Little Joseph Neil Trappel was in such a hurry to make an appearance on Anzac Day morning that he didn’t give his mum enough time to get to hospital.
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The second child of Rebecca and Ken was born in the shower of their Monkerai home at 7.06am on April 25.
While she was only three days overdue, Rebecca said she went to the hospital too early with her first son Lachlan, now two-and-a-half, and they sent her home.
“So I was determined not to go too early. Basically they said to come in when I can’t talk through the pain,” she said.
“I started feeling a bit sick and had mild contractions about dinner time on Thursday night and went to bed about 12.30am.
“The contractions were a bit worse about 4.30 so I put the telly on and made a cuppa.
“The pain was regular but not that bad.
“At 5.30 Ken and Lachlie got up and had brekky and I suggested to Ken that he take him over to mum’s [Jennifer Woolley 40 metres away] as we might head to the hospital.
“So he walked him over and I hopped in the shower. My water broke at 5.45 and when he came back he wanted to call triple-0.
“I said no, I’ll just get out and we’ll head off to the hospital but then it all got a bit serious and I had this urge to push.
“Ken rang triple-0 and he ran over to mum’s while still listening to the operator’s instructions.
“They wanted to get me into the loungeroom but my legs gave out and they had to lie me down on the cement bathroom floor and put towels under me.
“This was at 10 to seven and I had him at six minutes past seven.”
The triple-0 operator stayed on the line until Dungog paramedics arrived.
Very relieved father Ken cut the cord and then they headed to the John Hunter Hospital.
The baby had a few breathing problems was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit for a day.
“They thought he might have had a chest infection and they gave him antibiotics but it all turned out okay,” Rebecca said.
“The paramedics were fantastic and they even went and bought a teddy bear to give to Joseph.
“Ken was very worried when it was all happening and it was only a few days earlier we had talked about father’s delivering their babies.”
And while Ken can see the lighter side now, he said it certainly wasn’t funny at the time.
Joseph weighed 8lb 2ozs and was 52cm long.
