North Carolina Woman Gives Birth 3 Months Early During Trip to N.Y.C. as Local Moms Come to Her Aid

A first-time mom-to-be faced one of the most challenging moments of her life during a business trip to New York City in June — while 23 weeks pregnant.

Shelcie Holbert, 23, a sales representative for Kiehl’s from North Carolina, had arrived in NYC on June 17, preparing to visit the company’s flagship store when she sensed something was wrong.

She went to the emergency room at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital, where doctors quickly realized she was having contractions. They rushed her by ambulance to Mount Sinai West, a hospital better equipped to handle preterm labor.

Doctors soon found that Holbert, who was due on October 12, was already three centimeters dilated.

“I felt like I was overthinking it until they told me that,” Holbert shared with PEOPLE.

To give her baby the best chance at survival, Holbert and her medical team worked to delay the birth by a week — enough time for her husband, Jake Wallace, an Army veteran, to fly in and be by her side.

“I just wanted the comfort of being close to home, at least,” Holbert said about her hospital stay. “My husband didn’t even have a place to stay. I wanted to have my baby… I wanted to go home. But for babies this small, every day counts.”

Eight days later, the medication controlling her contractions was doing its job well enough that Holbert planned to fly back home and check into a hospital in North Carolina. But that morning, labor began unexpectedly.

“I was looking at plane tickets to go home when the contractions started,” she recalled.

On June 26, Holbert and Wallace welcomed their daughter, Rosalie Grace, weighing just 1 pound, 9 ounces. She was immediately admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

In addition to caring for their tiny newborn, the couple had to figure out how to live in New York City until around Holbert’s original due date — or even longer. Their first hotel stay alone cost $4,000 for one month.

After connecting with another NICU parent, Kim Kaplan, who shared their story in her local mom Facebook group, support began pouring in.

Another mom, Jenna, generously offered Holbert and Wallace her second apartment. Toby Baldinger, also a local mom, took away their worry about meals by giving a diner her credit card and instructions to deliver dinner every night for two weeks — easing another significant expense.

“We set aside money for our baby, but we never expected any of this,” Holbert said.

Other local women brought home-cooked meals, donated gift cards, and gave postpartum and nursing clothing — since Holbert had packed only three days’ worth of all-black outfits for her business trip. A childhood friend also started a GoFundMe to support the family.

“I felt so helpless,” Holbert admitted. “But then it was like one good thing led to another. Everything was meant to be. I was supposed to get my baby this way.”

In the weeks since, Rosalie, now weighing 2 pounds, has hit important milestones. Two weeks after her birth, Holbert was finally able to hold her daughter for the first time — “That’s when it felt real,” she said. And just recently, she kissed Rosalie on the head for the first time, overwhelmed by the small moments others might take for granted.

As a Southerner, Holbert admitted she had “this misconstrued idea of what New Yorkers are like.” But now, she’s grateful her daughter is a New Yorker because of the incredible kindness from strangers. Holbert recently asked Jenna, the generous mom who helped them so much, to be Rosalie’s godmother.

“I’ve never had someone do so many selfless things for me, and I want her to be more than a friend,” Holbert said. “I feel like I’ve known her for years, and I needed to do that.”