McIvers Chase the Ace delivers ultimate jackpot to Corner Brook woman: a baby girl
'We took home a way better prize,' says Danielle Vaters
The ever-growing jackpot at the McIvers Chase the Ace fundraiser went unclaimed Sunday evening, but one Corner Brook woman who showed up to play ended up taking home a gift no amount of cash can compete with: a baby girl.
"It would be really nice to have won some money, but you know what — we took home a way better prize," laughed Danielle Vaters from her hospital bed.
Vaters was days away from her Thursday due date when she headed out with a friend to try her luck at the lottery, leaving her husband in charge of their two kids so she could grab some adult alone time.
"As a mother, it's the only thing I get to do by myself here lately. Especially being pregnant, there's not a whole lot of outings. So it's been nice to have something to do on Sundays," she said, adding her husband wasn't exactly on the same page.
"He didn't want me to go to Chase The Ace, he was hesitant on it. Everyone was hesitant on it except for me, because I thought for sure she wouldn't come. But I knew for sure that if I stayed home, she definitely wouldn't come," she said.
It seems the baby felt the same way.
Contraction confusion
On the 40 minute drive from Corner Brook to McIvers, Vaters felt some slight pains, but after weeks of false Braxton-Hicks contractions she decided to just continue on.
It was only when she was in the midst of the 4,400-odd other people lining up in McIvers to try their luck that reality hit.
"I was like, 'I don't know, I don't know if it's really happening.' And then it was. It didn't stop and it just got more painful, the contractions," she recalled.
Vaters kept quiet but said the crowd noticed something was up.
"Everyone was looking at me pretty funny."
As the pains increased, Vaters' commitment to Chase the Ace wavered and she and her friend decided it was time to hit the road to the hospital in Corner Brook. As she was leaving she texted her husband, "put the kids to bed, grab the diaper bag, let's go."
'She's perfect'
Vaters drove herself up to the doors of Western Memorial Regional Hospital, with her contractions in full swing, far too late to have any relief from an epidural.
"I felt absolutely every single pain, which was terrible and amazing, now that I think about it, at the same time."
Brooke Melanie Vaters came into the world a short time later — taking her middle name from the friend who accompanied Danielle on her self-described "crazy" Chase The Ace mission.
"She's quiet and she's sweet and she sleeps and she's perfect," said Vaters.
Vaters' chance to win big in McIvers may not be behind her either. With the fundraiser continuing this coming Sunday and just three cards left in the deck, Vaters hopes she'll be back to try her luck, this time, with Brooke in tow.
With files from the Corner Brook Morning Show