A Quick-Thinking Grandma Delivers Own Granddaughter

A local woman had the unexpected blessing of delivering her own granddaughter last month.

Patricia Good and her husband Craig have lived in the Warrenton area for about 25 years, and all three of their kids grew up here. Recently, Patricia has been staying with their pregnant daughter, Rebekah Coons, and her husband Mike at their home near Canyon Lake.

“I kind of lived up there during the week in an RV helping Rebekah with her other daughter, keeping her out of day care,” Good said. “We knew mom was about to go into labor.”

They had all planned to go to the hospital on the morning of Rebekah’s due date, Feb. 15.

“I didn’t have any signs of contraction or labor or anything,” Rebekah said. “But I woke up on that morning of the 15th, and it went from zero to 60. We didn’t have time to make it to the hospital.”

Good said Rebekah’s husband called her about 4 a.m. to say Rebekah was going into labor.

“We live about 45 minutes from town out in the county,” Rebekah said. “It was cold and rainy, and I didn’t want to risk having her on the side of the road. My husband knew he needed to call 911.”

“I’m thinking, ‘Ok, it’s time. Everything’s normal,’” Good recalled. “I made my way in the house and she’s on the floor. The toddler, Ellie, she’s patting mom on the back and doesn’t understand what’s happening. So I take her in the other room to calm her down a little bit. Pretty soon, my sonin- law says, ‘Pat, you better come in here.’” Good went back to the room and saw her daughter on the ground screaming in labor pain.

“Her contractions were about a minute apart, and I knew something was about to happen,” Good said. “I looked at Rebekah on the floor and saw the baby crowning. I thought, ‘This is it.’ I took charge without even thinking. I told Rebekah, ‘OK, the next contraction you feel, push as hard as you can.’ She did, and the baby just came out, right into my arms.”

Good wrapped her brandnew granddaughter in a towel. She turned the newborn on her stomach and patted her back.

“Then she started screaming,” Good said. “I was really relieved when I heard that. It’s kind of funny, because I was talking to her and admiring my new granddaughter, and she hadn’t even seen her mom yet.”

About that time EMS medics arrived at the house.

“The EMS had the scissors and asked, ‘Who wants to cut the umbilical cord?’” Good recalled. “No one said anything, so I said, ‘I guess I’ll do that.’” Good cut the cord and handed Sadie to the medics. They put a diaper on the baby and placed Rebekah on a stretcher. Then everybody finally went to the hospital.

Both of Rebekah’s daughters were born “Coombs positive,” a temporary condition resulting from the mother and child having different blood types. It can cause symptoms in the baby similar to jaundice after the umbilical cord is cut. It’s easily cured with phototherapy – exposing the baby to blue-green light. Rebekah and Sadie stayed in the hospital two days for treatment and observation.

“The good thing is, there were no complications,” Good said.

Good had no special medical training to prepare her for the delivery, other than her own experience of giving birth to Rebekah and her other two children many years ago.

“The adrenaline kicks in and you just do what needs to be done,” she said Now, everyone is back home and healthy.

Good continues to stay part time with her daughter and son-in-law in Canyon Lake while the family adjusts to their new bundle of joy.

And they’ll have quite a story to share with Sadie as she grows up.