In October, a Conoco gas station in Manhattan, Montana got a special delivery — a 6-pound-and-11-ounce baby girl, to be exact.
"I felt my water break and they were like, we have time," said Areona Upmeyer. "I said no, we don't have time — she’s coming."
On the morning of Oct. 26, Upmeyer woke up to contractions, so she called her family and they rushed towards the hospital in Bozeman, a roughly 30-mile drive away.
Everything was smooth sailing for the expectant mother, until she started to reach a small Montana town near Bozeman.
"It started getting more intense," said Areona. "We called 911 and told them to meet us at the Conoco. We got to the four-way stop ... did not stop at all ... just kept turning," she said of the moments the person driving her frantically pulled into the nearest gas station.
An ambulance was called, and came soon after.
"I was scared, but excited at the same time," said Areona. "It was more of like, I just want my kid here and to know she's healthy."
Upmeyer hopped in the ambulance.
"I took a couple more contractions, and in two pushes she was here," she said.
Her name: Zoey Kaminski — a healthy baby girl who is kind of small-town famous. Upmeyer has visited the gas station a few times since Zoey's birth.
"They call her the gas station baby and they absolutely love her," said Areona.
Alabama woman born with rare double uterus is pregnant in both
The condition affects only 0.3% of women and is considered one of the least common uterine abnormalities, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
And she is just as in love with her little bundle of joy, who decided to make a grand entrance at the gas station.
"It didn't go as planned, but I wouldn't change it for anything because now she’s here," said Areona. "I just wish her dad was here. He was in a really bad motorcycle accident three months ago and is now down in Utah, doing better, but I just wish he could've been here to see her," Areona said through tears.
"She is the best miracle in the last three months I've had, so I gotta stay strong for her and hopefully soon we’ll be able to go see him so he can finally meet his daughter," she added.
This story was originally published by Jolee Sallee at Scripps News Bozeman.
