What began as a routine night for a South Paris mom ended with a surprise delivery on the side of Interstate 95 during a snowstorm.
Hannah Oriol, a mother of seven, went to bed Friday night not knowing she would soon be a mom of eight.
It started with contractions at 3 a.m.
“Maybe this might be the time, because I was a day from 40 weeks, so I was pretty much due,” Oriol said.
Oriol and her husband, John, decided it was time to take the hour-long ride to Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland.
The couple left around 3 a.m., right as heavy snowfall hit Maine, so they decided to take John’s work van.
But about halfway there, Oriol began to have stronger and more painful contractions. That’s when, she said, it became clear they weren’t going to make it to the hospital.
Oriol laid down in the van and went into labor. She told her husband to pull over as the baby began to come.
“And then I said to him, ‘You have to pull over, because the head is out,’” Oriol said.
Her husband pulled over, called 911 and helped deliver the baby.
“He pulls over and helps me get the baby out, he puts the baby on my chest, and he puts his jacket over me and the baby,” Oriol said.
They then continued on to Mercy Hospital, where nurses were waiting. Her mother called ahead to let the hospital know they were coming.
“My mother called them and let them know I was coming, so I’m holding the baby in one hand and my placenta in the other and I’m just like, ‘Well here she is,’” Oriol said.
Less than a week later, Oriol said, everyone was back home, happy and healthy and left with the unforgettable story of the baby on board, Rosalina.
