Baby Noah Parker van Rhyn Struck arrived exactly on his due date, but not precisely at the right destination. Apparently in a hurry to get here, the baby was born in the parking lot of the hospital where his parents were expecting to deliver.
Mom and dad – Noah and Lauren Struck – headed out from their Jacksonville Beach, Florida home around midnight on Wednesday, making the short drive to the hospital in a caravan that included Lauren’s mom and birth photographer Stephanie Knowles, owner of Jaiden Photography.
Driving behind the couple, Stephanie says she knew “something was wrong” when Noah suddenly sped up. He took a wrong turn that left him near the hospital emergency room rather than at the hospital maternity unit. Lauren told him to park immediately because the baby was coming.
Noah, 35, told ABC News that his wife told him to come to her side of the car and “catch the baby.” He says “after a contraction or two, the baby was out and on Lauren’s chest.”
Knowles was right there as well, capturing the minutes-long delivery. It was her first client birth photo shoot, and her pictures show Noah Parker – his middle name chosen as a tribute to his unusual birth location – resting on his mom’s stomach with her husband by her side.
Lauren had prepared for a natural childbirth and after her quick and unexpected delivery hospital medical personnel took she and the baby boy inside for medical care. Both are doing well and are expected to be discharged tonight.
Baby Noah makes this a happy family of four as he joins older brother 3-year-old Harrison.
Dad says that the experience was “a very anxious moment of love.” He says that his emotions during the delivery ranged from “shock, awe, anxiety, love, all of it.” With his help, the couples newborn arrived safely at 12:21 am, weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz.
