BABY ON BOARD!

They say if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.

Kathryn Costello — communications specialist for the Albany Diocese — was all set to deliver her baby at St. Peter’s Hospital on May 25. The car arrangement to the hospital was set, and Costello’s mother, Mary-Lou Hubly, was already staying over to help watch her 2-year-old grandson, Graham, while her daughter gave birth.

It was a great plan … that never happened.

“In my head I was thinking this was not how this was supposed to go,” laughed Costello. In an unexpected turn of events, baby Siena Jude was born at home on May 25 at 10:30 a.m., after a “fast and furious” delivery.

As Costello put it, “She had her own plans.”

The morning of the big day, Costello started feeling what she thought might be the beginnings of contractions. She wrote an email to her husband, Major Michael Costello, titled “Baby maybe?” to give him the heads-up. Michael, an Army Major for the 42nd Infantry Division and G4 Maintenance Officer, is based in Kuwait and was unable to come home for the birth as planned due to COVID-19.

A couple hours later and Costello was still at home; nothing made her think labor was going to happen anytime soon. Then, in a matter of minutes, “everything went to a whole new level.”

“All of a sudden it changed and it became more intense,” she recalled.

The two women hopped into action: Costello and her mom began packing a suitcase for the hospital while Costello got a hold of a friend who was set to drive her to the hospital. Then, at 10:07 a.m., her water broke.

“My mom took one look at me and said you’re not making it to the hospital,” she said.

The pair called 911 but nothing was slowing down. Minutes later, Costello felt it was time to push. “Then within one more push she was born; about 30 seconds later the paramedics walked through the door.”

And minutes later, Michael got to see his new daughter on FaceTime. “That’s when it started feeling real,” Costello said. “I started crying in awe of this beautiful, little surprise.”

After the birth, mother and baby left with the EMTs for an evaluation at St. Peter’s Hospital; everyone was happy and healthy. Looking back, the “surprise” birth seemed meant to be.

“We had this running joke that maybe we should just have this baby at home,” Costello said because of the coronavirus.

Hubly had planned to leave her home in Minnesota and stay with her daughter before the birth. But with the coronavirus still prevalent, Costello was nervous about her mother flying and didn’t want her to risk coming out. A week before the delivery, “she surprised me and showed up on my doorstep,” Costello said.

For the flight over, Hubly picked up something to read: a book about emergency childbirth. Costello called it Divine Providence: “God was putting all the different pieces into place.”

A few weeks later and the whole family is doing well. “We’re smitten with her,” Costello said.