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SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) — She wasn't due until April 17, but Lillian Gina Sandidge, of Lead, arrived six weeks early at 12:03 p.m. March 8 in an unlikely location: inside a Spearfish ambulance at mile marker 48 along Interstate 90.
"In 40 years of operations, this is the first time we've ever done a transfer to Rapid and a baby's been born," Brian Hambek, Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service executive director, said.
Billie Sandidge, Lillian's mother, woke that morning with contractions and some bleeding, so she called the hospital and was told to come to Spearfish Regional, the Black Hills Pioneer (http://bit.ly/1STY3gE ) reported. Staff had her drinking cold water and were monitoring her to see if the contractions would subside, but nothing was helping, so they started pain management about 8 a.m. By 11 a.m., she was told that they needed to transport her to Rapid City, and the ambulance arrived about 11:30 a.m. She was in the capable hands of Erica Walton, nurse at Spearfish Regional, and Thomas Harvey, Jr., paramedic, and Julie Martin, advanced emergency medical technician, of Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service.
About the time the ambulance reached Sturgis, Billie knew something was going to happen, and her water broke, with Lillian arriving to the world in minutes.
"That was scary," Billie said, describing that her baby was not looking good when first delivered. "She was completely purple and not breathing, no crying. It was scary."
Both baby and mother required attention, so the ambulance crew pulled over on the interstate, with Walton working on Billie, and Harvey and Martin focused on Lillian.
"You can train and train, but I think this experience was better training than I've ever had," Martin said. "I know I learned a ton just in those moments. Your training kicks in, but at the same time, you're learning in the moment. It's not like this was a normal delivery that we train for: we had to go beyond normal because it got critical for mom, for baby, right away, so we had to go beyond the normal training and continue, and everybody stayed calm."
"CPR on anybody is nerve-wracking; CPR on a brand-new baby is beyond nerve-wracking," Hambek added. "We couldn't have asked for a better team."
The crew described how everything aligned that day, because before another crew was dispatched to the location to assist, Jon Tish, Meade County Sheriff's deputy, passed by and saw the ambulance on the side of the road with its lights on. A former paramedic with the Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service, Tish pulled over, opened the ambulance door, and asked what the crew needed.
Their response: A driver to get the ambulance to Rapid City Regional. Tish got in the driver's seat and headed that way, thinking it would be faster to avoid the bypass at Exit 57 to Interstate 190 into Rapid City, due to the current construction, and instead took Exit 58 to get to Haines Avenue, down to Omaha Street. However, a slow-moving train stalled the ambulance on that route, so Tish turned around and rerouted to Mount Rushmore Road to get to Rapid City Regional.
"It felt like we were there in two seconds," Harvey said.
Billie agreed: "It seemed really fast after we got going."
She asked several times in the first minutes after Lillian's birth whether the baby was a boy or girl, and Martin said because of everything that was happening, the crew's priority was not on this detail — so Lillian was probably 10 minutes old before anyone had a chance to determine her sex and inform Billie that she had a daughter — and that the baby had good color and was doing well.
"That was a relief," Billie said, adding, "It was scary, but I wouldn't have wanted anybody else. Everybody was just perfect."
There were many connections, as well. Walton had also assisted Billie with the birth of her first daughter, Ava, 4, and the crew in the ambulance that day had connections, as well.
"That crew was amazing," Hambek said. "Erica, the nurse, who started as one of our (Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service) cadets; Thomas and Julie handled themselves — I can't even describe how impressed I am of what they did. And then, stars were aligned that Jon, one of our former paramedics, was driving by as a (law enforcement) officer and drove them in."
"We made a good team," Martin said.
And that team ensured that Lillian, born weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces, could meet the rest of her family: Billie; father, Lance; and big sister, Ava. When they first arrived at the hospital, Lillian's biggest problem was that she had a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, so she was placed on a ventilator for two days, then moved to a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure machine), which caused a complication that required a chest tube, which was removed within a couple of days. Lillian was released from the hospital about two weeks ago, and Billie said that she's been doing well and gaining weight. At her last appointment, Lillian weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces.
The Sandidge family visited the Spearfish Emergency Ambulance on a recent Monday so that the crew could see Lillian's progress, have a chance to hold her, and recount the excitement surrounding her birth.
"She definitely looks better than the first time I saw her," Tish said.
The Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service put together a gift basket for Lillian and also created a unique birth certificate to document her birthday.
"This is the first time we've ever had to do this," Hamek said, adding, "This will be something she'll hand down and treasure, I hope."
The Sandidge family expressed their appreciation to everyone who assisted in Lillian's birth.
"I had the best people around us, that's for sure," Billie said, adding, "It all worked out perfectly."
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Information from: Black Hills Pioneer, http://www.bhpioneer.com
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