SEBEC – Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Daphne Davis, who went into labor shortly before noon Wednesday.

While everything turned out well in the end, it was anything but routine for the 32-year-old and her husband, Jeff, also 32, from the moment her water broke – two weeks before the due date. Contractions started immediately and things went downhill from there.

“God’s in charge, that’s all that matters,” Jeff thought as events unfolded. Realizing they could not make it to the hospital in time on their own, the couple called for an ambulance at about 11 a.m.

When the ambulance arrived, however, the driver lost control of the vehicle on the ice-covered, sloping driveway and the vehicle struck a tree, causing about $1,000 in damage.

Another ambulance and the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department were summoned to the scene as emergency medical personnel provided aid to Daphne in her bedroom. Attempts to deliver the baby at the home were stopped when it was discovered that the baby was breech.

When the second ambulance arrived, it did not have a litter to carry the woman from the house to the ambulance, so a third ambulance was called, according to Lt. Robert Young of the sheriff’s department.

In the interim, police had asked the Department of Transportation to sand the driveway so an ambulance could approach the residence. DOT responded, but as the truck backed up and began sanding, a hydraulic line broke. That vehicle had to be towed, and a truck from the town of Sebec finished the sanding.

While all this was happening, Jeff said, he was bouncing back and forth between his wife upstairs and his two children, ages 2 and 4, downstairs. He wasn’t too worried about the children, however, because they were having fun watching the flashing emergency lights outside the window, he said.

But in the end, Daphne made it to the hospital and delivered a healthy 7 pound, 13 ounce baby, Luke Thomas Davis.

Because the baby was the first of the New Year at Mayo Regional Hospital, the family also received a basket of 28 presents donated by businesses in the community. It included gift certificates, maple syrup, savings bonds and free movie passes.

“This was supposed to have been a textbook pregnancy,” Jeff noted. No one, not even the doctor, had been aware the baby was breech, he said. And the due date had been set at Jan. 13.

“We had no idea by any means that this would be the first baby born here,” said the shaken, but delighted dad. He said he was thankful his baby and wife are fine and was appreciative of the emergency help and the presents.