Braidwood Fire assists new mom with special delivery
RUTHIE WAS THE SECOND baby to be born in Braidwood's Ambulance 2415, which now carries two stork decals to honor its duties as a temporary nursery on wheels. Ruthie visited the department on May 3 and posed for photos with (from left) paramedic Cody Cabada, dad Zach Kremer, mom Cherish Wonders, and paramedic Andrew Olchawa. Photo by Marney Simon.
When Cherish Wonders celebrated her first Mother’s Day this past weekend with her daughter Ruthie, it comes complete with family, lots of love, and a story to tell.
The Braidwood resident was due to have her baby in late April, but was placed on bed rest in March. Cherish was being cared for at home by her mom, Karen Wonders, as she waited for the baby’s arrival.
But on March 23, at exactly 35 weeks pregnant with Ruthie, Cherish told her mother that even though her due date was still weeks away, the baby was coming.
“We got in the car, backed out, and we made it to the police department. She’s screaming basically at this point,” Karen said, joking that soothing words to calm down the expectant mom weren’t exactly helping.
“She said ‘I’m trying, Mom, but she’s coming.’ So I said, do you want me to turn around and go back to the fire department. Normally, my child would be more like ‘no don’t bother’ but she said yes!”
So they backtracked the few blocks down Main Street to the Braidwood Fire Department and got help from the paramedics on duty, who were able to assess Cherish and load her into an ambulance.
They then told Karen that they were headed to Kankakee, so she left in her own car to meet them there.
But what Karen didn’t know is that while she and her husband and Cherish’s dad, Bernie Wonders, headed to St. Mary’s in Kankakee to meet the ambulance, little Ruthie wasn’t interested in waiting.
“We were sitting there thinking, did they take her to the wrong hospital, I had her cell phone, I was panicked,” Karen said. “Then my husband looked out and said, oh here they come.”
But the new grandparents quickly noticed that a Coal City ambulance was immediately behind the Braidwood ambulance.
Karen said she instantly realized that the two ambulances meant there were two patients—Cherish, and the baby.
“So, of course we both start bawling, and one person gets out of the Coal City ambulance holding this itty bitty bundle, and then they got her out and she looked at me and smiled and then instantly starts bawling. We’re all bawling!” Karen said.
As it turns out, Ruthie didn’t even make it to the railroad tracks before making her grand entrance. The crew turned off Main Street into the Casey’s parking lot, then alerted dispatch that they would be delivering the baby in the back of the ambulance.
Ruthie arrived at 10:45 a.m. on March 23 in the back of Ambulance 2415, weighing in at 4 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 inches long.
Cherish said Ruthie’s arrival was easier than it sounds.
“It was just two pushes and she was out,” Cherish said. “It was very quick. They asked if they could take her and I said no, I’m fine, it’s okay! But then he said okay, popped his head out, then popped his head back in and said I hate to ask again, but can we take her? So, I knew at this point if they’re asking, I might as well. So, they took her and then I delivered the placenta and that was it.”
Cherish said they needed to treat the baby separately since she was born in the ambulance, which is not considered a sterile environment. Ruthie stayed in the hospital for a little over a week to monitor her oxygen and to check for any infections, but since then, she’s been growing like a weed, already gaining more than two pounds since her birth.
As far as her name, Ruthie also has a special connection to Mother’s Day.
Ruth was Cherish’s grandmother’s name, who she was exceptionally close with growing up. Cherish’s original due date of April 27 was also her late grandmother’s birthday, and both Cherish and Karen said they even had dreams about Great Grandma Ruth prior to baby Ruthie’s arrival.
For the family, it was the only name that would do, and the story cannot be told without happy tears all around.
On May 3, baby Ruthie made the trip back to the Braidwood fire station with her mom Cherish and her dad Zach Kremer, as well as her grandparents and her uncle Kaleb Wonders to meet the folks who were there when she first arrived.
Ruthie was delivered by paramedics Andrew Olchawa and Cody Cabada. Olchawa and Cabada, as well as other members of the Braidwood Fire Protection District, were recognized for their efforts during the birth during a reception at the fire house on Main Street.
“I have been a paramedic for 25 years and have yet to deliver a baby in an ambulance, close, but no births,” said BFPD EMS Coordinator Tonya Cavanaugh. “So, I am super excited and proud that these members of my team had the opportunity and honor to bring a life into this world.”
Ruthie is the second baby to be delivered in the back of Ambulance 2415. The ambulance now has two stork decals on the side to recognize the births, each stork carrying a pink sack for the two baby girls who made their entrance with the BFPD.