Axel Murray, currently 2 days old, couldn’t wait to start living. The baby boy was born in a hurry, two weeks before his due date and minutes before his mum could make it into the hospital. Roxanne Faithfull and partner Andrew Murray rushed from their central Auckland apartment to the hospital as quickly as they could in the early hours, after her ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ at 4am and the couple timed the ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs.
The baby boy was born on Saturday morning, in a hurry, two weeks before his due date and minutes before his mum could make it into the hospital. The new dad said: “He was two weeks early. We hadn’t packed the car or had anything ready. It was Rox’s second child but her first was 13 years ago.”
Roxanne’s first baby was born after 22 hours in ʟᴀʙᴏᴜʀ so the couple were expecting a similar experience this time around. Baby Axel had other ideas. It was a short trip to Auckland Hospital but baby Axel decided to be born in the back seat of the car, birthed and ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀᴇᴅ by mum Roxanne. The dad recalled: “With all these modern gadgets mums have these days I was packing everything she needed, going to and unboxing and trying to figure out how to fit the baby seat to the back seat of the car. She was all fine and then, boom, she was ready.”
They did not have a ᴍɪᴅᴡɪꜰᴇ or any healthcare professional near them but did not feel alone. Murray joked: “We live on the top floor right in the CBD on Albert St. It as a long long corridor past all the other apartments and then an open lift so it felt like the whole complex was with us.” They almost made it to Auckland Hospital in time but, with the nervous dad driving as fast as he could, the mum continued to ʟᴀʙᴏᴜʀ in the back seat. He added: “We almost got there. I drove into the parking gate as I went past the ticket booth. She was screaming, ‘it’s coming’. It was a very fast drive. The head was already showing. We then got to the front entrance and she was holding him in her arms.”
The mum cried tears of joy as she held her baby in the back seat of the car. Mum and baby are both doing well. Rox and Axel were transferred to Bɪʀᴛʜᴄᴀʀᴇ but then had to return to hospital on Saturday night as her body was still in sʜᴏᴄᴋ, but she was back to Bɪʀᴛʜᴄᴀʀᴇ on Sunday. The proud parents can’t wait to take baby Axel home. His dad is over the moon – but says the back seat will never be quite the same.
