Monticello Ambulance delivers first-time baby on 151

     Less than a week old, and Luka Garcia already has a unique story to tell…

     Luka was born on Monday, Aug. 16, at 4:47 p.m. in the back of a Monticello Ambulance on the side of Highway 151 near Cascade.

     Mom and Dad, Matt and Liz Garcia of Monticello, planned to deliver at UnityPoint Health Finley Hospital in Dubuque. In fact, the couple was already in Dubuque for about 12 hours earlier that day around 1 a.m. Liz was experiencing what she described as “intense contractions” about 5 minutes apart, which is why they headed to Dubuque. However, they were sent home.

     “I had to show two signs of labor, either my water needed to break or be dilated,” Liz said. “They told us to go home and be comfortable.”

     An hour after returning to Monticello, her water broke. After that, things started to move fast.

     “I was in very intense pain at that time. I could barely walk,” shared Liz.

     Matt asked her what she wanted him to do, and she instructed him to call 9-1-1.

     “I just knew it would be the safest option at that point,” Liz said. “My contractions were right on top of each other, maybe 2 minutes apart at that point. I just knew I was going into labor.”

     The couple wasn’t even sure if they had taken their own vehicle that they would have made it to Dubuque.

     “Otherwise, it would have been my mom and my husband in the car. It was a safer situation being in an ambulance versus a car,” said Liz.

     One Monticello Ambulance was already on a call. So Paramedics Lori Lynch and Jenna Weih and Police Chief and driver, Britt Smith, got into the second ambulance and headed to the Garcias’ home just outside of town.

     They were able to get Liz onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. By the time they drove past Cascade, they realized they needed to pull over the Fillmore exit on 151.

     “A couple times they (Lynch and Weih) checked to see if he (Luka) was crowning,” recalled Liz. “He wasn’t the first two times. The third time, his head was out. At that point, Britt pulled over for us to actually finish the labor and delivery.”

     Matt, who followed the ambulance to Dubuque, was trying to catch up and spotted them on the side of the road.

     “As soon as I saw them on the side of the road, I thought, ‘Ok, she’s having the baby right here,’” he said. “I just waited (in the car); I didn’t want to knock on the door and interrupt what was going on, especially if something was going wrong. Eventually Britt came out and congratulated me. Everyone was healthy. They asked if I wanted to cut the umbilical cord.”

     Luka’s actual due date was Sept. 8, which means he was born at 36 weeks.

     When Matt and Liz were at the hospital earlier that day, the doctor didn’t want to do any premature labor not knowing whether Luka’s lungs were fully developed or not. Matt said when he saw the ambulance on the side of the road, a lot went through his head knowing Luka was early.

     “By the way they said he was breathing and screaming really well, the lungs sounded good,” he said. “There were no issues.”

     From Fillmore, the Monticello Ambulance continued on to Dubuque. A team of nurses from OB were waiting for them to arrive. Mom and Luka were immediately checked out and both of their vitals were good.

     Matt and Liz already have a 3-year-old daughter, Zoey. When she was born, Liz had a c-section due to the fact that Zoey was breach. With Luka, on the other hand, there was not time for pain killers or an epidural; he was born the natural way.

     “We have medications to offer patients, but we don’t offer them when it comes to labor because it could affect Mom and Baby,” explained Lynch.

     “He just came to fast,” added Liz, noting there wasn’t time for pain meds even if they could. “This was my first natural birth with no drugs.”

     Luka was also the Monticello Ambulance Service’s first birth inside an ambulance. Weih helped deliver a baby at a hospital, but never on the side of the road.

     “I have to give credit to these two for helping me with breathing techniques,” Liz said as they presented Lynch, Weih and Smith with cards and gifts of thanks. “I remember I was very out of it in the ambulance. Jenna said to breathe out like I was breathing out of a straw, and I stuck with that and squeezed both of their hands for dear life.”

     Lynch said their nerves were on end.

     “One patient turns into two,” she said with a birth. “Being as one patient is a baby, that brings more nerves into it. We were blessed with an amazing patient. She (Liz) was a trooper. She did really well. She made the experience very easy on us, too.”

     The Garcia family said the Monticello Ambulance Service was amazing throughout the whole ordeal.

     “We can’t thank them enough,” expressed Liz.

     “I appreciate how calm and collected everyone was, especially to be able to get Liz in and out onto the stretcher,” added Matt. “I don’t think I would have been able to do that myself.”

     “Which is good because in our heads we were screaming,” joked Lynch of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.