygen, and a warm ride to the E.R.," said Lt. Emery. "Babies don't wait, but zero degree [temperatures] is probably not the ideal weather [to have a baby]."
Despite his chaotic entrance, baby Lucas Wayne Flood was peacefully sleeping at EMMC Wednesday morning, cleared to be taken home.
Sicard-Flood said she is overwhelmed with gratitude to the firefighters, and the friend who delivered in her time of need.
"Thank you," she said through tears.
