MARS (KDKA) –The youngest member of the Young family was so eager to come into the world, mom and dad didn’t even get a chance to get out of the garage.

“It was a pretty intense situation, never experienced anything like it and probably will never experience anything like it again, but it’s pretty exhilarating going through that,” says dad, Justin Young of Mars.

Megan Young woke up at 2 a.m. with contractions every six minutes. Labor with her first child, Claire, took seven hours, so they thought they had plenty of time.

“We had called the doctor, and she said, ‘Come on in,’ but they didn’t realize how quickly it was progressing,” says Megan Young says.

On the way downstairs to the car, her water broke. So their departure was delayed slightly so she could change clothes.

Then came the grim realization.

“We were in the car, and I said, ‘We need to call an ambulance. There’s no way we’re going to make it,’” she told her husband.

Megan thought she could feel the head. Her husband didn’t believe it at first.

“I go over, and yeah, the head’s coming out,” he describes.

“He was incredible. He was so calm,” Megan marvels.

“I’m not a trained doctor or anything, so I just didn’t know what I was doing,” he admits.

Justin, who works in insurance, became Dr. Dad.

“Your body just kind of takes over, and you don’t have a choice in it really,” says Megan.

“I think she only gave one more push and I helped the baby out, and I was listening to what the 911 person was telling me to do and I was kind of panicked,” says Justin.

“The biggest problem for home deliveries and deliveries in the ambulance on the way is the babies can get cold,” says West Penn Hospital neonatologist Dr. Alan Lantzy. “Probably the best place to keep the baby warm is on the mom’s chest wrapped up in a blanket after they’re dry.”

The ambulance came after five minutes. Baby girl Avery was breathing and doing just fine.

West Penn Hospital gets about seven babies a year that end up being delivered in the ambulance or at home. Once in a while, these babies are premature, but most of the time they are full term with a good prognosis.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Health News
More Reports By Dr. Maria
West Penn Hospital