When you’re pregnant, you have about nine months to plan everything out.

From the baby’s room to feeding supplies and your birth plan, you’ve got time to make sure everything is ready before the little one arrives.

Unless the baby doesn’t want to go along with the plan.

That’s what happened to Kelsey Thompson with the birth of her son, Samuel.

It was Sept. 17, 2016, a Saturday afternoon, when Thompson, then 38 weeks pregnant, took her 5-year-old daughter Phoebe on a train ride to Naperville to visit the DuPage Children’s Museum while the windows were replaced in their apartment.

Thompson had scheduled a future C-section at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, which was close to their home, because Sam was in a breech position. While at the museum that day, however, Thompson’s water broke.

“I thought, ‘This is not happening. This has got to be a dream,’” she says. “It took me a couple minutes to wrap my head around it.”

Thompson decided not to risk a trip back to Chicago, and instead went down the street to Edward Hospital to deliver Sam. Coincidentally, one of Phoebe’s school friends was also at the museum that day. The girl’s mom immediately said she’d take care of Phoebe.

“I was a wreck when I got to Edward,” Thompson says. “I felt like I tried as much as possible to have everything planned out. You think you know how it’s all going to go! But I had a new doctor and was in a hospital I’ve never been to before. It was very stressful. But every nurse put me at ease.”

Dr. Meghan Flannery, OB/GYN, was on call that day and performed Kelsey’s C-section.

“Kelsey did a great job, she managed beautifully.” Dr. Flannery said. “It would be really unsettling to have been in her shoes and find yourself in an unfamiliar place, with people you don't know, on a day you had not planned, to deliver your baby!”

“The nurses were great.  They were empathetic to Kelsey’s circumstances. Their efforts to make her comfortable and assure her that she and her baby were going to be well cared for helped Kelsey relax and feel more confident.” Dr. Flannery said.

It took a few hours even after Sam was born to fully grasp the day’s events, Thompson says.

“Having gone to Edward because it was the most convenient, I felt lucky we went where we did,” she says. She thanked hospital staff for making her son’s birthday so unforgettable.

“On our last day there, my husband and I marveled at how every single staff person we encountered — literally every one — was pleasant and helpful,” Thompson wrote in an email to hospital staff. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have sought treatment at Edward Hospital.”

Many expectant parents have trusted us with their care, and it shows. Edward-Elmhurst Health welcomes over 5,500 babies into the world annually. Learn more about our specialized approach.

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