Photo by Anastasiya Leskova on Unsplash

The night was so white, snow blowing in from the south. You couldn’t see more than five feet in front of the truck. So when I did see the flashers I was almost on top of the car. I swerved to the left, just barely missing the rear end. After pulling ahead and parking in front of the car, I grabbed my flashlight. I made sure I was mostly off the road before getting out.

As I made my way to the back of the car, I could see the dome light was on and there was someone in the backseat. I peered through the window to see a woman screaming her head off. I couldn’t hear what was being said due to the howling wind. I pulled opened the rear driver side door and bent down. My ears rang with pain as I faced the woman who was propped up against the passenger side door. I could see that her dress was pulled up around her belly and that her left leg was bent with her shoe on the seat. Her other leg was maneuvered between the front seats resting on the middle console. I knew instantly what was going on. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew what was happening.

“How far apart are the contractions?”

“About one minute,” the lady said, as she let out a deafening scream.

“Do you have anything to wrap the baby in?”

‘No.”

“Be right back.” As I shut the door and made my way back to my truck, I rummaged under the back seat to pull out my emergency blanket. Back at the door of the car I heard her yell, “It’s about time.”

I threw the blanket on top of the backseat by the back window. I grabbed a handful of snow off of the roof and cleaned my hands the best I could. As I was watching her breathe all I remember from the TV shows was the head needs to come first and thank goodness it was. I breathed with her as she pushed. The baby came out so fast and was so slick I almost dropped him. My heart was racing as I wrapped his tiny body in the blanket. I thought that will keep him warm as I handed the new momma her baby.

“Do I need to cut the umbilical cord?”

“Yes.”

I pulled out my knife and cleaned it the best I could with snow. One quick slice was all it took. As I cleaned it again to put it back in my pocket, I could see the flashing lights of an ambulance. I’m glad they are here I thought. They are trained for this. I backed out of the rear door as a paramedic arrived and as she started asking questions to the lady, I realized I was no longer needed. So, I walked slowly back to my truck and started it. I hadn’t realized how cold I was. I put the truck in gear and continued on my way. I never did get her name, but I sure hope she gives that little baby boy a life he will grow to be proud of.

— Nicole Barden 1/16/2021

Originally published in Illumination on Medium