Officers in Greeley Colorado responding to a call for help got a surprise when they learned the 24-year-old mother in distress was pregnant with triplets and was in labour on her neighbor’s front lawn.
Facebook: Eric Mayeda
The remarkable series of events unfolded during the early hours of April 18, amidst snow and rain, as detailed by the Greeley Police Department in a Facebook post.
Tiffany Leonard was staying at her mother’s house when she found herself in labor. With her phone dead and not wanting to disturb anyone, she made her way to her neighbor’s home, about a block away, where she realized her babies were on the way.
Knocking on the neighbor’s door, she was met with immediate assistance as they promptly called 911 on her behalf. Responding officers arrived, and amidst the flurry of activity, Tiffany delivered her first baby with the help of law enforcement.
Resourceful, officers improvised with bread ties to safely cut the umbilical cord while ensuring warmth and comfort with blankets and towels sourced from neighbors. This is when they learned she was pregnant with triplets.
The Greeley Police Department wrote:
“Once inside the vehicle, the baby stopped breathing which prompted the officer to initiate infant CPR and chest compressions to give the baby a fighting chance of survival. Medics arrived soon after and the baby was handed off to them. While all of this was happening, the women informed the officer who was tending to her, that she was expecting triplets. When officers learned this, they immediately summoned more medical personnel to the scene for the additional babies and mother. ”
After the second baby was delivered, the first and second were transported to the hospital for special care as another ambulance was deployed to transfer Tiffany to the hospital where she delivered the third baby.
The babies are named:
- Burt Isao Leonard-Mayeda, born at 3:26 a.m., weighing 1.23 pounds.
- Kikutaro Alan Leonard-Mayeda, born at 3:30 a.m., weighing 2.18 pounds.
- Billy Bob Leonard-Mayeda, born at 4:20 a.m., weighing 1.94 pounds.
While the babies will remain in the NICU for the foreseeable future, their father, Eric Mayeda, expressed gratitude for their current health and the overwhelming support received from their community. Originally due in July, the early arrival of the triplets came as a surprise, but the family is thankfully by the outpouring of assistance and love.
On Facebook the new dad has shared that the babies are growing and developing well.
“Kiku and Billy are both improving by leaps and bounds! Hopefully kiku can be extubated sometime in the next week or so. Billy they are thinking maybe in the next 2 weeks. Burt however his pda is closing slower than they were hoping so the gave him meds to help with that process.”
Chief Adam Turk said, “We expect our officers to do great work in our community every day, it is engrained in our core values. Even with that lofty expectation, I was amazed at the teamwork, ingenuity, and care our officers provided to this mother and her three new baby boys. The success of this call is a success in our officers, our training, and our partnerships with other public safety agencies in the area.”
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