WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — First responders surrounded UPMC Williamsport last Thursday night during the hospital-wide power outage.
It was completely dark inside the hospital, according to Kalyn Essick of Montoursville. Essick was in the middle of giving birth to her first child when the lights went out around 7:30 p.m. that evening.
"I got a little bit of Pitocin to help move things along, and then the lights went out right after that was pushed through, and they didn't come back on," said Essick.
Her epidural was running on batteries, and without power, it wouldn't last long. There were no monitors to measure contractions, and the baby's heartbeat was measured by a hand doppler. But just 45 minutes later, Tiernan Stone Essick was born.
"There was no reason to wait. I was ready to push, and we knew everything was going to happen safely, and so we just went on with it, and shortly after, we welcomed him into the world still in the dark," added Essick.
She said hospital staff went above and beyond to take care of her during that time. There were about seven people huddled over her with cell phone lights and flashlights while she gave birth.
"Pretty much every health care worker had a light in one hand and doing something or monitoring with another. My husband had a flashlight in one of his hands as well," she said.
The family even got to take home an unusual souvenir.
"Because we brought him into the world using flashlights, we actually got to keep one of these bad boys," Essick said.
Baby Tiernan weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and measured 20 inches in length. The family calls him the "Blackout Baby."