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Special delivery: Eglin sergeant delivers his own baby

  • Published
  • By Maranda Rimes
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Scenario: pregnant wife, deployed spouse. Outcome: Daddy makes it home from Iraq in time to deliver his own baby while en route to the hospital.

Rounding week 38 of her pregnancy, Jessica Meinert had little expectation of her husband making it home in time for the baby’s birth, which was supposed to be May 10.

Mrs. Meinert, wife of Tech. Sgt. Greg Meinert, 9th Special Operations Squadron, said she was a little nervous when her husband deployed to Iraq in the seventh month of her second pregnancy, because her first child was born premature in the seventh month.

“I prayed every day for the baby to wait for daddy,” Mrs. Meinert said.

On the morning of April 29, Mrs. Meinert started having contractions and called a friend to give her a ride to the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.

That same morning Mrs. Meinert’s husband was a passenger on the Freedom Bird and unbeknownst to his wife, was on his way home to surprise her.

When Sergeant Meinert arrived in Baltimore, he called a friend from work to inform him of his whereabouts. Sergeant Meinert said he let his shop know his plan to surprise his wife, and someone from the shop was to give him a ride home from the airport. His friend told him to hurry back because Mrs. Meinert was at the hospital.

Mrs. Meinert was released from the hospital at about 2 p.m. after being told she was in pre-labor and needed to go home and relax.

After traveling for more than 28 hours, Sergeant Meinert arrived in Fort Walton Beach, and made his way home to Shalimar at 10:30 p.m.

“I was very happy to see my husband, now we could share the experience of our daughter’s birth,” Mrs. Meinert said.

Mrs. Meinert said she woke up the next morning when her water broke. After calling the hospital, the Meinerts were advised to wait, and call back in an hour, because Mrs. Meinert was not yet having contractions.

At 11:50 a.m. the Meinerts left their home in Shalimar after Mrs. Meinert’s contractions jumped from 15 minutes apart to five minutes apart.

“By the time we turned on Racetrack Road, I told my husband ‘the baby is coming!’” Mrs. Meinert said. “My husband said, ‘I know we are almost there,’ but I knew we wouldn’t make it, and I told him again, ‘no, she is coming!’”

Sergeant Meinert looked down and saw the baby’s head coming out. He immediately pulled over into a local hardware store’s parking lot, jumped out of the car, ran around to the passenger’s side and delivered the baby at noon.

“My husband and I did not have our cell phones on us, and because it was Sunday the businesses surrounding us were closed,” she said.

“My husband ran to the road and tried to waive down cars for help, but no one stopped,” she said. “Then luckily an ambulance from the Ocean City Fire Department on their way to another call came by, and my husband flagged them down.”

Sergeant Meinert said after flagging down the ambulance he ran back to the car to see his wife holding their daughter, who was now crying and responsive.

The ambulance took the baby, who was named Isabella and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces, to the hospital. Sergeant Meinert said both mom and baby are doing fine.