‘Hi, Dad. Surprise!’
KORA Barber wasn’t meant to celebrate Father’s Day this year, but a 3am wake-up scream from his partner changed that in an instant.
Mr Barber was fast asleep on August 9 when he heard a noise in the bathroom.
He woke to his partner, Yvette Garth, feeling sick and in pain.
“I laid back down thinking it was just another sickness, before you know it she started screaming,” Mr Barber said.
“I got up and asked if she was all right, there was a lot going on. I thought it might have been Braxton Hicks. We weren’t meant to be induced until September 8.”
After Mr Barber suggested it may have been a false alarm, Ms Garth promptly told him to get ready for a trip to the hospital.
But when she was on the bed preparing to leave, Ms Garth realised she couldn’t get back up because of the pain.
“Yvette was just screaming, so I called triple-0,” Mr Barber said.
“I had to shut all the windows and doors she was screaming that loud. I didn’t want the neighbours thinking something bad was happening.
“Before you knew it her water broke, so triple-0 had to give me instructions.
“Thankfully only five or 10 minutes later the paramedics came through the door and finished the job.
“I was very grateful they came so quick, I didn’t have time to be scared or worried.”
The Queensland Ambulance Service team of Laura Gammon, Brodie Rollason and Mackenzie Chapman helped deliver young Ezria Ailani Barber to the world.
Born weighing just under 3kg, Mr Barber was delighted to hold his daughter and be a father for the first time. “I actually thought we were going to miss Father’s Day, so to have her here before is perfect timing.
“She’s very beautiful, she’s perfect. We’re very blessed to have a gift from God.”
Ms Garth, who has three other children, said she never expected to give birth at home.
“You see the shows where people have babies in cars and at home,” she said.
“For it to happen at home was unreal, and for how fast it happened.
“It’s always a special moment when you hold them for the first time.
“After I’d given birth we woke up my son who is nearly 13 to come see Ezria because he’d slept through the whole thing.
“He was a bit dazed when he came in and the next day he thought he had dreamt it.”