The stork made an impromptu visit to Charles and Jennifer Morrison’s house early Tuesday. It wasn’t that the big bird of glad tidings was uninvited, but the Morrisons had planned to meet up with him at the hospital.

Hey, it was show time for Lucy Katherine Morrison, and she was determined to make curtain call. As Morrison and Jennifer’s mother, Dale Peters, ushered the 7-pound, 11-ounce baby girl into the world, older brothers, Charlie, 4, and Max, 2, slept soundly a few feet away.

Jennifer’s water broke at about 3:30 a.m. when her contractions were 12 to 13 minutes apart. Charles said he felt fairly well prepared because he had been present in the delivery room for the births of his sons, plus he’d “done some reading.”

“I had to push RIGHT THEN,” said Jennifer. “I told him, ‘I’ve got to push! Call 911!’ He told me, ‘No.’”

No?

“I’d read that when the water breaks it hurts a little more, but she could work through contraction, then we’d jump in the vehicle and head for Decatur,” said Charles.

Jennifer said the two “argued back and forth for a couple of minutes” on the pros and cons of Charles’ theory. Ms. Peters cast the deciding vote.

“I called Mama in and told her I HAD to push, and she knew I was serious,” Jennifer said. “Then he went to call 911.”

Lucy Katherine had been scheduled to make her debut on Saturday, and Jennifer was scheduled to be admitted to Decatur General on Wednesday to have her labor induced. However, she desired a natural childbirth and asked friends and family to pray that she would go into labor on her own. Jennifer said she had a few disappointments over the 10 days leading up to the birth when she experienced several episodes of false labor.

As late as Sunday night, she had thought the birth was imminent and showered. Charles prepared to carry the camera and her suitcase to the car. But the contractions stopped.

Given her recent history, perhaps it was understandable that Charles did not appreciate the urgency of the moment. He explained the situation to 911 dispatcher, who told him to check to see if the baby’s head was visible.

“I went to check on Jennifer and by this time she is hysterical,” said Charles. “We rolled her over and she was crowning, the head was there.”

The dispatcher sent an ambulance to the Morrisons’ Indian Trace Subdivision home, but she knew it might arrive too late.

“The dispatcher said, ‘Charles, I’m going to tell you how to deliver this baby,’” he said. “I put the cell phone on speaker and she told me to get extra pillows to brace her shoulders, towels and a clean shoelace. I mean we’re talking a primitive birth here. She told me where to put my hands, everything.”

By this time the ambulance and EMTs arrived with intentions of transporting Jennifer to Athens-Limestone Hospital. An EMT asked Jennifer to get up and sit in a chair.

“Their objective was to get her to the hospital, but when they realized that they couldn’t transport, a lady went to get a delivery kit from the ambulance,” said Charles. “But by the time she got back, I was holding the baby in my hands. She said, ‘darn, I missed it.’”

Charles said EMTs clamped the umbilical cord and in the excitement it was a couple of minutes before anyone checked the baby’s gender. The Morrisons had not wanted to know the sex of their baby before its birth.

“We were really surprised it was a girl,” said Charles.

Soon, mom and Lucy Katherine, clasped firmly in Charles’ arms, were loaded into the ambulance and headed for Athens-Limestone.

“It was just 17 minutes from the time Jennifer’s water broke until the baby was born,” said Charles.

Of her experience, Jennifer advises other expectant parents, “Don’t try this at home…I wanted a natural birth with no drugs, but in a hospital. I had prayed that I would go into labor on my own and I think my prayers came true. I got what I wanted—a drug-free delivery—but not this way.”

On Wednesday, the Morrisons called her Decatur obstetrician, Dr. Thomas Ray, and told him they wouldn’t be keeping their appointment.

“His last words the last time we saw him were, ‘Don’t do anything crazy like having this baby at home.’”

Charles said he wants to get a tape of the 911 call to play for Lucy Katherine some day.