CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- When a Virginia couple racing to the hospital to deliver their third baby realized they would not make it there in time, they did what they had to do. Stephanie Stonis and her husband Mark pulled over on Interstate 64 during the Monday morning rush hour and witnessed the miracle of life.
"When we got onto the High Rise Bridge was when I felt my water break and I knew that I needed to push," Stephanie Stonis said.
"I'm saying no, no, no don't push. The baby's gotta stay in we can't deliver this baby on the highway or in the car. We need to make it to the hospital," Mark recalled.
But at that point, it was too late for the couple who had stopped to drop off their children before they headed to the hospital.
"Once she said she had to push, I knew we were still 20 or 25 minutes away from the hospital. I kind of had to give up and give in. I was afraid about what was going to happen. I've never delivered a baby before."
The couple used a blanket they found in the car and a shoelace to tie their newborn's umbilical chord.
"My wife was very levelheaded. She thought about calling 911, which I didn't think of. And getting the shoestring which was obvious right in front of my face, but I totally missed it," Mark said.
Emergency crews eventually arrived and took mom and the newborn to the hospital.
As if traffic in Hampton Roads was not bad enough, little Paul Mark Anthony Stonis was born right around 7 a.m. His birth backed up traffic for six miles. Both mother and baby are doing well at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center.
