Erica and Troy Campbell thought they had plenty of time to get to the hospital. They piled into the car with their third child on the way and pressed record on their dashcam. Little Nova, they didn’t realize, wasn’t ready to wait.
The family bloggers captured the entire dramatic birth of their baby daughter, as it unfolded on the side of a busy highway.
‘There’s something weird going on’
Erika’s water broke at around 5pm on May 10, 2021 with the couple heading to the hospital just 30 minutes later. “There’s something very weird going on,” Troy says as the couple calmly drives along. “No pain but I am feeling now like I gotta poo a little.” Erica adds.
The couple then jokes that they still have to decide on a middle name for their baby, as Erica breathes through contractions. “It’s not that bad,” she says. “That was a little one.” Troy, who is timing the contractions, excitedly shows the camera that they are now around three and a half minutes apart.
But, just seconds later, Erica’s face grimaces, and it’s evident she’s no longer breezing through the pain. “Should we contact the midwife?” ” Troy inquires. He calls ahead to the hospital since Erica is in too much pain to answer.
The excited dad then rubs his hands together, exclaiming, “Oh, yeah, this baby coming.” Erica speaks to the midwives, putting them on speaker as she deals with more contractions. They direct the couple to head straight to emergency.
Troy explains to Erica that they’re only 16 minutes away, and to hold on. But as another contraction wave hits, Erica asks Troy to hurry. “I gotta push!” Erica exclaims. “You gotta push?! What do you mean you gotta push?” Troy responds. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no! You can’t push baby.”
Breathing heavily, Erica says she’s trying to hold it in, as Troy nervously checks how far they are from the hospital. The contractions continue, with Troy getting more and more concerned until Erica says, “Something feels like it’s coming out!”
“Babe do I need to pull over?” Troy asks. “I don’t know!” Erica says as she writhes in pain, trying to find a comfortable position. The couple calls the hospital, who advise them to pull over and call emergency services.
And in case there was any doubt about how close she was to giving birth, Erica screams, “Ring of fire!”
The midwife stays on the line and dials in the ambulance service, as Troy pulls over and heads around to Erica. “I can see the baby’s head! The baby’s head is out!” Troy says before the baby is born just seconds later.
“Is the baby crying?” asks the emergency services, and just like a perfectly scripted movie, Nova begins crying, along with her relieved parents.
