Baby Can't Wait for Hospital, Makes Home Arrival

As the saying goes, the third time is the charm.

For Hackettstown's Larga family, the third time was a bit of an alarm.

Just before 6 a.m. on an August morning, Heidi Larga began feeling contractions with her third child, baby boy Bryson, according to a press release from Hackettstown Regional Medical Center.

As Heidi and her husband, Frederick, prepared to depart from their home and head to the medical center where a water birth was planned, Bryson had other plans.

As the two waited for a friend to arrive to watch the Larga's two children, who would stay home during Bryson's birth, the process sped up quicker than anticipated, the press release said.

Frederick was loading the car when he suddenly heard his wife shouting his name. “I ran in and found Heidi standing in our bathroom, telling me that the baby was coming!” he said.

The couple called 9-1-1, but there wasn't much time for a dispatcher to walk them through the process, as Bryson made his arrival at 6:20 a.m., the release said.

Frederick "caught" his third son in the bathroom of his home just before three Hackettstown Police officers arrived. 

“We’re so lucky that he came out crying, that the cord wasn’t wrapped around his neck and that everything was okay," Frederick Larga said.

Once the Largas arrived at Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, they were taken to the Childbirth Family Center where the final stages of the birthing process where taken care of and Bryson was checked from head to toe, the release said.

“When I arrived at the hospital, I was still shaking–all that day, I was still kind of in shock thinking about how it all happened so fast!” Heidi Larga said. “I’m not used to being out of control in labor, but God obviously had everything under control.” 

In honor of Bryson’s unique arrival, HRMC President Jason Coe presented Frederick with a baseball glove and some baseballs to play future games of catch with his sons–albeit a different kind of “catch.”

All information and photo provided by Hackettstown Regional Medical Center.