Before a very pregnant Siobhan Anderson left her Amityville, N.Y., home early Saturday morning to deliver twin baby boys, her mother told her, "You'd better not give birth on the Northern State Parkway."
She didn't.
She gave birth on two other Long Island highways -- Southern State Parkway and Wantagh State Parkway.
Siobhan and Bryan Anderson expected to welcome their twin baby boys next Friday, but Siobhan's water broke at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning -- nearly a full week early, Bryan said.
Heeding their doctor's advice not to rush or panic, they took their time and got into the car at about 7 a.m.
Siobhan said she felt a big contraction, and suddenly felt the baby's head, a few minutes after they pulled onto Southern State Parkway. She told her husband he was going to have to deliver the twins right there on the side of the road.
"She kept screaming, 'The babies are coming,'" he said. "I was like, 'I think we have time to at least get to the hospital.'"
They didn't.
Siobhan told Bryan to pull over near Exit 30, where he called 911.
Once EMTs arrived, Siobhan told them she couldn't move from the car because she was "holding the baby in," but they didn't believe her because even most emergency births aren't immediate, she said.
"They were helping her out of the car and into the stretcher and that's when Gavin was born," he said. "Born right there on Southern State Parkway."
It was 7:35 a.m. Gavin was 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
"As soon as I moved, he came out," she laughed. "He was born at 7:35 in the open air."
Once Siobhan delivered the first baby, EMTs got her in the ambulance. The plan was to drive to the nearest hospital in time for her second son to be delivered.
Meanwhile, Bryan got back in his car and followed the ambulance, calling his brother-in-law to himself calm down.
"You don't think at the time that this is the way they used to do it back in the day," he said, adding that seeing his wife go through a surprise birth without pain medications was "very scary."
But less than 10 minutes later, the ambulance pulled over on Wantagh State Parkway.
Confused, Bryan said he jumped out of the car. EMTs told him "baby number two" was coming, and let him in the back door of the ambulence.
At 7:46 a.m. Declan was born at 5 pounds, 15 ounces.
"I sat right behind her," he said. "It was an unbelievable experience."
They walked into the Nassau University Medical Center with both babies in-hand.
"We were just in shock," Siobhan said. "I'm still in shock that it happened. I can't believe I was able to do that."
She said the scariest part was that she knew she had to give birth naturally, even though she'd thought that she needed an epidural before she even left the house.
Siobhan, Gavin, and Declan will be able to go home Friday to be with Dad and their big brother, Dylan.
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