Baby born by candlelight in laundry room during Dallas tornado
ROWLETT, Texas -- As many people in the Dallas area spent Sunday night in basements, bathrooms and closets hiding from severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, one woman spent the evening with several others in a laundry room delivering her baby.
Mech and Derrick welcomed baby Sekani with the help of several others from the birthing center in Rowlett, Texas, including Kasie McElhaney, the couple's midwife.
"When it was about time to start pushing, all of our phones started going off with alerts that there was a tornado," McElhaney told KTVT-TV.
McElhaney said that's when the team at the birthing center went to work by candlelight.
"We got blankets on the floor. We got supplies set up all over the room, and then candles everywhere. Once it was all done we just asked her to stand up and (told her), 'You have come in the laundry room there's a tornado,'" she said.
"The next thing Mech was on the floor," Derrick said.
A photo captured the moment seven people piled into the tiny laundry room.
"I was just so focused on the pain from the contractions," Mech said.
"As soon as the baby came out, she was like laughing and (said), 'I can't believe I did it,'" McElhaney said. "I don't even think it really occurred to her that we were in the laundry room."
Mech said it wasn't until she was brought back on the bed that she fully realized what happened.
"I'm just so grateful," she said.
