Kacie and Kobe Wall welcomed their first baby into the world at 5:49 p.m. on Thursday, April 2 inside Lexington Medical Center. Blakely Layne Wall made her debut at 7 lbs 14 oz and 19 ½ inches long.
Typically, excited family members would have been waiting anxiously in a room down the hall. But in the time of COVID-19, this compelling and powerful photo emerged.
With hospital visitors prohibited during the coronavirus pandemic, Kobe Wall introduced his minutes-old daughter to her maternal grandparents through a delivery room window three floors up. Their nurse snapped this picture.
"It was such a proud moment," Kobe said. "I was thinking, ‘I know you can’t come in and see her, but here she is. Hey look, she’s here.’ It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that we stumbled on in the uniqueness of this time."
But having a baby during such an unprecedented situation was also difficult for the Lexington County couple.
"It seemed surreal. I felt like I was in a Hollywood movie," Kacie said. "My family and I are so close and to not have them nearby in the waiting room was tough."
Kacie’s parents, Butch and Sherri Davenport of Cayce, had been waiting in the parking lot for more than eight hours since Kacie’s labor started.
Kacie and Kobe placed a big letter "B" for Blakely in the window so that the family knew which room was theirs. They took the "B" down when Kacie began pushing and put it back up when baby Blakely arrived.
"It was kind of like a code," Kobe said.
Dr. Elizabeth Lambert, OB/GYN at Carolina Women’s Physicians, a Lexington Medical Center physician practice, delivered Blakely. She was overjoyed to watch the family’s expressions through the window.
And so were two Lexington Medical Center employees who had been chatting with the grandparents-to-be in the parking lot and overjoyed at the news of the new baby.
"It brought tears to everyone’s eyes," Kacie said. "We’ll cherish that moment forever."
