A Steinbach couple added to their family by two, but the delivery of their twins wasn't quite what they'd expected. 

Joseph and Annabelle Steele have a seven-year-old girl and a one-year-old son, and in the early hours of May 28, they added a set of twins to the family.

The Steele family lives in Steinbach, but they were told that the Bethesda Hospital does not deliver twins. So, when Annabelle went into labour at 3:30 A.M., they headed for Winnipeg.

However, they only made it to the Blumenort corner on Hwy 12 when Annabelle said “call 911, it’s time.”

With the 911 operator on the phone, Joseph pulled over and headed to the passenger side of the car to help his newborn daughter, Gracie Mae, into the world.

“All of a sudden there was a little head and there came a little body real quick!”

The 911 operator told Joseph to use his shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord. Normally the new dad wears slip-on boots, which meant he now had to find something else in the car that would work. Joseph didn't need to search long as the ambulance arrived and the medical team took over.

The Steele family was then transported to the Bethesda hospital where their son, Ephraim was born. This was a much tougher birth says Annabelle, “They had to break my water and that was a bit more traumatic. Gracie Mae was kind of smooth and everything went well, but Ephraim needed some help, he was born not breathing. So, STARS ambulance came and put a ventilator on him to help him breathe as well.”

STARS was called to do provide the inter-facility transfer from Steinbach to Winnipeg. 

The twins, Gracie Mae and Ephraim, as well as mom, are all doing well. They are now at the HSC Woman’s Hospital, where Ephraim’s breathing keeps getting stronger.

The proud dad adds “A huge shout out to the first responders and the medical team." And to the soon-to-be parents and soon-to-be dads especially, he adds, "We're pretty good about putting together our toolboxes, but maybe we should put together a first aid kit with some clamps and boot laces.”

About having their twins in two different locations, the new parents of twins say with a smile, "Gracie Mae will always be able to tell that her birthplace was not a hospital, but the #12 and 311 intersection." 

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Written by Corny Rempel/Adi Loewen