Surprise birth gives couple an early Christmas gift

Little Persephone Brooks wasn’t supposed to experience her first Christmas until next year. But the feisty baby decided to make her entrance into the world in time for this Christmas — arriving 12 weeks early and in the front seat of a rental car during a road trip.

First-time mother Lilly Lester wasn’t due until Feb. 17, but Persephone had other plans. It just so happens her arrival plans fell on Nov. 28 while her parents were driving through Central Oregon on their way home to Vancouver.

“She decided she wasn’t going to make it home,” Lester said.

Lester, 29, was only just beginning to develop a noticeable baby bump when she and her boyfriend, Dustin Brooks, headed to Albuquerque, N.M., to visit her family for Thanksgiving. The Vancouver woman was about 28 weeks’ pregnant and said she had enjoyed a pretty uneventful pregnancy to that point.

Lester and Brooks had just purchased a new home — spending one night in the house before leaving town — and were signed up for labor and delivery classes after the holidays.

The couple enjoyed their road trip to New Mexico, stopping in Las Vegas for a couple days of relaxation before continuing on, they said. They left Lester’s family on Thanksgiving afternoon; they were trying to beat the winter weather forecast along the route home.

But on the way home, Lester began experiencing cramps. That Friday night, they stopped at a hospital in Kingman, Ariz.

“They said I was dehydrated and to keep going,” Lester said.

So Lester stocked up on water bottles, and the duo hit the road again. But the water wasn’t helping. They stopped in Winnemucca, Nev., and got a hotel room so Lester could rest. But early Saturday morning, when the cramping hadn’t subsided, they headed to the local hospital.

“They said the same thing,” Lester said.

She received a preterm labor test, which came back positive, but the doctors told Lester the test just meant she might go into labor in the following couple of weeks. They sent Lester and Brooks on their way, reminding Lester to keep drinking lots of water.

“I totally knew something would happen,” Lester said.

And she was right.

Lester began feeling contractions, at first about eight minutes apart. Then, they got closer and closer.

“I was pretty much yelling to pull over for 10 hours, but when you have two hospitals tell you you’re OK, nobody believes you,” she said.

The couple made it to Central Oregon before Lester felt Persephone turn. Not long after, while sitting in the front seat of the rented Mazda 2, Lester delivered Persephone as Brooks drove along Highway 26 near Warm Springs, Ore., desperate to find an exit. Snow was piled on the side of the highway, and the couple was afraid to pull over for fear of getting the subcompact car stuck.

“Luckily, she came out right in front of five signs for an exit,” Lester said.

But Brooks’ phone wasn’t getting reception. They searched the small car for Lester’s phone, which had fallen under the seat in the commotion, and dialed 911. Persephone was crying, squirming and breathing, so they knew the baby wasn’t in any immediate danger. Brooks cradled Persephone, keeping her warm, and followed the operator’s instructions for clearing the baby’s mouth and nose.

“He did good,” Lester said. “We just scared him.”

Lester, meanwhile, was trying to comprehend what had just happened.

“I was just like, ‘Oh my God. I had a baby in the car,’ ” she said.

An ambulance transported mother and baby to the hospital in Madras, Ore., while Brooks followed in the car. The hospital doesn’t have a neonatal intensive care unit and wasn’t equipped to care for Persephone. The weather prevented the hospital from airlifting Lester and the baby, so they had to wait a couple of hours for an ambulance and medical staff from Bend, Ore., to arrive and transport them to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

After about a week and a half in Bend, Persephone was taken on Dec. 7 to Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center to be closer to home. Persephone measured 14.7 inches and weighed just 2 pounds, 12 ounces at birth. Now, about three weeks later, she’s up to 3 pounds, 6 ounces.

She’ll likely spend a few more weeks in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit before she can go home for the first time. Lester said she hopes to have a nursery ready by then, but the couple’s new home is still full of boxes, their unpacking delayed by the early arrival.

In the meantime, Lester and Brooks are preparing to spend their first Christmas with Persephone in their daughter’s Salmon Creek hospital room.

“We’re just glad she’s doing so good,” Lester said, “and we get to have a Christmas with her earlier than we thought.”

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546; marissa.harshman@columbian.com; twitter.com/MarissaHarshman