911 operator helps Whitestown dad deliver his daughter

It was an early morning delivery a Whitestown family and a Boone County 911 operator will never forget.  A baby that was supposed to be delivered on a Monday, decided she did not want to wait that long to join the outside world.

Lily Harting does things on her own schedule.

"There is no need to be polite, she is impatient," said Elizabeth Harting, Lily's mother.

Lily's independence played out in a 911 call to dispatcher Vanessa Moistner.

Caller: "I can see the baby's head."
Dispatcher: "You can see the baby's head?"
Caller: "Yes, please hurry, the baby is coming."

Lily's dad, Dave, made the call, you can hear mother Elizabeth in the background.

Caller: "It's a boy!"
Dispatcher: "Ahh, congratulations."
Caller: "It's a girl!"

"I was really looking forward to the epidural," said Elizabeth Harting.  "I am one of those mothers who has no problem admitting that epidural is one of my favorite things of the delivery process, other than getting to hold your newborn for the first time."

Only Fox59 cameras were there when the mother and the dispatcher met for the first time.  As a dispatcher, Vanessa said she gets a lot of interesting calls, but never like this.

"I could not sleep after I got home that night," said Moistner.  "Usually I get home and get my kids on the bus.  It was a power trip to get yourself calmed down and get to bed like I should have."

Every time Moistner picks up the phone she goes into what she calls "dispatcher mode."  She did not recognize the significance of this particular call, until after the call ended

"I looked at the other dispatchers and said, 'I think I am going to cry,' as soon as it is over with," said Moistner.

Moistner and Lily hit it off right away.  Elizabeth Harting said the Boone County dispatcher did just as well putting her husband at ease.

"Vanessa did an amazing job keeping him calm," said Harting. "I am sure I would have just gone off on him if I had to try and keep him calm, while delivering a baby at the same time."

Little Lilly is already famous.  She is known as the neighborhood baby, the first baby physically born in the neighborhood.

"We joke about it all the time, said Harting.  "What other kid, besides a Harting kid, would show up at three in the morning and that is it."

Moistner received an award for her on-the-phone efforts during that 911 call.  Moistner said she was just doing her job, but she does admit it gives her a sense of workplace pride.