Mom Unexpectedly Gives Birth in the Bathroom with Help from Her 2-Year-Old Son, Who Calls His Sibling ‘My Baby’

When middle school teacher Shannen Krahn unexpectedly gave birth to her daughter in the bathroom of her Wisconsin home last month, her 2-year-old son, Max, was right beside her, offering comfort and courage.

“At one point, when I was looking down, he put his little hand under my chin and lifted my face up to look him in the eye,” says Krahn, 31. “Focusing on him kept my brain away from the pain.”

The surprise home birth was the dramatic conclusion to what had been a smooth pregnancy.

Krahn, a math teacher, was nearly 39 weeks pregnant with her second child, Brooklynn Suzanne, when she finished work on September 15. Though she began feeling some discomfort as she left school, the pain was inconsistent — nothing like the contractions she remembered from her first delivery.

She told her husband Mitch, who works as a supervisor at a chemical manufacturing company, to go ahead to his night shift, promising to call if she needed to go to the hospital. “I didn’t realize how fast it was going to progress,” she recalls.

After arriving home near Madison, Krahn showered and noticed her contractions intensifying. As she gave Max a bath, she began timing them and soon called Mitch, telling him to come home so they could leave for the hospital.

While waiting for him and his cousin — who would watch Max — Krahn headed to the bedroom to gather her hospital bag and pillow. Suddenly, a powerful contraction hit, and her water broke. “It was like a water balloon dropping on the floor,” she says. “It was crazy.”

With her toddler watching from the bed, Krahn reassured him through the escalating pain. “Yep, we’re good. Mama’s good,” she said. “We got this.”

Realizing she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital, Krahn moved to the bathroom and got down on her hands and knees. Her phone was in the kitchen, so she couldn’t call for help. As it rang in the distance, she pushed three times and delivered her daughter.

Throughout it all, Max stayed close, softly patting her arm and saying “Mama.” When baby Brooklynn appeared, he whispered, “Oh, baby.”

“I got her up on my chest and she let out a good cry,” says Krahn. “That was just a huge weight off the shoulders.”

Moments later, Mitch walked in the door, calling out, “Hello?” before spotting his wife and newborn. “We made eye contact,” she recalls. “I told him, ‘Hi, we have a baby.’”

An ambulance soon arrived to take Krahn and Brooklynn to the hospital. The baby — named in honor of Krahn’s late grandmother — weighed a healthy 7 lbs., 4 oz., and both mother and child were discharged within 24 hours.

Weeks later, Max remains captivated by his baby sister. “He calls her ‘my baby,’” says Krahn. “He loves to hold her and watch her during baths and feedings. He always wants to know where she is.”

One of Krahn’s favorite moments is when Max sits between her legs on a pillow while she nurses Brooklynn. “We’re just sitting there, snuggling, the three of us,” she says. “Like they say, your love doesn’t divide when you have more kids — it multiplies.”