A Texas mother delivered twin boys on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 377 near Lake Texoma, turning an ordinary drive into an early arrival story that will be hard to top at future birthday parties. The boys came almost two months ahead of schedule. Emergency crews moved the family a short distance to a nearby hospital, and the newborns were later transferred to a pediatric center in Oklahoma City for specialized neonatal care. Medical teams report that the mother and infants are stable as doctors begin what is expected to be weeks of intensive support.
“About to have babies in the car,” Shelbee Dugger-Kemp recalled saying as labor suddenly kicked in, in an interview reported by KOCO. Dugger-Kemp, who was about 31 weeks pregnant, said her first son, Kane, arrived roughly six miles after contractions started. About five minutes later, her second son, Kallen, was born en caul. The family says both infants are doing well as doctors concentrate on stabilizing their breathing and helping them gain weight.
Highway birth and hospital relay
An ambulance took the new family from the roadside to Mercy Hospital in Ardmore, where staff worked to stabilize Dugger-Kemp and her newborn sons before the infants were transferred to Oklahoma Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, according to KOCO. Mercy’s Ardmore campus lists a 24/7 emergency department and mother and baby services on its website. Oklahoma Children’s OU Health serves as the state’s regional pediatric center and houses the neonatal intensive care services that care for very preterm infants. The hospital’s site outlines the specialized support those babies typically need once they arrive.
Why 31 weeks matters for twins
Babies born at about 31 weeks are considered very preterm and usually need time in a neonatal intensive care unit for help with breathing, feeding and temperature control while they grow. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that carrying more than one baby raises the risk of preterm birth and that infants born before 32 weeks often require specialized neonatal care. That care can include respiratory support, tube feeding and close weight monitoring until babies are strong enough to feed on their own and gain steadily…