HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- An Ashland family was able to say thank you in person on Tuesday to a group of Hanover County firefighters that helped turned their family of four into a family of five over a week ago.
"You guys helped bring our baby into the world," said now mother of three Logan Roop to members of the Farrington Fire Company. "You guys may think it's nothing, but it means everything to us."
Their initial encounter began back on January 29, when Logan, who was 37 weeks pregnant with her third child, began experiencing contractions. A few hours later, her water broke.
"[My husband] immediately grabbed all the bags, grabbed the kids. And [the contractions] immediately got, like, a minute apart from there. Super painful," said Roop. "It was just so fast."
The plan was to take their two old daughters to dad's, Tyler Edwards, father's house and then head to the hospital.
"I kind of thought we had time. I mean because you always have time," said Edwards.
Those would be his famous last words.
"And we're driving and then all of a sudden, you know, my wife kind of sits up a little bit and she goes, 'It's coming.'," said Edwards.
Roop said her body and the baby just took over.
"I asked for his jacket, too. I need something under me just in case. So, he gave me his jacket and I didn't even push and her head came out. And I didn't tell him because I didn't want to freak him out," said Roop. "I didn't say anything and he looked and saw what was going on and started speeding and freaking out more. And then, like, two seconds later, she just shot out on the floorboard. He took over from there. I was in shock at that point, I couldn't move."
On the floor of their car was their third daughter, Carolina, named after where they vacation. She was 7 lbs, 5.8 oz, and 20 inches long.
While all this was happening, the two older daughters, Juniper and Harbor, were sitting in the back seat.
"[Juniper's] just in the back laughing, 'Baby girl's here!' She saw everything," said Roop. "They were just laughing with each other having a good old time."
"She went on the floor and I just reacted. I just stopped. I picked her up. I did drive a little bit to pull over and then I pulled over and I called 911," said Edwards, who added the baby's umbilical cord ripped off during her quick delivery and the 911 operator walked him through tying it off. "[He said] the main thing to do is to tie the umbilical cord. [He asked], 'Do you have a rope?' I didn't have a rope but had a mask. So, I ripped the cord off the mask and tied the umbilical cord."
The family had pulled over at Route 33 and Winns Church Rd., down the road from the Farrington department that responded to the 911 call.
"It came in as a childbirth," said Lt. Paul Polivka. "On occasion, we'll get calls [like that]. Whether there really are or not, we never know. And while en route was when they told us, communications updated us, and said that there was an additional patient."
Polivka had experienced this type of call before, but for firefighter Joey Viray, who was filling in that day from nearby Station 10, it was his first.
"I was really nervous. Tried to show that I was not, but it may have come through," laughed Viray.
"When we first arrived on the scene, mom and dad had already started without us. So, we just kind of assigned our own roles. We work a lot together, we train a lot together. Joey, he works with us all the time, so, we kind of just mesh really well. Everybody just kind of fell in their role and we just assisted mom and dad along the way," said Polivka, who credited Roop and Edward for how they handled the situation. "Obviously, mom is really the one who was the patient. Had a lot to do, she did excellent. But, dad was right there with her. He did an excellent job. I mean, he had a little bit of white face which, I think, is well given for the circumstances. But, they handled everything very, very well."
Tuesday was the first meeting between the two groups since that time and the family wanted to let the firefighters know how appreciative they were for their help and calm demeanor that day.
"They just kept me so calm and just talked me through everything. Even my husband, they helped him too," said Roop. "They say they're just doing their jobs, but this is our baby and we really appreciate everything that you guys did. You guys seriously don't know how much this means to us and I'll never forget it."
Neither will the firefighters.
"We don't often get a ton of follow-up," said Viray. "So when people do come and see us, it's so special. Means a lot to us."
"A lot of times, you kind of wonder," added firefighter Shawn Martin. "But, it's nice to see."
"Them being here means more to us than probably to them. It's just awesome to have them here," said Polivka. "Just being a part and just meeting them and seeing how healthy she is -- that to us is the reason why we do it. It feels good."
The firefighters also gave the family each of their nameplates (small name tags that are attached to fire trucks or ambulances when they run a call) as mementos of that day.
The family also has their own lifetime memento beyond just their new daughter -- as they decided to scrap the middle name they had planned for her and instead named her after the street she was born on -- Winn.
