SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It's been quite a weekend for one Speedway family. They welcomed their fourth child into the world.
But this was a surprise delivery, ahead of schedule and done by mom — all by herself.
Skylar Sage, at 7 pounds, 4 ounces, is the youngest of now four daughters in the Hermerding family. But unlike her sisters, Skylar has quite the birth story.
"They've all gone pretty easy. This one's been the most insane one so far," said dad Matt Hermerding.
"It's been crazy," added his wife, Ashleigh Hermerding.
Ashleigh delivered this baby all by herself. Saturday morning, as she was getting her girls breakfast, she said she felt a little off.
She laid down for a bit and thought it might dissipate. It did for a while.
But then, contractions started, so she loaded up the family van and took her older daughters to her nearby mother-in-law's. She also texted husband Matt at work.
"Don't freak out ... My water broke," part of the text read.
"I saw the first message she had sent me," Matt said, "saying she was taking the kids over to my mom's house."
"Once we got there, there was so much snow, I couldn't even pull into the driveway, so we kind of waddled up to her front door to bring them in," Ashleigh explained. "By the time I got back out to the car, I kind of just had the choice to make. I could tell at that point it was either I could try to make it to the hospital, which I didn't think I would at that point and was kind of scared I'd be stranded on the side of the road, or try to get back to the house, which I was already about halfway there, so I just slammed on the gas, and went straight to our house."
Again, this family lives in Speedway, so perhaps fittingly, things from there went really fast.
"I called 911 just as I was getting to the bathroom," Ashleigh recalled. "I remember her saying '911 what's your emergency?' and I was just like 'Um, I'm having a baby!' And the lady on the other end was like 'Oh! OK!" and verified our address and then it just got quiet, and she said, 'Are you OK?' and as she said, 'Are you OK?,' I said, 'She's out!'"
"Then, I received a second text message," Matt said. "She had done it, and she was doing it at the house by herself."
EMTs arrived within three minutes and got mom and baby safely to Riley Hospital for Children, where Skylar's now doing great.
"She's got some bruising just on her face since she came so fast. Other than that, she's perfect," Ashleigh said.
And the whole family couldn't be prouder of mom.
"She's a warrior! It was awesome! She was like 'I did it!' you know, and ... I mean she did! My God, I'm so proud of you," Matt said to his wife. "I mean nobody can tell her anything anymore!"