The Virginian-Pilot
©
PORTSMOUTH
Every parent thinks the birth of a child is worth headlines, but Rylee Payton Siebert wasn't one minute old when she started grabbing them.
She let her mother, Minna, get out of the car, then started making her grand entrance into the world on the lawn of the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center.
Rhonda Day, a nurse anesthetist, was leaving work Tuesday and walking on the second-floor breezeway to the hospital's parking garage when she heard someone yell, "Are you OK?"
She looked over the side and saw someone lying on the grass and three or four people gathered around. The nurse asked whether they needed help.
"Yes, she's having a baby!"
Day thought they might be exaggerating, she said. She had worked in labor and delivery enough to see women come in and say they were having a baby when they were actually a long way off.
Someone had put a jacket over the woman's knees, and Day went to her.
"I took a peek and she was crowning," she said. "So I kind of tossed my stuff there on the grass... pushed my sleeves up and knelt down right there, and we had a baby."
Day had never delivered a baby, but she imitated everything she had seen the obstetricians do, she said.
"It was very scary and exciting all at the same time," she said.
"I don't care how many times I watched the delivery, it's still a pretty amazing process - and to have been a part of that was pretty phenomenal."
Day wrapped the newborn - 6 pounds, 9 ounces - in her jacket and handed the bundle to the mother. She had been so focused on making sure the baby was breathing and all right that she didn't know until later that it was a girl.
Labor and delivery staff took over, and Day was ready to wash up and head for home.
But she and the Siebert family were destined to meet again. The nurse had left her car keys in the jacket in which the baby was wrapped.
Both mother and father are in the Navy. Minna Siebert is an airman stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station. Cody Siebert is a petty officer second class on the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima.
It is one of those "when you were born" stories bound to be told in the family for generations to come.
"She's not even 24 hours old and she's already gotten more attention than I have," the baby's dad joked.
Pilot staffers Cindy Clayton and Preston Gannaway contributed to this report.
Janie Bryant, 757-446-2453, janie.bryant@pilotonline.com
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Amazing story
Amazing in many regards. First congrats to the parents. Have a wonderful life with your new bundle of joy. Amazing that in this day of high tech gadgets a call couldn't get through from a cell phone to 911 (it's free too) and the family had to allegedly wait as long as implied, unless of course no one had one. Amazing that in almost AN HOUR (really??)- a "bystander" or passerby (neither of which apparently had a cell phone that worked) couldn't run - or even WALK if unable to run a 100 feet and get emergency personnel out there. If my neighbors house is engulfed in flames - I make the call for help or I find someone that can instead of waiting for the fire dept to see the smoke. May God bless this family. They can't come if they don't know.
mother gives birth on lawn at porstmouth naval
Congratulations Minna Cody and Rylee. You all deserve the Navy Medal of Honor. To have had to experience what you had; hard labor for 45 minutes not even 100 feet away from a large military hospital. You were so brave. You Cody and I expecting someone from L&D or ER or anyone from the hospital to assist while you lay there on the cold wet ground in full blown labor for almost an hour. The lady in pink stayed at your side the whole time, never took her eye off Rylee's crown as she took her own time coming into the world. Breathing with you and Cody as your labor intensified and grew closer. You listened attentively when contractions were heavy and didn't push or force until Rylee said it's time...I stepped aside as Rylee joined us.
Baby born on lawn at Naval Hospital, Portsmouth
Thank God for Nurses!! So many of us owe our lives to them. Maybe this 'lil one will grow up to be a Nurse and return the favor. God Bless Ms. Day and all Nurses.
Get used to it, Dad
""She's not even 24 hours old and she's already gotten more attention than I have," the baby's dad joked."
You have a beautiful baby girl who will forever be the apple of your eye, and for the rest of both your natural lives, will ALWAYS get more attention than you have! Congratulations and enjoy!
Lawn Babies parents
hey everyone, this is Cody S, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the good wishes, baby Rylee is doing good. we are home now getting settled in. there was no problems with parking, staff, or the facility so everything went perfect except the whole not being inside thing haha. So a big Thank You from the Siebert family. Thank God for Mrs Day, hopefully we can meet again one day and replace that jacket that she used to wrap and clean Rylee off with. lol.
Petty officer
Petty officer Seibert...please don't let all the naysayers on here talking down the naval hospital take away from your family and yourselves wonderful day. Some people aren't happy unless they can try and make someone else sad. I'm glad to hear daughter and mom are doing great...I thank you and your wife for your service to our country, have a great day.
Glad to help!
Hi Cody, I was glad to help! If you ever need/want to reach me, just call the Anesthesia Dept at Portsmouth and I'm sure they will get you in touch with me. Best wishes - Rhonda Day
Lawn Baby
What a great nickname! Congratulations! I bet you keep the jacket as a souvenir:-)
Congrats!
Beautiful mom and baby!
Don't like the Navy? Don't like Hampton Roads?
" Let NAVHOSP Portsmouth pick up the tab for that....that's why they need to have (2) Navy Hospitals...not (1) because the traffic on any given day is horrible and not dependable for getting you there "on time".
Oh spare us the condemning of the Navy and Hampton Roads. Don't like either one? Move out of the area ! The rest of us have managed to have children born in hospitals where we had to use tunnels to reach the hospital in adjoining cities ! Myself included !