Joanna and Trevor Childs have known for nearly nine months having their second child would be a moment they would never forget.
Now the couple from Lark Harbour has even more reason to always remember the circumstances around the birth of Addisyn Brooke, who came into the world at seven pounds and two ounces Thursday morning.
While the due date was technically not until next Friday, the couple has known for the last month that their baby would be delivered by a Caesarian section scheduled for Jan. 18.
That plan became a concern when heavy rain and melting snowpack washed out the highway between their home in the outer Bay of Islands and Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook last Saturday.
With arrangements having been made to fly people in need of dialysis out of Lark Harbour, the Childs were told they should catch one of those flights out Monday.
So, they took that opportunity and spent some time with relatives in Massey Drive until going to the hospital Wednesday to be admitted for Thursday’s scheduled procedure.
“I was worried, knowing I had to have a section,” Joanna said. “If I could have delivered naturally, it wouldn’t have been so bad … I honestly don’t know what we would have done.”
Despite the stress she felt before flying out, Childs felt confident the town office would have done everything it could to get her out if the situation had become an emergency.
“It was a relief to know I could get the helicopter in,” she added. “It was a lot better than being home.”
Her husband said it was definitely a worrisome time between hearing of the washout and finally boarding the flight Monday.
“It was nerve-wracking,” he said. “You could stay home and make her as comfortable as you can, but it was always on our minds that she could go in labour at any time.”
Once they were safely near the hospital, the couple’s concern soon turned to whether they would have to be flown back home. Luckily, the road has since been repaired and they can drive all the way back down the shore when they area ready to do so.
And, yes, little Addisyn Brooke’s middle name is a deliberate reference to Rattler’s Brook, the flooded waterway that led to the highway washout on Route 450 last weekend.
“We just thought it was a story we would never forget,” Joanna said of choosing their daughter’s second name.
