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Newborn Elijah Clutter takes a nap. His arrival was a little earlier than anticipated - he was born in the back of the family's van
CELINA - On one of the coldest days of December, a Celina woman gave birth to her third son in the back of a van on the side of U.S. Route 30, just where it crosses into Indiana. Her husband caught their son while her mother and mother-in-law watched from the back seat - and a sheriff's deputy and highway patrolman gave them all a rare police escort to the intended birthing center.
It's quite a story Staci and Adam Clutter recounted to The Daily Standard. Their son, Elijah, was born at 6:50 a.m. Dec. 14, weighing 7 pounds and 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches.
"He was trying to come prematurely anyway from 23 weeks on," Staci said. "We were able, with bed rest and everything, to keep him in until 37 weeks and 4 days, which I thought was pretty incredible."
When her water broke at 4:45 a.m. Dec. 14, she thought she had time to shower before making the more than an hour drive to Holy Family Birth Center in Fort Wayne. Her due date was Dec. 31. Now, she knows she was in active labor, and the contractions were very real.
"We were driving along, and I am feeling really rough," Staci said. "I've had two kids before, but this feels intense. All of a sudden, my body started to actually push him out. It's not like I'm feeling the urge to push, I'm actively pushing."
"I told my husband, 'Pull over, we're gonna have this baby.' He opens the side door … and has to yank my pants down. I'm on all fours, and I'm like, 'He's coming.' (Adam said), 'I don't see the head. Oh my gosh, there's the head.' He was leaning in the car, and on the second push, he caught our son."
Staci Clutter holds her son, Elijah, who she just gave birth to in the back of the family's van. He was born at 6:50 a.m. Dec. 14, weighing 7 pounds and 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches.
The weather was dangerously cold on Dec. 14. With a low of 1 degree and a high of 15, the wind chill made the air feel like -16 degrees.
After Elijah made his dramatic entrance, Staci, who is a physician assistant at Mercer Health's urgent care, bundled him up in blankets and, after hearing him cry, put her mouth over his nose to suction any fluid from his airways.
An Indiana highway patrolman luckily arrived on scene after he saw a car stopped with the hazards on.
The patrolman "was very young and definitely didn't have any kids; he was traumatized," Staci said and laughed.
When the patrolman made sure everyone was OK, he advised the couple to wait for the ambulance, which was coming from Fort Wayne and was about 30 minutes away. They declined, and the patrolman gave them an escort until the ambulance was closer. After stopping again to have the EMTs check on Staci and Elijah, the couple decided to drive the rest of the way. The patrolman was in front of the Clutters, and a sheriff's deputy was behind.
"They had lights and sirens going the whole way," Staci said. "The sheriff in front of us told my husband, 'You go as fast as you're comfortable with. I'll set the pace. At one point, we're driving 90, and he (the sheriff) had to be driving 100 because he was way ahead of us and had to figure out how to get back to us."
"She basically rode on the floor in the back of our van, holding Elijah as we're flying down the highway with our police escort," Adam said, recounting the day. "We get about 4 minutes away, and our provider calls. Stacy's yelling, 'I'm about ready to give birth to the placenta!' They (say), 'Tell her to keep it in. Tell her not to deliver it.' She's like, 'I don't know if I can stop it.'"
Thankfully, Staci delivered the placenta inside the center. However, getting out of the car and into the center was also difficult.
"Actually getting there was even funnier because we get there and I can't get out of the van," Staci said. "I can't figure out how to get out. My placenta is still inside of me. The umbilical cord is still attached to the baby, and I'm between the back seat and the middle seat, and I can't get out. They eventually put down the back seat and the midwife and my husband pulled me out the back of the van. I was butt naked with blankets and towels all over me, getting into the wheelchair. Thankfully, both the sheriff and the highway patrolman just conveniently happened to look up as I was coming out."
When they arrived at the center, birthing personnel told the couple Elijah looked like a normal baby, saying, "He does not look like a baby who was born in the car. He's completely fine. He's absolutely normal.' They let us go home six hours later," Staci said.
Staci and Adam Clutter stand with their sons - aged 11, 5 ½ years old and almost 3 weeks old. The older brothers thought their baby brother made a memorable entrance, bringing a police escort and sirens with him.
When they came home, the couple's other two sons - aged 11 and 5 1/2 years old - thought their baby brother was pretty cool.
"They both were very excited about the lights and sirens that we got," Staci said.
"It was almost too much to really process all of it," Adam said. "It was just, 'do'. We've got to get this completed and make sure everybody's good. There wasn't a lot of time to think through everything."
Now that everyone is healthy, safe and warm, Staci and Adam both laughed while retelling the unusual birth story to a reporter. Staci is enjoying her time at home with her youngest son, who will turn 3 weeks on Sunday.
"You came under incredible circumstances," Staci said to Elijah, who could be heard cooing in the background.
He will no doubt hear the story many times.
