If you’ve ever woken up in a cold sweat worrying about delivering your baby in the car or in a public place before you make it to the hospital or birthing center, you’re far from alone. One Wisconsin mama used to have the same nightmares… that is, until she gave birth in a McDonald’s parking lot. In the middle of a snowstorm. No, we’re not kidding.
Analysia Beck told TODAY.com she was 38 weeks along in her pregnancy when she started noticing mild contractions around 11 p.m., which she attributed to Braxton Hicks (aka false labor). She went back to sleep, but was jolted awake when her water broke a few hours later.
Beck and her husband Daniel waited for Analysia’s mother to arrive to care for their two older children Jayce, 3, and Aubriella, 17 months. But by the time they got in the car, baby number three was making his grand debut.
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“I knew almost as soon as we left our house that we weren’t going to make it to the hospital,” Analysia told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “But I never imagined we would be having the baby at McDonald’s.”
“We were in the car for like two minutes when I was like, ‘Daniel, you have to pull over, I feel like I’m sitting on the baby’s head,’” Analysia told TODAY.com. “At that point, I knew he was coming, and we weren’t going to make it the hospital.”
When the couple pulled into the parking lot, Daniel called for assistance, but they delivered baby Micah together right then and there in the back of their SUV. “It was a huge surprise,” Analysia told the Journal Sentinel. “It was probably the scariest and hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was worth every second. My husband was terrified, but handled it very well and stayed as calm as he could.”
Shortly thereafter, the police and paramedics arrived, putting the baby on oxygen, which Analysia attributes to the snow blowing on his face as she delivered. “I think it was because of how cold it was — snow was blowing into our car and it got on his face,” she told TODAY. “Luckily, he was totally healthy and everything was fine. He passed all his tests at the hospital.”
Mom, dad, and baby Micah are all doing well, and the couple has given their new little love a perfectly fitting nickname, calling him their “Little McFlurry.”
“Between the blizzard and the McDonald’s, we think it’s very fitting!” she told TODAY. We totally agree, and we’re sending out a call to McD’s to send this family some free McFlurries, fries, or whatever else they want. So glad they’re all safe and well.