The circle of life: Woman gives birth to son after year of grieving

A Keyport couple received the shock of a lifetime with an unexpected birth.

News 12 Staff

Apr 5, 2019, 2:18 AM

Updated 2,015 days ago

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The circle of life: Woman gives birth to son after year of grieving
A Keyport couple received the shock of a lifetime with an unexpected birth.
Patricia Crawford and her husband Evan Darragh are head-over-heels for their new infant son. But his birth came as something of a surprise.
“We [didn’t] have a diaper, a wipe, an outfit, a onesie. Nothing,” Crawford said.
It was March 28 and Crawford said that she was up all night convinced that she had food poisoning.
"By the time I got back to the toilet area all of a sudden a baby came sliding out,” she says. “It was just like…’Oh my God. What are we even going to do?’”
The couple did not know they were expecting a baby. Crawford says that she did not have any major symptoms of pregnancy. She had an upset stomach from time to time and the feeling of a flutter a few weeks ago.
Crawford said that her major focus over the past year was keeping her mind off her father’s unexpected death.
“I was kind of just getting through day by day, keeping myself as busy as possible. Just zooming around,” she says.
What makes the story unbelievable is that her son was born one year to the day after her father died. She named her son William James after her father. And to make the situation even more fateful – the baby was born at 5 a.m. – the same time Crawford’s father would set an alarm to get up for work – something he was very strict about.
"I think my sister said it best. She [said] it was like my dad came from heaven and said ‘you will no longer be sad on March 28 every again.’ And it's really the best thing in the world,” Crawford says.
The couple says that they are now settling into the new normal of diaper changes and late-night feedings. They say that friends and family have been very helpful and have been sending them baby supplies and necessities ever since he was born.
The couple had been trying to have a baby for some time but were not successful until now.