A Southwest Florida couple had the ride of their lives Friday morning, when they had to give birth to their baby girl in their car, then drove to the South Trail Fire Station nearby for care.
Newborn Brielle is the couple's third daughter, and dad was grateful this time wasn't their first.
"Who needs coffee when you got something like that to wake up to?" dad Omar Alvarez said.
What started as a typical trip to the hospital to give birth quickly turned upside down when his wife Staci's water broke and she told him it was time to push.
"She starts screaming 'I have to push, the baby is coming!' and I tell her 'No! The baby can't come!' and she's like 'No, the baby is coming!'" Omar explained.
The couple was driving along Six Mile Cypress heading toward Health Park Hospital, which was about four miles away.
When they realized baby Brielle wasn't going to wait, they switched gears and started going to South Trail Fire Station.
Before they could make it there, they had to pull over their car on the side of the road to have their precious Brielle in the car.
"Luckily enough, I've seen this done twice now so I knew kind of what to do," Omar said.
They'd learned a few days before Brielle's umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.
"It still didn't stop us from being extremely scared and extremely worried because she came out blue in the face and the umbillical cord wrapped around her neck probably a good three to four times," Omar said.
He and Staci managed to untangle her, but were still missing that cry that lets them know their little girl was breathing.
Omar said he put the baby on Staci's stomach and drove to the South Trail Fire Station, where Staci's dad works.
"They suctioned out her nose and her throat and she finally cries, and literally that's when I was releived," Omar said.
"It was reassuring. We knew we were in good hands, and we knew a lot of the firefighters and medics," Staci said.
The whole family agrees it was the scariest and most amazing moment of their lives.
With sweet Brielle completing their family, they're ready for her next milestone:
"I think we should have the baby's birthday party at the fire station," the couple's 7-year-old daughter Brooklynn said.
Staci's father, Lt. Kerry Griffin, said the staff at South Trail Fire Station did everything they were trained to do and he was very proud.
Brielle's parents said they'd already decided three girls was enough.
