Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Car baby #2

RALEIGH, N.C. - If a pregnant Stephanie Green asks for a ride to the hospital, beware: she has a history of giving birth in cars. For the second time in 17 months, Green had a baby Tuesday while en route to a hospital. Doctors planned to induce labor Thursday, but baby Zaria had other plans.

"I thought I was gonna make it this time, but she changed all that very quickly," Green said.

The first contraction came around 7 a.m. Tuesday, and Green called friend Shanika Lewis for a ride to the hospital. They were on the highway just blocks from a Raleigh hospital about an hour later when the contractions got more intense.

"We saw the exit on Lake Boone Trail and said, 'We are almost there,'" Green said. "But the water broke, and then out came the baby. Yep, we are not going to make it - yet again."

Lewis, who works at WakeMed hospital, helped with the delivery until emergency personnel arrived.

"I didn't have anything to tie the umbilical cord but a rubber band," Lewis said.

Green's other daughter, 17-month-old Semajai, was born in a car after mom got stuck in traffic.

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