HGTV Star Jasmine Roth Reveals She Nearly Gave Birth to Second Child on ‘Side of the Road’

Jasmine Roth
HGTV

Jasmine Roth welcomed her and husband Brett Roth’s second child, Darla Rose Roth, to the world earlier this month. The birth of their baby girl was full of twists and turns — and it all happened in under two hours.

Amid a date night to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary, Jasmine suddenly started getting contractions. She immediately made plans to head to the hospital. For most of the drive, the Rock the Block alum didn’t think she’d make it to the delivery room in time.

“The 911 operator (after hearing me describe that my contractions were about 30 seconds or less apart) told my husband he had to pull the car over and that help was on the way, but chances are he was going to deliver the baby right there in our car on the side of the road. I was lying across the front seat of our truck — screaming — when my water broke and I felt immense pressure,” the 40-year-old HGTV star wrote in a personal essay for PEOPLE.

She continued, “I got up and was stomping around in the grass on the side of the highway (still yelping, hollering, screaming) trying to gather my composure. I was in so much pain, but also very scared. I was beyond frustrated. I knew I could physically handle an unmedicated birth, but I wasn’t in the right headspace. I was so caught off-guard that I was having a really hard time finding any peace or strength. I was terrified but didn’t want to admit it. It was very dark out and the traffic was completely stopped as far as we could see.”

Roth had “come to terms” with the fact that she might have to give birth on the side of the road. “I felt a bit of hope as I saw flashing lights coming our way,” she said. Firemen arrived on the scene and spread a tarp on the grass for her. “I was terrified but I listened. As I climbed hesitantly onto the tarp, the ambulance pulled up and I gladly got on their stretcher instead,” she recalled.

Their four-year-old was born in a much more peaceful environment, “a planned induction, a few hours of labor, an epidural at 7cm dilated, and a baby born to two very excited parents,” Roth said.

To say that her latest was a bit more hectic would be an understatement. Her husband, who had to drive behind the ambulance she was carried in, had to find Roth once inside the hospital. Luckily, he did in time. Through the intense pain, she instructed him to video and take photos of the experience.

Once baby Darla was born, both of the parents noticed how small she was, weighing 4 lbs. 8 oz. Roth gushed, “She immediately filled a corner of my heart that I didn’t know was empty.”

However, a sense of guilt crept up in her. Darla was born a month earlier than expected. “I couldn’t give her that last month she needed and now she was being taken away from me,” Roth wrote.

Born prematurely, the newborn child was placed in the ICN (low-level NICU) for 15 days. This happened because the placenta had hemorrhaged, according to Roth’s doctor.

Since then, Roth and baby Darla have been allowed to go home. Now the family is settling into the happiness of their complete family with tons of snuggles and smiles.