GFD Paramedic Delivers Own Baby
As a licensed paramedic, and member of the Guthrie Fire Department, Justin Nelson had observed babies being born before during paramedic clinicals, but had not helped deliver a child all by himself. That changed last Wednesday, February 26th when Nelson delivered his son, Axton Lee Nelson, on the side of the highway.
Nelson and Tessa Dismuke had just been to see their doctor earlier in the day. Although Axton’s due date had passed two days ago, Nelson said they were told everything looked good, and to come in if Tessa started experiencing contractions, or if her water broke. As the day went on, Nelson said Tessa started experiencing signs of going into labor.
“She started having contractions and they were getting more intense,” Nelson said. “They just weren’t consistent enough for us to go.”
Finally, Nelson said, around 8:16 in the evening, Tessa’s water broke and the couple immediately began making their way to the hospital in Oklahoma City. Just as the couple was nearing the hospital however, Nelson said, things took a turn.
“I was asking her ‘do you feel the urge to push?’ and she was like ‘yes,’” Nelson said. “So I started speeding up a little more.”
Despite his efforts to hurry, Nelson said it quickly became clear that Axton was already starting to make his appearance.
“I was like ‘I need you to reach down and see if you can feel his head,’” Nelson said. “I need to know if I need to pull over.”
Less than thirty seconds later, Nelson said Tessa told him he needed to pull over. Nelson immediately pulled over and began attempting to make Tessa comfortable as he prepared to deliver his son on the side of the road.
“As I get over there, I see the head come out,” he said, “And he was just super, super blue.”
At this point Nelson said he began checking to see if the umbilical cord was wrapped around Axton’s neck.
“It was around his neck, so I pulled it off of his neck and I started talking to her,” he said. “I said ‘you gotta push, you need to push.’”
Shortly after, Nelson said Axton’s shoulders came out, along with the rest of his body. Despite the removal of the cord from his neck, Nelson said his son wasn’t moving.
“He wasn’t moving or crying, so I flipped him over on his stomach and I was holding him,” he said. “I started patting him on the back and rubbing him on the back and he let out a real deep gurgly cry and moved his foot.”
Nelson then handed Axton back to Tessa to begin helping to get him warm and dry. Meanwhile Nelson had climbed back into the driver’s seat and began heading toward the hospital. With less than two minutes until their arrival, Nelson asked Tessa to check to see if the umbilical cord still had a pulse.
“She checked it and it still had a pulse, and I was like ‘alright we’re close, let’s just go.’” he said.
Nelson pulled into the hospital and immediately ran in to let the front desk know what was going on. With help on the way, Nelson grabbed a nearby wheelchair, and ran back to his vehicle to get Tessa and Axton. Shortly behind him, was a doctor and an entire team of nurses pushing a stretcher. Within minutes, Tessa and Axton were safely inside the hospital, and the doctors and nurses were going to work.
“They got the cord clamps on, they started checking vitals on him, they got an IV on Tessa,” he said. “We switched to three different rooms in an hour, and he had to sit under an incubator for a little bit to get him warmed up because he was really cold.
Twenty-four hours later, Axton, who weighed six pounds and thirteen ounces, was headed home with his parents, and deemed perfectly healthy.
Although Nelson said he was able to remain calm throughout the entire series of events, looking back the moments leading up to their arrival at the hospital were definitely intense.
“It was pretty terrifying because for a minute I didn’t think he was alive,” Nelson said. “As we were going down the road I kept asking her ‘is he breathing? Is he breathing?.’”
Nelson said he gives credit to his training as a paramedic for his ability to remain calm during the situation. This not only helped him, but Tessa as well.
“She was saying with me being calm, it kept her calm and relaxed,” Nelson said. “I was still terrified but I kept calm and just remembered what I had read in the books and some of the training that I had.”
Overall Nelson said he is excited that he was able to deliver his son, who will someday get to learn the story of his birth.