Photo credit: Coleen Garcia

Coleen Garcia and Billy Crawford are officially parents of two, after welcoming their second child—a baby boy named Austin—on August 17. In a heartfelt post, Coleen shared the story of what she described as “the experience of a lifetime,” one that unfolded very differently from what she and her family had planned.

The couple had prepared for another water birth, this time at St. Luke’s Medical Center. But things took a surprising turn. Coleen recalled that when she first arrived at the hospital, she was only three centimeters dilated, her water bag had not yet broken, and her contractions, while frequent, were not painful. She was still walking around and feeling normal. That calm period, however, shifted quickly.

Once the contractions became painful, she was brought into the delivery room. What happened next shocked everyone in the room. Coleen stood up from her wheelchair and began walking toward the bed when she suddenly felt the urge to push. With just a slight push for relief, she realized her baby was already on his way. Her mother, who was present at the time, crouched down to check and ended up catching baby Austin as he came out—born “en caul,” still inside his amniotic sac, in what Coleen described as just “two quick, silent, and surprisingly painless pushes.”

“It all happened so fast—I was supposed to get an IE, dim the lights, play some music, soak in the tub,” Coleen wrote. “Instead, I gave birth like two minutes after entering the delivery room.”

The actress admitted her first birthing experience had left her with some trauma because of how unprepared she felt back then. This time around, she was ready with plans, packed items, and techniques—but ended up not needing any of them. For Coleen, both births, though vastly different, were equally meaningful.

“God carried me through each of those journeys just as He always does,” she reflected. “I felt His presence all throughout, and it shielded me from fear and anxiety, reminding me once again that His plan is always greater than mine.”

Coleen’s candid and lighthearted retelling—punctuated by her own laughter at the unexpected turn of events—reveals a story of grace, strength, and faith. For her, welcoming baby Austin may not have gone as planned, but it became a moment even more memorable because of how extraordinary it was.