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Woman goes into labor early, gives birth at Nebraska zoo
Mom Kymica Hubbard went into labor early and gave birth to her daughter Drea Hubbard (pictured in the arms of her father Justin Hubbard) on Sunday at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska. (Image source: YouTube/KETV-TV screen cap)

Woman goes into labor early, gives birth at Nebraska zoo

A woman went into labor early and gave birth at a Nebraska zoo on Sunday, Omaha’s KETV-TV reported.

Kymica Hubbard, who was expecting her daughter’s birth to take place in May, visited the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, with several members of her family.

During the visit, she realized she was having contractions.

"I was having contractions and it was getting closer and closer together and I was telling my husband, 'OK, it's time to get off the train and let's go to the emergency room,' but he kept telling me I'm over-exaggerating," Hubbard, 24, told KETV.

Hubbard was in the bathroom with her mother when she realized the baby would arrive any moment.

"I just yelled her name, like, 'Mom! Come on.' So she came into the other restroom and got me," Hubbard said. "She was, like, 'Maybe you can make it to the car.' And I said, 'I don't think I can make it to the car, Mom.' "

She said that they tried to make it to the car, but "We got halfway up the hill and my water broke."

Kymica Hubbard told her husband, Justin Hubbard, that she didn’t think she would make it to the hospital.

"I was, like, 'Her head, her head.' And he was, like, 'What do you mean, her head?' And I was, like, 'Her head, her head!' And he was, like, 'Her head?' And then he felt down there and he was, like, 'Oh my gosh, she's having the baby!' "

Drea Hubbard, who weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19 inches long, was born moments later as a crowd looked on.

"I kind of glanced up and was, like, 'Oh my gosh, look at all these people,' " Justin Hubbard told KETV.

"She was crying. You know, cooing. And it was just the most beautiful thing that a man can ever see. I mean, it was a truly blessed experience," he said. "It was a crazy experience. I mean, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Justin Hubbard told the Omaha World-Herald that the family plans to celebrate Drea’s future birthdays at the zoo.

“We’re going to the zoo,” he said. “We’re planning on having [her birthday] annually at the zoo.”

The World-Herald reported that the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium gave the family a year’s pass to the zoo as well as a gift basket containing stuffed animals and other souvenirs.

Krystal Hartmann, a nurse who works for the zoo's emergency medical station, said she arrived after the birth but stayed with the family until they were transported to the hospital. She said Drea's birth marks the first time she has seen a human baby delivered at the zoo.

Kymica and Drea Hubbard were taken to a hospital following the birth. They are both healthy following the early delivery.

Watch below, via KETV:

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