Special delivery: Salem woman gives birth at Driftwood Trading Post

VALLONIA, Ind. (The Tribune) — The Driftwood Trading Post in Vallonia received a special delivery early Sunday morning. It was not a bushel of corn or a dozen eggs, but a little baby girl.

Katie Campbell and her fiancé Kegan Todt of Salem never expected to deliver their daughter in a pickup truck, but Wrenley Marie Todt was ready to greet the world.

“It all happened so fast,” Todt said. “I was on the phone with EMS one minute and the next minute she was in her arms.”

Campbell said she didn’t feel her water break, but woke up with minor contractions a little over two hours before Wrenley made her unexpected arrival.

“I called the OBGYN, and they said to take a Tylenol and wait a while, if it didn’t go away come in,” she said. “About 10 minutes later, it started really hurting. At that point I knew we had to go.”

After her parents arrived to watch her 2-year-old son, Hudson, the couple booked it out the door from their home in Salem to Schneck Medical Center.

“We were out the door by 6:45 a.m. and I was driving as fast as I could,” Todt said. “I could really tell she was in pain, and she told me to pull over.”

Todt only had a one-minute conversation with emergency services over the phone before their baby was born at 7:06 a.m.

“Before dispatch could walk me through things I look over and she’s here,” Todt said.

As adrenaline was coursing through their veins, the couples’ immediate concern was for the safety and health of their newborn.

“I was scared because I wanted to make sure she was warm and could breathe,” Campbell said.

As Campbell held her daughter with the umbilical cord still attached, Todt began rubbing Wrenley’s back and cleared her airways of mucus in the dark, before first responders arrived.

“We wrapped her up in a pair of sweats,” Todt said. “A sheriff’s deputy then arrived on scene along with a bunch of volunteer firefighters and a labor and delivery nurse.”

The ambulance ride to the hospital is one the couple will never forget as Todt cut the umbilical cord and the EMTs marveled at Campbell’s strength.

“It was special for one of the EMTs because it was her last shift before getting transferred to Columbus,” Campbell said.

Weighing six pounds and 12 ounces, Campbell said she was surprised this labor went as well as it did compared to her first child.

“With Hudson I was in labor for 12 hours and had an epidural,” she said. “I was just fine after popping her out.”

Family and friends were surprised and thrilled once they heard the news of Wrenley’s journey into the world. The couple said the two days spent in the hospital with their newborn was worth it.

“Every nurse came in and told her she was a rock star,” Todt said. “It feels good to have another child happy and healthy.”

Due to Wrenley’s perfect timing, the couple is excited to enjoy some Oktoberfest food instead of spending the weekend in the hospital.

“It was nice being able to spend those two days with her,” Campbell said. “We did the stuff you normally do except most of the work was already done.”

The couple plans to make the trip back to the Driftwood Trading Post for every birthday, Wrenley’s place of birth as it officially states on the birth certificate.

This article was originally published in The Tribune.