Durham Man Delivers Own Baby in Hallway at Home on Father's Day

A Durham man had a very memorable Father's Day after delivering his own baby girl in his home early Sunday morning.

Margaret "Maggie" Scheff arrived just in time for Father's Day, the original due date.

Andrew Scheff said his wife, Jessica, woke up at about 4 a.m. and started having contractions 20 minutes apart. By 6 a.m., they were 10 minutes apart. Andrew was getting their 1-year-old son, Andrew Jr., ready for the morning and feeding him at the time.

When Andrew was downstairs, he heard Jessica upstairs getting more and more uncomfortable. 

By 9 a.m., the contractions had increased significantly and it was time.

Andrew Jr.'s grandmother came over their house to watch him.

Jessica lay down in the hallway in immense pain around that time and said she couldn't go anywhere. That's when Jessica Scheff looked at her husband thinking she wasn't going to make it to the hospital.

"She wanted to leave and go to the hospital, but she physically couldn't do it," Andrew Scheff said.

She begged him to help her and get someone else to the house to help her.

So, Andrew called 911 and a dispatcher told him over the phone how to deliver the baby. Jessica's father came to their house and held his daughter's hand while she was giving birth.

"I was probably scaring him. Pretty sorry," Jessica Scheff said.

Five minutes before an ambulance arrived, Andrew delivered the couple's new baby girl. But medics arrived in time to hold the baby as Andrew was still feeling the adrenaline.

"Apparently your second kid really does come a lot faster than your first," Jessica said. "I mean, I'd heard it before but I never ever thought that would happen to me."

Jessica said it wasn't the way her father probably expected to spend Father's Day and Andrew said he didn't expect it either.

"I delivered a baby in our second floor hallway but my original plan for Father's Day was to do nothing, just hang out, relax," Andrew said.

Maggie weighs 9 pounds, 2 ounces and is 21 inches long.

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