Baby can’t wait, born in hospital parking lot

Mother planned to have Cesarean section Wednesday

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Nov 24, 2009, Updated Nov 24, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Jaime Valdez / Pamplin Media Group

Laura Miller and Steven Thompson welcomed their son Christopher Jensen Thompson Tuesday afternoon. The 6-pound, 14-ounce baby was born as his mother waited in a minivan at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center’s West Pavilion entrance.

A Beaverton couple is counting its blessings. Their son surprised them Tuesday when he was born in the front seat of a minivan on the way to the hospital.

Laura Miller and Steven Thompson welcomed Christopher Jensen Thompson at about 12:51 p.m. The 6-pound, 14-ounce baby was born after his mother and father pulled up to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center’s West Pavilion entrance.

“He’s been wanting to get out for a while now,” Miller said as she cuddled her youngest son close to her heart.

The precious bundle was due to arrive Dec. 1, but medical concerns prompted his parents to schedule an early Cesarean section for Wednesday morning. Little Christopher had other plans.

Miller awoke at about 11 a.m. with contractions spaced every two to three minutes apart. There was no doubt in her mind that Christopher was making his grand entrance into the world.

Thompson gathered up their things in his mother’s 1997 silver Plymouth Voyager minivan and the three headed to the hospital with Grandma Barbara in the driver’s seat.

On the way, however, the baby didn’t wait.

“I was scared,” said Miller, who is the mother of two older children, Michael, 12, and Rose, 7. “By the time we were pulling into the parking lot, I knew something wasn’t quite right.”

Upon arrival, a frightened Thompson jumped out of the minivan and rushed into the lobby to get help and find a wheelchair.

Meanwhile, with two pushes, Miller gave birth as she waited in the minivan. Her screams drew the attention of medical staff in the parking lot and lobby.

Lisa Hawes, who has served as a labor and delivery nurse at St. Vincent for nearly five years, was on her lunch break when she heard the commotion.

She ran out to the parking lot to offer her aid. Just moments before, a doctor from another department had helped place Christopher on his mother’s chest.

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