Paul DuPree has helped usher several babies into the world during his 20 years in the medical field, but he never anticipated delivering his own daughter. DuPree and his girlfriend, Erin Castro, were expecting a baby girl.
Living out in the Pumpkin Center community of Lincoln County, they’d chosen Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte for delivery. That birthing plan changed. Instead, little Harper Lynn DuPree was born in the front seat of a minivan in the parking lot of Jack in the Box on N.C. 16 in Charlotte.
False alarms: Castro started having contractions the morning of Saturday, Feb. 15. The couple headed to the hospital with bags packed. After several hours, doctors said it was a false alarm, the second Castro had experienced in a week. Doctors estimated that it could be another two weeks until delivery.
“They told her to take two Tylenol and go home. She was still having active contractions then,” DuPree said. The couple, who has four children between them, tried to go about their day. “Everything was quite normal, but she continued to have contractions throughout the day,” said DuPree.
Fast delivery: Castro’s pain increased as the day wore on, but she hesitated to go back to the hospital for a third time. “We were still convinced that this wasn’t it,” DuPree said.
But he eventually called the doctor. “She was on her knees in pain,” he said.
It was after 11:30 p.m. when DuPree led his girlfriend to their Honda Odyssey. One of their kids had left the door to the minivan open earlier, and the battery was dead. DuPree jump started the car, which after multiple trips to Charlotte, was almost out of gas. Castro writhed in pain in the passenger’s seat.
When Castro’s water broke, DuPree called 911. By the time he pulled into the Jack in the Box parking lot, the baby’s head was already out. Castro, still seat belted in, gave birth in the front seat at 12:31 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Great support: DuPree said that he and his girlfriend are thankful for the help they received on the road that night. The 911 dispatcher talked to DuPree for several minutes before firefighters and paramedics arrived.
She told DuPree to get off the road and help deliver the baby. She also instructed DuPree to use a shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord. Paramedics put Castro and the baby into an ambulance, but DuPree wasn’t familiar with where he was and his van was almost out of gas.
DuPree said firefighters went above and beyond to get him to the hospital – escorting him to a nearby gas station and then to the hospital. “Everybody that came in contact with us, they just did a really great job,” he said.
No joke: Harper DuPree came out healthy and crying. She weighed 7 pounds, and both she and her mother were released from the hospital after one night in the hospital. The baby came two weeks earlier than predicted, but is completely healthy, according to her father.
DuPree is a captain with Lincoln County Emergency Medical Services. He’s been in the business for 20 years, first serving as a paramedic now supervising them. DuPree said he never imagined delivering his own child, though he’d joked about it. “I was teasing her throughout the pregnancy that we didn’t need to go to the hospital that I could deliver it on my own. But I didn’t really mean that,” he said.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.