By Melanie Speicher

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RUSSIA — When Ruby Juliet Meyer gets old enough to tell the story about her birth, people are going to be surprised.

Ruby, daughter of Joel and Elleah Meyer, of Russia, decided she didn’t want to be the average baby and be born in a hospital. Instead, she decided to make her entrance into the world in her family’s van as they were attempting to get to the hospital.

Ruby was born Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, at 5:07 p.m. in the family’s van by the gas pumps at Meyer’s Garage and Drive Thru in Newport.

The story of Ruby’s birth begins a day earlier, on Feb. 21, said dad Joel. The baby’s due date was March 5, but she decided February would be a better month to be born in.

“Elleah noticed some signs of labor on Feb. 21,” said Joel. “It started around 3 a.m. and was very subtle and slight.”

Elleah saw her physician in the afternoon of Feb. 21 since she was having contractions. She had been having contractions for about 12 hours at that point.

“The doctor checked on things,” said Joel. “Labor was progressing but ever so slightly.”

The labor continued all day Feb. 21 and into Feb. 22, the couple said during a phone interview.

“Around lunchtime (Feb. 22) the contractions began to pick up but it was still moderate from what Elleah told me.”

All that changed at 4:30 p.m. when Elleah’s water broke.

“The contractions went from zero to 100 very quickly,” said Joel. “She rinsed off in the shower and put new clothes on. I loaded up the van. We got out of the house in about 10 minutes.”

The plan was for Elleah to give birth at Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton.

“She called an audible and said we were going to Wilson Health,” said Joel. “So we rerouted our trip to Sidney. We made it to Newport to Meyer’s garage when she started hollering at me to pull over.”

“So I pulled next to the gas pumps and called 911,” he said. “I was on speaker phone with them. I got into the middle seat of the van at 5:02 p.m. and at 5:07 p.m., I delivered Ruby.”

Shelby County Sheriff”s Office Dispatcher Tasha Brueggert was on the other end of Joel’s 911 call.

“I was nervous and a little excited,” said Brueggert when she learned what the 911 call was about. This was the first 911 call dealing with a baby’s delivery she has had.

“We have EMD cards which we use to help us in a situtation like this,” said Brueggert. “It has questions for us to ask and tells us what the person should be doing.”

While talking with Joel on the phone, Brueggert was paging the Fort Loramie Rescue Squad to the scene. She paged them every 3 minutes for a total of two pages.

“You couldn’t hear the tears when the baby cried,” said Brueggert. “That was really good news.”

Brueggert has been a dispatcher for two years.

“This was a wonderful experience,” she said. “I have three kids so I think that helped me. It was a once in a lifetime experience. It’s rare for a dispatcher to get a call like this.”

The Fort Loramie Rescue Squad arrived at the scene just after the baby was born. They checked out mom and baby and transported them to Wilson Health.

So in a matter of 30 minutes, the family of three became a family of four in a way they never expected.

The Meyer’s older daughter, Maria Louise, 2, was with Joel’s parents, Andy and Linda Meyer, of Russia. When he sent them a text from home that they were on their way to the hospital, they called up the app, Find My Friend, to see where they were.

“When they saw we were pulled over at Meyer’s Garage, they thought I had stopped and was filling up the gas tank,” said Joel. “When I called 911, I shot them a text that we were birthing at Meyer’s Garage. They got there just after Ruby’s birth.”

Big sister Maria stayed at grandma and grandpa’s house with Joel’s sister.

The story continues for Ruby as the owner of Meyer’s Garage is related to the family.

Mom and baby stayed in the hospital for 24 hours. Because Ruby wasn’t born at the hospital, Wilson Health couldn’t fill out the birth certificate because they didn’t witness the birth. Instead Joel and Elleah worked with the Sidney-Shelby County Health Department to get the document filled out.

Joel said he was pretty shocked at the way Ruby’s birth played out.

“I wasn’t scared or nervous,” he said. “I think I can chock it up to adrenaline.”

Elleah, said Joel, is a nurse and has worked in labor and delivery, NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and is a birth doula.

“We talk and watch podcasts about birth all the time,” said Joel. “I didn’t have time to think, I just knew I had to catch the baby.”

Ruby’s birth was the opposite of Maria’s birth, he said. Maria was also two weeks early.

“Elleah’s water broke then as well,” said Joel. “But it took over a day — 26 hours — of labor for Maria to be born.”

“They were both very different experiences,” he said.

Everyone is healthy, said Joel, and Maria is already calling Ruby “her best friend.”

Ruby is also the granddaughter of Charlotte Cooper, of Botkins, and the late Michael Cooper. She is the great-granddaughter of Charlene Meyer, of Newport.

“On top of everything, Meyer’s Garage’s birthing fees are some of the lowest around, Ruby saved us some money along the way,” said Joel.