32-year-old Marquita Gales had already given birth to three children, so she knew what to expect when contractions for her fourth child began early one morning.
She called her doctor, but was told to stay home and wait it out a bit longer.
Around 5:30am, however, her contractions began to get “more intense.” And then her water broke.
Gales’ husband had already gone to work, leaving her alone at home with her two 13-year-old twin daughters, Nykiaya and Nykailyn Williams-Brown, and six-year-old son.
“We had a birth plan, but that went out the window when my water broke,” Gales admitted. She had no choice but to call for the help of her daughters. “I was screaming and I was surprised how calm they were.”
Nykiaya called 911 and relayed all the instructions back to her mom, telling her to get into bed before the baby came.
Gales laughed about it afterward, “It’s a good thing [she did tell me to get into bed] because two pushes and [my baby] was out!”
Nykailyn rushed around the house, grabbing towels for her mom, but confessed that she “was crying because [her] mom was in all this pain.”
Both twins also reached out to family and friends over the phone, desperate for any help and moral support they could receive.
It was, without a doubt, incredibly overwhelming.
“When I saw the baby’s head coming out of my mom it was crazy and I was thinking, ‘Is the baby going to be okay because she’s not coming out in the hospital?’” Nykiaya said.
Thankfully, the twins’ little sister, Kennedy, was born safely and doctors confirmed – after mother and baby were moved to the hospital in an ambulance – that both were doing well.
Nykiaya and Nykailyn both went to school later that day, much to the disgust of their friends, who thought the entire ordeal was “disgusting.”
Gales couldn’t be prouder of her daughters. “I know they were scared, but I couldn’t tell,” she said. “They were working together to make sure everything was as smooth as it could be. I’m just so proud of them.”
