Leia Taylor was not born in the hospital like most babies. Instead, she came into the world last week on the bathroom floor -- delivered by her father Christopher Taylor.
Mother Ivonne Rodriguez went into labor (about two weeks early) last week inside the bathroom of the apartment that the engaged couple shares in Bensalem, Pa. After what Rodriguez described to the Bucks County Courier Times as an ordinary Sunday, she began experiencing back pain and irregular contractions. After the pain subsided and the couple ate dinner, Rodriguez took a shower as the back pain returned.
While in the shower, Rodriguez went into labor and called for her fiancé, who ran into the bathroom while dialing 911.
"The baby's coming now," Rodriguez recalled yelling as she spoke to NBC10 Tuesday. "I laid down on the bathroom floor…her head was already out as we were dialing 911. They tried to walk him through the steps...we were like skip to step 10 because she's coming out, what do we do now!"
Taylor put the Bucks County 911 dispatcher on speakerphone, grabbed towels so he could keep Leia warm once she came out, and three pushes later, baby Leia was born.
Almost as soon as Leia was delivered, police and EMTs arrived, at which point Taylor gladly let them take over. Mom and daughter were rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Middletown and everybody is doing well. The hospital says that it sees a surprise home birth like this one on average once every two years.
"It was very scary," Taylor says of the entire experience. "So far, everything is good with her. She’s our little angel."
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