A Prince George firefighter delivered his baby daughter last week on the bathroom floor after his wife's labour unexpectedly intensified.
Kevin Gunning was lucky he was home April 24 when his wife Tiffany went into labour.
He had just started his days off from the downtown fire hall.
The family, including Brooklynn, 4, was spending a quiet evening at home when all the excitement started.
"The baby was due on the 22nd but nothing was happening," Kevin said. "The day of the 24th Tiffany started getting contractions during the day and we figured maybe tonight or tomorrow."
At about 9 p.m. Kevin, who had been timing the contraction intermittently throughout the day timed them again. Contractions were between 6 1/2 to seven minutes apart.
"We planned on going to the hospital at five minutes apart," Kevin said. "But the five minutes never came. Tiffany was sitting on the couch watching TV when her water broke and she was worried about the couch."
As Tiffany went into the bathroom, Kevin thought he could pack Brooklynn into the truck before he went back for Tiffany, who was in a lot of pain by that time.
"Tiffany was yelling at this point that the baby was coming," Kevin said.
Yeah, sure, he thought to himself.
He figured he could wait until between contractions and then put a robe on his wife and walk her out to the truck and they'd make their way to the hospital.
Kevin went into the bathroom and Tiffany told him that she wasn't going to make it to the hospital.
So he called for an ambulance thinking it would be good to get a couple of extra hands to help get Tiffany to hospital.
At this point, Kevin went to Tiffany to try to keep the baby from coming.
A stall position to slow an imminent birth is putting the mother on all fours, Kevin advised, using his firefighter knowledge.
"This time it didn't work," said Tiffany, with a shrug and a smile.
Kevin went out to retrieve an upset Brooklynn and put her on the couch. He then turned on all the lights and opened the door so first responders would know what house to visit.
"The fire department got here first," Kevin said. "As soon as I heard those sirens in the distance all the stress and tension went away."
He knew the crew that came to the rescue and told them the situation.
"I went back to talk to Tiffany and we assessed her a little bit and I checked and the baby's head was crowning," Kevin explained.
"We had to make a decision and so I helped her get on her back because now we're going to have this baby here."
Tiffany was still on the bathroom floor.
"I couldn't move," Tiffany said with a shake of her head, looking down at her new born sleeping peacefully in her arms. "It was terrifying."
Tiffany wasn't worried so much for her. She was worried about after the baby was born.
With Brooklynn there were complications, Tiffany explained.
Her first baby wasn't breathing when she was born and because she was immediately rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit, mom didn't even get to hold her.
Five hours after that, Brooklynn had an unexplained seizure that prompted an emergency trip to B.C. Children's Hospital. With those worries running through Tiffany's head and the pain making it all a blur, she was terrified.
To prepare for the birth, firefighters brought in the obstetrics kit made for just such a situation, consisting of padding, blankets and other equipment.
"They threw me some gloves and Tiffany pushed once and then the head came out," Kevin said.
"Then I think it was a total of three pushes and the shoulders were out and as soon as the shoulders came out she just slid right out."
At this point, Kevin was holding his new crying daughter.
"So I kept her parallel with the placenta and then shortly after that the ambulance showed up and they clamped the umbilical cord and I got to cut it and that was cool," said Kevin.
Then the baby was wrapped up, given to Tiffany and they were prepared for transport to hospital.
"By the time my water broke, she was probably born within 10 to 15 minutes," Tiffany recalled.
Ryleigh was born at 9:37 p.m. and weighed eight pounds two ounces.
"Everybody was good and the baby was healthy," Kevin said.
Ryleigh and Tiffany were released from hospital the next day.
The family would like to extended their thanks to all first responders, he said.
"Both ambulance and fire department were extremely professional during the whole situation," Kevin said. "So a big thank you to all of them. I went to the fire station and shook hands with all of them. It was a big experience for them as well. We get a lot of calls for near misses, we call them, where we're able to transport them in time."
It's not often that an unplanned birth takes place at home, he added.
"This whole experience has brought us closer together as a family," Kevin said. "We've really bonded over this. It's one thing to share in the experience of the delivery of your baby in the hospital, but it's another to do it at home."
There were a few casualties, however.
"We had to throw out some bath mats," Kevin laughed. "But I'm happy it's tile in there."
