It’s a good thing that a couple traveling to Burning Man from Utah came in a comfy RV, because the wife did not know she was pregnant, and had a baby during the event in a freak medical occurrence.

This year’s Burning Man event is now once and for all over, and the 2025 iteration was a “circle of life” occurrence for the ages. We learned Sunday morning that someone appeared to have been murdered on Saturday night at Burning Man, and Pershing County authorities are still scrambling to identify even the victim, let alone a suspect. But the Chronicle had a surprising story on Friday that someone gave birth to a baby at Burning Man, though the details at the time were quite vague and had little confirmation.

But now we have specific details and confirmation, and yes this surprising tale is true. KTVU spoke with family members of the new parents, Kayla and Kasey Thompson. Kasey Thompson’s sister Lacey Paxman tells KTVU that Kayla woke in the couple’s RV with abdominal pains Wednesday morning, which she didn’t realize were labor pains, as she did not know she was pregnant. Fellow Burning Man attendees who were nurses or had medical backgrounds rushed to assist, including one OB-GYN who was still wearing only his underwear.

Many of you are probably wondering why she went to Burning Man so pregnant, or how a person could not know they were pregnant. But it’s an actual medical condition known as a cryptic pregnancy, wherein the mother does not know she is pregnant, and this condition affects about one out of every 2,500 births. The family insists the Thompsons would not have gone to Burning Man had they known Kayle was pregnant and so close to birth.

"It's 100% a cryptic pregnancy. I mean, there were no signs of pregnancy,” Paxman told KTVU. “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.”

The three-pound, 9.6-ounce baby girl now named Aurora was airlifted to a neonatal ICU in Reno. Though in an anguishing move for the new parents, they had to travel separately in an ambulance. There was not enough room for them on the helicopter.

The family has established a GoFundMe to support the Burning Man baby. “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,” Paxman says on the GoFundMe. “On top of that, the unexpected circumstances have created a heavy financial burden: NICU care (with no release date yet), medical bills, and travel and lodging expenses while they are far from home.”

A Monday update from Salt Lake City’s KUTV has very encouraging news about the new Burner family. "Mom and dad and baby, they're all doing well," the baby’s grandmother Shauna Thompson told that station. "Baby is progressing and getting stronger every day. Mom and dad are so in love with Aurora and they're going to be amazing parents."

Related: Man Found Dead In Possible Homicide During the Burning of the Man Saturday Night In Black Rock City [SFist]

Image via GoFundMe

In what already smells like a best-seller, today we learn of a 9-months pregnant Oroville woman who spent four days stranded in the Plumas National Forest. During that time, she went into labor, gave birth, fought "meat bees," started a forest fire to signal for help, and was eventually rescued.

As CBS SF reports, Amber Pangborn "found herself fighting for not only her life but that of her daughter" when she took a wrong turn in an attempt to find a shortcut after she went into labor. As Pangborn explains in the above video, she was out of cell service range and had few supplies but managed to give birth, name and care for her new daughter, and eventually get herself rescued.

Oh yeah, and in a detail that seems somehow ripped-off from The Hunger Games we also learn that Pangborn was attacked by bees.

"The meat bees came out and were trying to get the placenta. I was trying to get them not to sting her and I got stung trying to keep them away from the baby. But they went into the placenta,” said Pangborn.

Ultimately, Pangborn was saved by a U.S. Forest Service worker on Saturday, as KCRA reports, after he spotted the smoke from her fire. This was two days after giving birth to baby Marissa, which happened Thursday.

Perhaps there's a lesson in here about not going on hikes alone when you are nine months pregnant.

We're all used to surprises while traveling by air. Delays, too-close-for-comfort-pat-downs, weird terrible smells...but even the most jaded traveler must have been surprised when a woman gave birth aboard a Southwest Airlines flight that took off from San Francisco International Airport Tuesday morning.

KCBS reports that Southwest Flight 623 took off from SFO at 6:24 a.m., headed for Sky Harbor International in Phoenix. But that plan was shattered when shortly after takeoff, a passenger went into labor, Southwest Airlines spokesperson Emily Samuels confirms.

The 111 passengers of the flight were diverted to LAX, KTLA reports, but they couldn't land fast enough: by the time the plane touched down in LA, at 7:38, the baby (gender as yet unstated) was born.

“Luckily a nurse and doctor were on board,” Samuels says. They assisted in the birth, then Los Angeles Fire Department officials took over, caring for the mother and newborn before any passengers exited the plane, LAFD spokesman Erik Scott told KTLA.

The flight's passengers were delayed for about two-and-a-half hours, Samuels said, but “they’ll certainly have a story to tell."

And by all accounts, mother and child are doing well. Both were transported to an LA hospital and are in good condition, and Samuels says that "I can’t comment on their condition because I’m not a medical professional, but it was a pretty exciting day."

Eliana Lopez and Ross Mirkarimi are the parents of a baby boy today -- the SF Supervisor's first bundle of fun. A reader (presumably Mirkarimi himself) tips us off, saying, "Eliana Lopez and Ross Mirkarimi are the proud parents of a baby boy. The baby weighed in at 8lbs, 14oz. Our son was born at home, natural childbirth. Eliana was in labor all night/day. She is a goddess! She and baby are resting, while Pappa tries to clean and cook."

Yes, she IS a goddess. She delivered a 9-pound boy via natural childbirth at home. Ow. So: we expect you to buy her a FANTASTIC push present, Ross. We're not kidding. Here you go.

SF Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi rules District 5, which encompasses Hayes Valley, Western Addition (Fillmore), Japantown, Lower Pacific Heights, Lower Haight/Haight-Ashbury, North of the Panhandle, Cole Valley, and the Inner Sunset neighborhoods. Mirkarimi lives on Webster Street in the Western Addition. He most recently shaved off his goatee to wide acclaim.

Congratulations, Ross and Eliana!

Due to the traffic backup caused by yesterday's fatal car crash on the Bay Bridge, it seems that a woman popped out a kid. According to the Examiner:

As a result of the traffic jam, a woman pulled off the road to give birth a few hours after the accident. The mother-to-be was traveling toward San Francisco at 3:35 p.m. when she detoured into the toll plaza’s left administrative parking lot, Chase said.

Wow. Did she have the kid right there in the parking lot? Judging by the article, we're not sure. But if she did: cool. The only thing missing were a few anorexics and a Lilith Fair-ish score for a very special episode of Grey's Anatomy.