Mich. Couple Opens Up After Surprising Birth in Brewery Parking Lot, and They Share Sweet Story Behind Newborn's Name

10/03/2024 11:24 AM

"It definitely reached more people than we'll ever know," Aaron Baker tells PEOPLE

• Aaron and Kyle Baker welcomed their son, Forrest Wells, in the parking lot of a Michigan brewery on Aug. 13
• On the phone with 911, Aaron told authorities to meet him and his wife at One Well Brewery — about a 20-minute drive from their home
• They say they can't believe how their story has "reached more people than we'll ever know"

A Michigan couple is opening up after their newborn son entered the world at a surprising location: a brewery parking lot.

"There's no medical doctors, anybody around, to tell you what to do," dad Aaron Baker, 38, tells PEOPLE. "You can't prepare for this at all."

And it certainly wasn't what the parents of two daughters, 3-and-a-half and 2 years old, were expecting when their youngest arrived.

Mom Kyle Baker, 34, says that her pregnancy had been "completely normal" but she began to have contractions on Aug. 13. She says she was skeptical the baby was really coming — with an induction already scheduled for a week later.

Related: Baby Born Weighing Less Than 2 Lbs. Comes Home After Months-Long NICU Stay: 'Over the Moon,' Says Mom

"Everything was neck and neck with our girls, so we were certain we were having our third girl and that [she] was going to be a week late, just like them, too," Kyle says.

And just like with their daughters, the couple didn't want to know the baby's sex until birth.

Kyle, who works as an instructional coach, says that she called Aaron, who owns a gym and had been training a group of customers, around 5:30 p.m. local time that August morning. She told him to come home, thinking she should get checked out by doctors.

Still, the two thought they would be sent home. 

About five minutes into their drive to the hospital, with their bag in tow, Aaron says that his wife's pain and contractions continued to get worse. 

"I was excited, because I'm like, 'Good, we're not getting sent home for sure. I can tell,' " he adds. "Then we got about halfway there and I'm like, 'Okay.' I was the last person who really wants to call an ambulance or 911. I'm like, 'You're going to make it to the hospital.' "

That changed — quickly.

Aaron describes how his wife started giving birth in their car. On the phone with 911, he told first responders to meet them at One Well Brewery in Kalamazoo, about a 20-minute drive from their home in Vicksburg.

Related: Woman Welcomes Baby Mid-Flight Weeks Before Due Date — and Birth Certificate Says He Was Born 'In the Air'

"About a minute later we pulled in," Aaron says. "I mean, I literally put the car in park ... the car was still running."

He then ran around their Kia Carnival minivan, opened the door and their son's head "came out."

"I was holding the baby's head," Aaron says. "I had dispatch on my cell phone on the dashboard on speaker and they were trying to keep me calm."

Aaron says that he then placed their newborn on his wife's chest — and the boy began to cry.

"That was the biggest breath of fresh air you could ask for," Aaron says.

It wasn't until he heard sirens from an ambulance that it finally hit him: "We have a live baby right here." As reality set in, Kyle leaned into her husband and said, "Hey, by the way, we have a baby boy."

 "I was still in the moment of kind of like, okay, okay, cool," Aaron says. "What do we do next?"

Related: Couple Welcomes Baby Who 'Couldn't Wait' — and Was Born in the Passenger Seat of Their Car!

Deciding on Forrest's name wasn't too difficult for the couple, Kyle says: "I've known Forrests and they've all been really nice people.'

Yet the pair weren't really set on a middle name until Kyle's sister had an idea — Wells.

"What a cool thing to relate to the brewery where he was born," Aaron says.

The Bakers say that Forrest's name already had a surprising connection to the brewery.

"When you walk in, they have a section in the bar area that's called 'the cabin side,' and then they have the side and it makes sense now," Aaron says. "You see trees and everything painted all over. It's called 'the forest side.' " (Kyle quips, "We didn't know that.")

The pair, who met while substitute teaching at Eastside Elementary in Constantine, can't believe how their story has spread and "reached more people than we'll ever know," Aaron says.

But he says he's happy it's bringing people joy: "Maybe this'll just bring some smiles."

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When asked what they think Forrest will make of his birth story as he grows older, Aaron says he's ultimately hoping to keep "a good relationship with One Well going."

"Down the road, especially once he gets 21, he can walk into that brewery and tell his story," Aaron says. "'Actually, this [is] where I was born.' "

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