A Riverview mom said her husband was speeding westbound on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway headed towards Tampa General Hospital when she gave birth in the front passenger seat of the SUV early Tuesday morning.
"I tell her (Aunt), 'I have to push' and she said, ‘no, no, don’t push yet,'" said Grendalee Rosales, 27. "But I can’t hold it. So, they had to pull over and then I push the baby and my husband take the baby.”
Rosales said her son, Jaden, was born about two weeks early, on the lower deck of the Crosstown Expressway near the 78th Street exit, at 3:30 a.m.
"I was a little scared because... I’ve never had a baby in the car," she said.
A dispatcher with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue helped talk the family through the delivery. At first, the family had a tough time giving the dispatcher directions but another driver pulled over and helped out. That man ended up tying the umbilical cord with a shoe lace, according to the 911 call.
"Nobody stopped. He was the only one," said Rosales. "He was a nice guy. I appreciate it."
The family was only about a 10 minute drive away from the hospital when the baby was born. Dr. Luis Maldonado, who works at Tampa General Hospital, said the baby boy is in good health.
"The baby’s doing fantastic. I really don’t expect the baby to require more than 48 hours (of) observation in the hospital," he said. "This doesn’t happen very frequently, thank goodness. Maybe once or twice a year."
Rosales said Jaden is her fifth child.