Mother reflects on unexpected ambulance birth
DRIPPING SPRINGS — “He had his own way of getting here and he was ready to join us,” Ashley Karol said, as she reflected on the unexpected natural experience that she had for the birth of her youngest son, Jonah.
On Dec. 8, 2024 — five days before the expected due date — Karol’s first contraction started around 7:45 a.m. and then, her son was in her arms at 9:20 a.m. And while she predicted that Jonah might come a little sooner than her oldest son, Elijah, did, Karol was still left surprised, as the birth did not go as expected.
That morning, she was having what she thought were to be bad Braxton Hicks contractions, which are sometimes referred to as false labor pains, when they started to grow less than a minute apart.
“I was awake and had come to my senses. I told my husband, ‘I think these are real contractions.’ I was like, ‘I think today is going to be the day,’” Karol said.
They started getting ready to head to the hospital and when she started putting on her shoes to get out to the car, Karol’s water broke. She started to panic, as with her first son, they had already made it to the hospital by that point.
“At that point, the contractions felt more intense, like I was pushing with each contraction and my best friend came over to watch our toddler, so that we could head to the hospital. She had actually had three natural births and she knew what she had walked into. She was like, ‘You are in transition. You guys will not make it to the hospital in time,’” Karol said.
“I had never done a natural delivery. I had an epidural with my first son ... I didn't plan on this at all, so I had no idea what to expect with behavior, symptoms and how different contractions felt and what phase I felt like I was in,” she continued. “Her showing up was such a blessing and her being able to look at Kole and tell him ‘She is a lot further along than you guys think. You will not make it. You will have a baby on the side of the road.’”
After calling 9-1-1 to respond to the scene, firefighters from North Hays County Fire Rescue arrived within 10 minutes and then, the EMTs from San Marcos Hays County EMS got there shortly thereafter. Karol pleaded to her husband and the emergency personnel that she wanted to deliver the baby at the hospital; she wanted to be able to have an epidural, a medicated birth.
However, the medics knew that there was no time for that. After explaining the history of their first son, who was delivered through an unplanned C-section, they started heading to the hospital, with the caveat that she “could end up having [her] baby in the ambulance,” Karol recalled what one of the EMTs said.
That ended up being the case as they were headed on US 290 toward St. David's South Austin Medical Center.
“They told me, they’re like, ‘If you feel like you're pushing, if you feel like it's coming, then you need to let us know, so that we can pull over,’” Karol said. “They realized that I was pushing him out and [the head paramedic] hollered at the driver to pull up and the next thing we knew, Jonah was born.”
One of the paramedics who was responding to the call, Gabriel Vasquez, shared that that was the first time he had ever helped deliver a baby.
“That's the first time I've ever dealt with an actual birth in the field. Everything's so scheduled nowadays. Everyone goes in, has their delivery date, they get induced,” he said. “So, actual in the field deliveries are super rare.”
He added that it was a cool experience because more often than not, “we're there when somebody is really hurt or someone's really sick or somebody has unfortunately died or those types of situations and to be there to actually help bring life into the world, rather than being there at the end of it, is a really cool experience.”
For Karol, in a moment that felt so uncontrolled and scary, the paramedics and fire department were there to provide a sense of safety. She knew that they were in good hands as soon as they walked in the door.
Several expectant mothers develop some type of birth plan and Karol was no different. While hers did not go to plan, she advises other mothers to know that going into the birth that may be a possibility.
“When you're making your birth plan, just know that that is if all the stars align because your child is going to get here in the way that God intended them to join us Earth side and to just roll with it the best that you can,” Karol said. “To set some hopes for how your baby will enter this world, but not expectations and having your partner as your support is the most important thing because they are ultimately what keeps you calm … In the moment, you can't even form a thought, usually.”
Now, three months later, Jonah is the happiest little camper who is filled with joy watching his older brother, said Karol.
“I feel like he came into the world with so much chaos … He caused so much fun and excitement arriving and now he's like, ‘Okay, I'm here. The storm has passed. The dust has settled and now I'm just like a part of this life.’ We have a crazy toddler and he is just the star of the show and Jonah just sits there and watches him like, ‘Wow, you're busy,’” Karol shared. “He is the best little addition to our family and he is so chill. We are so blessed to have such a good, good baby.”
“Ultimately, I would say the entire experience was such a miracle that my body was able to just do what God designed us to do and I was blessed to be able to have a [vaginal birth after cesarean]. That was like a 50/50 shot. You don't know if you're gonna be able to have a VBAC. I wanted to try for one and then, to have the experience of having a natural birth was incredible,” she concluded. “For him to come out so healthy and there not to be any complications for either of us was just the icing on the cake. It was definitely an unplanned birth the way that it went down, but I would do it over again in a heartbeat. It was such an exciting day.”
