When Ben Bray and Kelly Bray-Dunning found out they were pregnant with their second child, they were hoping for a natural birth.
However, son Kensington’s journey into the world on July 11 turned out to be anything but ordinary.
After an adrenaline-fueled ride from Drayton to Groves hospital in Fergus, Kelly gave birth in the front seat of the couple’s Ford Focus, just steps away from the emergency room entrance bay.
“It was pretty much the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced,” Ben Bray told the Advertiser.
The couple was at home with a midwife Friday morning after Kelly had gone into labour. They figured they had enough time to make it to the hospital, but by 10am, she was already eight centimetres dilated. She gave birth at 10:25am.
For Bray, the drive to Fergus is still a bit of a blur.
“From the moment we left the house, all the way there it was just adrenaline,” he says.
“I didn’t really think that he would actually come out. I thought we would just make it to the hospital and then she’d have maybe an hour or so of pushing.”
Kensington it seems, had other plans.
“Just as I pulled into the hospital parking lot I heard a bit of a scream from her, and she said, ‘he’s here! He’s here!’ And I looked down and she had shorts on … and I saw an arm and a head coming out of the side of her shorts.”
The couple’s midwife, who had followed them to the hospital, assessed the scene in the car and once it was determined the baby was breathing and crying, placed him in Kelly’s arms. Groves’ staff arrived shortly after to find all the hard work had already been done.
Bray said he was grateful they had at least made it to the hospital parking lot, where help was nearby.
“Just pulling into the parking lot, I felt this relief, and then he popped out and I saw him, and it was panic all over again,” he says.
“I didn’t really know what to do, whether I should pick him up or what. The first thing that came to mind was to get someone who knew what they were doing, but if someone hadn’t been there I guess I would have had to figure it out. It was pretty scary.”
After spending a night in Groves for observation, Kelly and Kensington are doing well. Kensington weighed in at seven pounds and is now home with his family in Drayton as they settle back into routine.
