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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Infant arrives on elevator at Ontario, Ore., hospital

The Columbian
Published:

ONTARIO, Ore. — Dale and Jenne Schiffauer welcomed their fifth child, Silas Phillip, into the world Monday morning in an unorthodox manner, having the baby in the elevator on their way to the delivery room at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Ontario.

“I felt contractions and thought it was just the normal labor pains you get before the epidural, but we got into the elevator and I knew he was coming,” Jenne Schiffauer said.

The couple was scheduled to be induced at 5 a.m. Monday, but Schiffauer started having contractions around 3:30 a.m.

“I got up and put on my makeup, and we left for the hospital,” Schiffauer said, holding her newborn with her mascara still in mint condition.

Dale Schiffauer, who works at Enterprise Car Rental during the week and at a local bakery on the weekends, settled his wife into a wheelchair at the hospital, and the couple made their way toward the delivery room.

“As soon as the elevator door shut, her water broke,” Schiffauer said. “He started coming, and I caught him before we hit the third floor.”

Schiffauer said she had gone through six or seven hours of labor with each of her other four children and was expecting the same for their son. The speedy delivery caught everyone by surprise.

“I just remember yelling, ‘Pull down my pants, he’s coming!”‘ she said.

Dale Schiffauer kicked on the elevator door, calling for help as he wiped the fluid and other birthing matter from his son’s face.

“It was just like a water slide,” he said. “I saw the head, and then he just came out. I just remembered how the doctors pulled all the stuff off of my other kids’ faces after they’d been born so they could breathe.”

Once they’d reached the third floor and the elevator doors opened, nurses took over, getting mom and baby into a recovery room.

“Everyone’s healthy, and we have a perfect new son,” Jenne Schiffauer said. “It all feels so primal; I felt like an animal.”

She and her husband have four daughters: Annalisa, 11; Angelina, 7; Alanna, 4; and Aliyah, who will turn 1 Wednesday.

“Our 1-year-old just started walking a couple days ago,” Dale Schiffauer said. “Well, actually she skipped the walking and started running.”

Jenne Schiffauer said she felt great. She told the doctor Monday she had laundry in the washing machine and she thought she could home.

The doctor advised them to stay in the hospital overnight, so the busy couple spent Monday night in the hospital and returned home to Fruitland Tuesday.

“Really, Dale deserves a lot of credit,” his wife said. “He’s Dr. Dad.”

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