3 pound baby is born at Burning Man to woman who didn't know she was pregnant

RENO, Nevada - A husband and wife who went to Burning Man as a family of two left the annual desert festival as parents with the surprise birth of their baby girl, and a story that will be told for years to come.

Utah residents Kayla Thompson and her husband, Kasey Thompson, made the trek to the temporary city known as Black Rock City last month to attend their first-ever Burning Man. 

The eight-day counterculture art and community event, about 100 miles north of Reno, draws tens of thousands of people from across the country and around the world. It wrapped up on Monday.

What we know:

Early Wednesday morning, three days into the festival, Kayla Thompson woke up in the recreational vehicle that she and her husband were in, with cramping and unusual abdominal pain, her sister-in-law Lacey Paxman shared with KTVU.  

It turned out, the 37-year-old Thompson was having labor pains. But the thing is, she had no idea she was going into labor because she didn’t even know she was pregnant.

So right there in the RV, she gave birth.

Their newborn baby, named Aurora, arrived, weighing in at 3 pounds, 9.6 ounces, and measuring 16.5 inches long, according to the family. 

The new aunt said her niece, a miracle baby, was estimated to be 35 weeks old.

Dig deeper:

Thompson's family said she experienced what’s known as a cryptic pregnancy. The rare occurrence can happen among women who don’t experience common signs of pregnancy. 

Studies suggest that about 1 in 2,500 pregnancies go unnoticed until delivery, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

"It's 100% a cryptic pregnancy. I mean, there were no signs of pregnancy. We were, as a family, at a lake the weekend prior. She was in a swimming suit. She did not look pregnant. I was as shocked as everybody else," Paxman shared.

She also said there was absolutely no way her brother and sister-in-law would have even gone to Burning Man had they known Kayla was pregnant. 

The baby was airlifted from the festival site to a hospital in Reno, where she is being cared for in a neonatal intensive care unit, according to Paxman, who said the baby’s mother is doing well and has since been released from the hospital.

It's unknown, Paxman said, when the baby will be allowed to go home. 

‘Beautiful miracle’

The new aunt said so many things had to have gone right for this miracle to have happened, with complete strangers at the festival stepping up, without hesitation, as soon as word got out about Thompson’s labor and the baby's arrival.

Among the Good Samaritans were a neonatal nurse and an obstetrician-gynecologist. The OB-GYN was so quick to rush over, he showed up to the RV in his underwear as he offered his assistance, according to Paxman. 

"It just shows like nobody cared about getting things in place," she said. "They just came to help, and they didn't think twice… nobody cared what they were wearing or, you know, not wearing. They were just there to help this beautiful miracle, you know, come together so beautifully."

The extreme weather, from dust storms to wind, and rain, also cooperated enough to allow a medical helicopter to transport the baby to the hospital.

But due to limited space in the helicopter, the new parents could not ride along with the newborn in the aircraft, so they had to go separately in an ambulance, Paxman explained.

Becoming a father 

She said it was an extremely excruciating moment for her brother, who seamlessly, without any time to prepare for parenthood, went into protective daddy mode for his baby. 

"He said, you know, it was the hardest decision he had to make because he knew he couldn't get on the flight with the baby, but the ambulance had to leave before the flight was able to take off," the sister explained, adding, "He had a choice — do I stay with my baby and make sure she gets on this flight? Or do I go with my wife and ensure that I can get out of Burning Man and be there when the whole family is at the hospital?"

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Ultimately, the 39-year-old new father got into the ambulance with his wife for a roughly three-and-a-half-hour journey to the hospital. But it was difficult for her brother, who had only moments ago found out that he was a father, to leave his baby's side, Paxman shared. 

"They stepped so beautifully into this parenting role, and I mean, she is their whole world," the aunt said.

What you can do:

Paxman has set up a GoFundMe to help her brother and sister-in-law support their newly expanded family. 

"Since this is their first child and the pregnancy was completely unexpected, my brother and his wife don’t have anything prepared—no baby supplies, no nursery, nothing at all," the GoFundMe said. 

The new aunt also cited the "heavy financial burden" the parents would be facing, from the baby’s NICU stay and other medical bills to their traveling and lodging expenses as they await the newborn's release from the hospital so they can return to their home in Salt Lake City.  

"Most people, again, have nine months to prepare for a baby, and they got it in a blink of an eye," Paxman said.

Burning Man community 

She said the family is incredibly filled with gratitude for the many strangers who came to their aid. 

"My brother and Kayla, you know, they are so deeply thankful for the Burning Man community and what they have been able to do for them and how everybody just stepped in and gave them exactly what they needed at the exact right moment, and they'll never forget it," Paxman said, adding, "It's a history making Burning Man."

The organizers of the annual event extended their well-wishes and congratulations to the family, as they noted that among the many principles the event sought to elevate, this new life encapsulated what it cherished most. 

"In the midst of wind, heat, and storms, they brought new life into the world in Black Rock City," a spokesperson from Burning Man Project said. "Of all the things we celebrate at Burning Man, bringing life, connection, transformation, and joy are dearest to our hearts."

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