Sheer Instinct Took Over When This Dad Was Forced to Deliver His Baby on the Front Lawn

When Candace Marie Bolden went into labor with her third child, she and her husband, Antonio Garland Nailing, left for the hospital. However, the Florida couple didn't make it very far.

Instead of waiting until they were settled at the hospital, their little boy, Gannicus, arrived on their front lawn. Even though this wasn't Candace's first time giving birth, she had been induced the previous two times and never experienced what going into labor naturally feels like.

She had been having cramps for a week, and when it started again one night, she assumed that it was Braxton Hicks contractions. She also attributed the severe pain to her fibroids, so she took Tylenol while timing the contractions. Candace made it through the night but told Babble that she was confused and unsure of why the contractions where becoming so intense.

Her water broke the next morning as she was calling the doctor and that's when it sunk in that she was about to give birth. "Tony's first reaction was, 'That's what I've been waiting for!' I guess you can say we were both in denial that I was in labor," Candace said. "By that point I could barely move but Tony kept saying I needed to push myself, 'We can do this we are going to the hospital!'"

Despite the pain and trouble walking, Candace made it to the front door but stopped when she thought she could feel the baby's head. "I told Tony that his head was emerging and he told me it wasn't, so because I couldn't see down there he pulled my pants down and saw as far as his eyes," she continued. "He immediately told me to lie on the grass and started coaching me to push and take deep breaths."

In just minutes of stepping outside of their apartment, Tony successfully delivered his baby boy and cradled the child on his chest until paramedics arrived to cut the umbilical cord. Instead of going into shock during this unconventional birth, Candace said that she watched her husband do something incredible: "[he] just followed his instincts."