By Margaret Ramirez
The Chicago Tribune
LOMBARD, Ill. — When paramedic Jack Shafer heard the call early Monday morning to help a woman in labor in suburban Lombard, he knew the address sounded familiar.
Shafer entered the home to find that Rick Tresselt had just delivered his and wife Jennifer Stringer’s third child on the family’s living room floor. And Shafer recalled the connection — only 18 months ago, he delivered the couple’s second child in the back of an ambulance.
“When I got to the house, I shook my head and said, ‘Not again,’” Shafer said.
Tresselt, who was still on the phone with the 911 operator who guided the delivery, was stunned to see Shafer coming through the door, ready to delivery another baby.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tresselt said. “It’s the same paramedic who delivered my second child.”
“He looked like a deer caught in headlights when he walked in my front door,” remarked Stringer.
After the initial surprise, Shafer cut the cord and transported mother and newborn daughter Devin Leigh to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. Devin weighed in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 13 inches long.
Stringer said each of her daughters came into the world earlier than planned. With Lauren, now 4, doctors had to induce labor four weeks early (but in the hospital). Sydney arrived six weeks early, born March 31, 2008, on the way to the hospital. Devin was three weeks early.
Because of those unusual circumstances, Stringer said she was unsure about going to the hospital when the contractions first began after midnight.
“I don’t follow the general standards of what labor is, apparently,” she said.
Shafer, 27, has been a paramedic for only three years and has already helped deliver four babies, more than any other paramedic in his unit.
“Jack’s like family now,” said Stringer.
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