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Wash. first responders reunited with baby they helped deliver

Baby Benjamin knows how to make an entrance.

“At first I thought, 'Oh, this is not happening,'" mother Debora Ascheman said.

One month ago, she and her husband Ryan Ascheman were home with their doula when their second child, Benjamin, just couldn't wait.

He was almost two weeks early.

"When we noticed we were not going to make it in time to the hospital, we called 911," Debora Ascheman recalled.

KIRO 7 obtained the 911 call. From the moment the call was made until Benjamin entered the world -- just 8 minutes went by.

Dispatcher Jenna Mapes was on the phone with dad, Ryan who relayed the information to the doula.

On Friday, the family was reunited with the dispatcher and the firefighters and paramedics who responded to the call.

“It was a really cool experience,” Mapes said.

Though you couldn't tell by listening to the 911 call, it was Mapes' first day on the job after months of training.

“No, is that true?” Debora Ascheman reacted in surprise when she found out.

“She did very well,” Ryan Ascheman added. “I'm surprised. I didn’t know.”

"I wanted to help people, do things like this," Mapes explained. "And this is definitely one of the better days."

Eastside fire and rescue crews showed up less than a minute after Benjamin was born.

“They were just great, did delayed cord clamping,” Debora explained.  “And we were encouraged to have baby latching and nursing right away so everything was awesome.”

They transported mom and baby to the hospital.

The miracle of childbirth is not lost on them, no matter how many calls they've been on.

Firefighter Mark LeRoy had been on seven previous delivery calls.

“This is my first where I've had a healthy baby and healthy mom,” LeRoy said. “And it's like all the things I've done in the past is cleared.”

“I've been here about 25 years and this is my fourth and I can tell you it's still just as exciting as day one,” Lt. Daryl Butler said.

The family got to thank the crews who ended up being just as grateful to be a part of Benjamin's story.