Cop, 911 operator help deliver baby in Addison
An Addison mother says she's glad a 911 operator and a police officer helped her deliver a baby boy who arrived much faster than anticipated Tuesday.
Sondra Johnson, 29, delivered baby Malachi in her house on the 600 block of Meadows Boulevard. She and her mother-in-law were waiting for her five children and their father to warm up the truck to go to the hospital when the baby started coming about 10 a.m., Johnson said.
"The pain started coming back to back, so I finally stood up and went to the door and the water broke," she said. "And there goes Malachi."
Her mother-in-law called 911 but was so "discombobulated" she initially gave the wrong address, operator Tiffany Williamson said. Williamson verified the address, then gave instructions to the baby's grandmother, who relayed them to officer Maria Reyes, who was first to arrive at the house.
Williamson and Reyes said their training kicked in.
"Your adrenaline begins to rush. It's very exciting," Williamson said. "My hands were shaking afterward, but I was able to keep my composure on the phone and give the grandma directions. Inside, it was a ball of nerves for me."
Reyes said the baby was almost out when she arrived. Johnson handed the officer the baby, who was in the fetal position and whose toes, fingertips and earlobes were blue, Reyes said. "You could tell he was not breathing right," she said.
Williamson gave instructions about how to clean the baby's face to clear his airway and asked the grandmother to find a shoe string to tie off the umbilical chord. Meanwhile, Reyes already thought quickly and used a latex glove she was carrying. Blood rushed in and the baby gained color, she said.
"He opened up, his arms came out and he was screaming. He was loud," Reyes said. "I knew that was a good thing."
"I think I was as scared as mom was at the time, but it was so exciting," she said.
Johnson said she didn't panic because her pain wasn't too strong, and she saw Reyes handling the situation. "I didn't know what was going on. (Reyes) came right in and did what she had to do," she said.
Addison Fire Protection District paramedics took mom and baby Malachi - who was 6 pounds 4 ounces, and 18 inches long - to Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights, where both are doing well.
Johnson, a stay-at-home mom, said Malachi is her second baby to arrive in a rush.
Her youngest child, now 4, was born in the car in the parking lot of a CVS store in Aurora, where the family lived at the time. Johnson and her mother-in law were on their way to the hospital when they pulled over and called 911 because the baby was coming, she said. Paramedics arrived shortly after, she said.
"That's it. No more," Johnson said, laughing.
Reyes visited the family in the hospital and delivered presents for the other children. Addison police will install a car seat for the new baby in the next few days, the department said on Facebook.
"(Malachi) looked like a perfect little baby," Reyes said. "There are Christmas miracles, and this definitely was one of them."