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KAYSVILLE — Mary Ann West held a newborn baby girl in her arms, welcoming her into this world the only way a future mother-in-law could: with unconditional love. She then handed the baby over to Stacy Poll to raise for the next 22 years, before the mother joined her to West in holy matrimony.
Twenty-two years ago, this month, West, who is a labor and delivery nurse at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, assisted in delivering a baby girl, who, unbeknownst at the time, would be her future daughter-in-law.
That baby girl, Kelsey West, married Mary Ann West's son Tyler West last month. And, according to Kelsey, finding out that her mother-in-law delivered her, solidified her decision to marry Tyler West.
"It was one of those things that confirmed to me that Tyler was someone I wanted to be with for the rest of my life, and it also made me feel closer to his mom and his family," Kelsey West said.
But one does not just happen upon the information that you were delivered by your mother-in-law — extraordinary circumstances like these really do have quite the backstories.
The backstory
As the story goes, the newlyweds met while Kelsey Poll was working at a bank where Tyler West was depositing a check. One thing led to another, the two fell madly in love and were suddenly having that "meet the parents" moment where all the future in-laws gathered to plan a wedding. During that meeting, Mary Ann West mentioned she has worked as a nurse at Lakeview Hospital since the summer of 2001. According to Stacy Poll (Kelsey's mom), that sparked a connection.
"When Mary Ann said she worked at Lakeview, I really wondered if she was the nurse who delivered Kelsey," Poll said. "She looked familiar, but I wasn't sure if it was her, or not."
It took another wedding preparation custom to find out if Mary Ann West was, in fact, the nurse who delivered her daughter: Looking through old photos.
"We were looking through photo albums to add to the wedding video and Tyler grabbed the book and started looking at it from the back of the album," Stacy Poll recalled. "As he was looking through the pictures, I knew that there was one picture of the nurse inking Kelsey's foot for the footprints. After a while, Tyler got to the first pages in the album, and there was that picture of the nurse, and I turned to him and said, 'That looks like your mom. Is that your mom? I think that's your mom.' Then we looked at the certificate with the footprints and there was a signature. I asked Tyler if that was his mom's handwriting, and he said that it was definitely his mom's handwriting."
Both Tyler and Kelsey West said they believe their union was "meant to be."
But this isn't a story about one union, but two. As exciting as it was for the young couple to learn about the unlikely connection they had, it was equally exciting for Stacy Poll to be reunited with the nurse who may very well have saved her and her daughter's lives.
A rare challenge
Stacy Poll explained that when she learned that she was expecting her third child, it was very hard for her. She was working full-time, and had just had a baby nine months prior. When it came time to give birth to Kelsey, she would now be a mother of three children under the age of 3.
"Kelsey is my third child, so I was really nervous because we weren't expecting to have a third so quickly," Stacy Poll said. "I was really overwhelmed and worried about how we were going to handle having another baby. The nurse who was on duty said that it was going to be OK, and that she was a working mom of three kids. She said, 'Hey, look, it's going to be OK.' She was very comforting, and I was so grateful for that.
"She talked to me throughout the night about this little baby boy she had at the time, and we really connected." she continued. "But when I was in labor, I told her that something didn't feel right, so she checked me."
Something wasn't right. According to Mary Ann West, there was a rare condition called velamentous cord insertion where the umbilical blood vessels insert into the amniotic sac instead of the placenta. In many cases, this condition can cause blood loss for mother and baby, and can be fatal for both.
"I remembered Kelsey's birth because I had never experienced labor like this, before or since," Mary Ann West recalled. "She really is a miracle, and it really does feel like it was meant to be."
When Kelsey was born, Mary Ann (West) was the first one to say 'welcome to the world.' She touched Kelsey before I did. She put her on my stomach and let me see that she had 10 fingers and 10 toes.
–Stacy Poll, Kelsey's mother
Stacy Poll expressed how grateful she is for her daughter to be reunited with the woman who very well might have saved her daughter's life; and, the person first to hold her when she was born.
"It really has come full circle," Stacy Poll said. "When Kelsey was born, Mary Ann was the first one to say 'welcome to the world.' She touched Kelsey before I did. She put her on my stomach and let me see that she had 10 fingers and 10 toes.
"She doesn't know how worried I was from the get-go to have my third baby. I was not prepared for it. For her to come in and say, 'You've got this, girl,' and to hold my hand through it all ... and now our kids are married. She's been a gem through it all. For Kelsey to have both of her moms bond with her, is the most peaceful gift."
