Jannelle’s Wild Birth Story Made Our Jaws Drop
“I started feeling contractions around 8 p.m.,” says Jannelle…
Here’s her story:
Two hours later, the contractions are coming fast and furiously. We call my mom to drive over quickly to stay with our older kids, and my husband Max and I jump into our car.
On our way to the hospital, however, my water breaks. I realize we might not make it in time. As we speed up to the hospital entrance, Max runs in to find help and a wheelchair. But by the time he returns, I can’t wait any longer. ‘I NEED TO PUSH!!!’ I shout to him. I’m still wearing my pants but I feel her head coming out!
Max pulls down my pants and says, ‘Oh my god, she’s here! You’re doing a great job!’ And with another push, Evelynn Angelica Sanchez is born at 11:54 p.m in the front seat OF OUR CAR.
‘You did it!’ Max tells me, ‘You did it!’ The baby starts crying right away, which is a huge relief because we have no idea what we’re supposed to do. Security guards come running out, and two nurses who are getting off their shift hurry over, and everyone’s like, ‘Good job, Mama, you’re amazing, she’s beautiful!’ Then labor and delivery nurses pour out of the hospital; they wrap her in a blanket, give her a hat, and place her on my chest.
This itty, bitty girl has only been on this earth for a couple weeks, and she’s already given Max and me one of the wildest experience of our lives. Thankfully, everyone is healthy and safe, and now we’re all home and head-over-heels in love with her. Welcome to our family, Evelynn, we’re so excited to spend this life with you.
How amazing is that? You can follow Jannelle on Instagram while she’s on maternity leave, if you’d like. What a warrior she is!!!!!!
P.S. 10 ways to help a new mom, and did you name your baby before birth, or wait to meet them?
Tags: birth story
Comments
91 commentsDoes anyone remember the link to the article/poem/creative writing piece that shows how mothers receive criticism for staying home to care for their children or for working? I stumbled across it once and have been looking for it again for ages! Any help appreciated!
How remarkable! Bravo to you, Jannelle! I remember cases like yours being highlighted in our birthing class. The message was that when this happens, people tend to forget to pull down their pants. I remember making a solid mental note about this just in case things progressed in a fast and furious sort of way. Regardless of where we were, if my pregnant wife were to feel like the baby was coming out of her, it was my job to heroically make sure her pants were removed.
This made me teary…moms are so amazing! I thought this only happened in movies but the comments section has proven me wrong. My three births were week-late inductions with slow, long labors that ended in c-sections. So many different ways to have a baby!
Congratulations! I want to know what the hospital charges are for in these cases (haha! For real though).
Same! Definitely didn’t use all the services!
Congratulations!!! What a wild way to welcome your baby girl. X
Muchas felicidades Jannelle! Every birth comes with a story and this one will be remembered by the CoJ community, for sure! Thank you so much for sharing such a private moment with us. Love from Paris
Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful wee one!
Happy birthday, Evelynn! And you rock, mama! Greetings from an OB/GYN who has also welcomed moms in front of the hospital in Switzerland who had birthed in the car…
Welcome Evelynn and well done Jannelle! You were your own delivery nurse this time! ♡♡♡
love reading this. what an incredible birth story!!!
What a wild ride!! Congrats Jannelle!! As someone who loves details, am I the only one wondering how/when her pants got back on?? Lol XD
You were not the only one!!!!
Right there with you. So many questions on details. Like where was the placenta delivered… and what is the clean process of the front seat. (As someone who is going to go into labor imminently with my second and a quick first labor – I can’t stop thinking about this all.)
Yea, this story was about 90% short for me!! I need more details!
Haha well I was born in the same circumstances as described and my mum said that I was just born into her (stretchy, maternity) trousers and then she pulled me out onto her chest. They then arrived and she was wheeled into the hospital and placenta was delivered there
Congratulations! My SIL also arrived very quickly and was born in the back seat of a Volkswagen Rabbit. Her nickname has forever been Bunny as a result!
Congrats on your lovely daughter!! My middle child (only daughter) barely waited for me to get to the hospital after an ambulance ride.
Jannelle! You are an absolute star. Wishing you a really peaceful postpartum <3
Congratulations, Jannelle! She’s beautiful. What a story. Gosh, does it ever get annoying how many people misspell your name?! I feel like 90% of have your name misspelled! It would totally be a pet peeve of mine…Anyway, love that you and Evelynn share the double N :)
I made it to the hospital with my third because I wasn’t actually in labor. I was past my due date and my ob decided it was time to induce so we went in with the plan to induce that same day. No need. By the time I got there (less than 2 hours after my appointment where I was showing absolutely no signs of contractions) , I was very much in labor and he basically fell out. I think I saw the ob for under 5 minutes. I don’t think we’ll have a 4th but if we do, I would be on very very very high alert. Anyway congrats to you and your entire fam!
Congratulations on your beautiful daughter, Janelle! This is such an epic birth story —made me a little teary!
Congratulations Jannelle ❤️
I can’t believe that happened to you! Omg wild in every wonderful way and the dream of no complications. My cynical husband’s two cents was that the hospital probably tried to bill you or your insurance in some way despite not even being in the building! hahahaha Welcome little angel!
Congratulations Jannelle! What a sweet baby and beautiful family. I have a friend whose baby was also born into her pant leg, just outside the hospital entrance. Amazing! My second delivery was also pretty dramatic, in a very different way. I was 36 weeks pregnant and woke up bleeding in the middle of the night. I drove by myself in heavy rain, at 2am, to the hospital around 25 minutes away. My husband stayed home with our sleeping toddler. My doctors later scolded me saying that my husband should have driven and we could have brought our kid with us to the hospital, but I wasn’t thinking so clearly. I had a c-section alone, with my husband on video call, at 5am. Our baby was taken to the NICU, and my husband arrived at the hospital around 10am after taking our older son to some friends early in the morning. We thought we had planned well as my mom was supposed to come stay with us when I was 37 weeks pregnant, but our best laid plans did not work out!
Aww congratulations!! I was born in the car on the way to hospital too, which is a story I’ve always grown up knowing but that really took on a new light after I had my own daughter. On my birth certificate, the place of birth is listed as “A695 road on the way to General Hospital, Hexham”.
Amazing!!! Congratulations Janelle & family ❤️❤️❤️
This makes my day! What a beautiful world. Great job, mama & village!
I’m 7 weeks pregnant with my first and this has me slightly terrified and also incredibly impressed! Congratulations, Jannelle!
Wow, what a story!!! I am glad everyone is doing well. When I was pregnant with my son, he was due in January (and was late). Of course, we had the MOST SNOWSTORMS EVER right around his due date. We lived in Brooklyn at the time, and I was supposed to give birth at a hospital on the Upper East Side. My husband suggested that we could take the subway to the hospital if I went into labor and the roads weren’t passable. I was like, I AM NOT GIVING BIRTH ON THE SUBWAY. Anyway, it didn’t matter because I ended up needing to be induced!
Woowww!! Amazing! Huge congratulations to you and your family! “You did it” is absolutely right!!!
Congratulations, Jannelle!! What an experience! Welcome to the world, Evelynn!
Congratulations to you and your family! Fabulous name selection. Glad everyone is healthy and settling in at home. Hopefully Max’s heart rate has returned to normal by now :)
I spent 8 hrs in labor at the hospital with my first and 2 hrs in labor at the hospital with my second, and wow, I thought that was fast! What a beautiful range of birth experiences there is. Planned C-sections, precipitous labors, and everything in between can turn out so joyfully. While it’s best to be prepared for likely contingencies, positive stories help pregnant moms so much. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations, Jannelle and fam, and welcome to the world, Evelynn! <3
When I had two kids and we were debating a third, I asked a colleague with three kids how life with three was, and she replied “oh, our third made it a party!” Janelle, your baby just couldn’t wait to get to the party! Congratulations!!
Ah apologies for the typo – Jannelle*!
Congratulations Janelle! What story for you all to have. I too had a precipitous birth with my third – we delivered her on the floor of the waiting room on the L & D wing. The mid wife told us that if we wanted a fourth kid, they’d train my husband on how to help deliver a baby as the assumption is that we’d never make it to the hospital in time. We knew that we were done creating a family with our third (thanks to fertility treatments for each), and this sealed the deal for us.
Congratulations to the Sanchez family. Thanks for sharing this wild and joyful story.
So glad to hear that everything went well, Jannelle! Congratulations!! Love Evelynn’s name and nod to the 2 “n”s!
Congratulations. She is a beauty. And that photo of Emiliano, pure joy. How did he get so big so quickly? Feels like yesterday you gave birth to him.
hi, another precipitous birth club member here!!
Me too! Two of my births took less time than my dentist appointments.
Cheers!! PBC!!
Women are just incredible. Men COULD NEVER
Congratulations, Janelle and family! what a story, so glad everything went well. My chemistry teacher had her daughter in the car, too (this must have been in the 1980s). They had planned to drive two more hours to some alternative birthing center (does not sound like a solid plan to me now) but pretty soon realized they would not even make it to the local hospital.
Congratulations!
Congratulations Jannelle & fam!! Love the name, too :)
Mabrouk Janelle!!! Huge congratulations!! What an incredible story! Hope you and Evelynn are doing well and that you’re all soaking up the newborn love right now ❤️
Congratulations Janelle and welcome to the world Evelynn! What a story!! So glad you are both doing well. Slightly related, does anyone know what kind of insert they have in the bassinet in the last photo (which is such a sweet shot btw!) – my baby hated her bed for the first few weeks and I think that’s because it was too much space for her. Really interested what they placed in there to make it cosier.
It looks like the Snuggle Me Lounger
Looks like a “SnuggleMe” type baby lounger to me (many brands make something similar). A total lifesaver with my babies, as newborns could just tuck them in. They are pretty “3D” so really only useful either way pre-rolling or for fully observed sleep.
For babies who love it, the Snuggle Me is the best!! Both of our babies LOVED it in there, and that was the case for most people we know, but we do know one friend’s baby who hated it, so ymmv. Either way I’d recommend looking secondhand! It’s the kind of baby thing that’s used every day for a few months and then they’re too big, so there are always loads in perfect condition for a lot cheaper than new.
Congratulations Janelle!! She’s so beautiful. Enjoy this precious family time xx
Okay everyone always tells you “It doesn’t happen like in the movies” but this certainly sounds like how it happens in the movies to me! Congratulations! Enjoy all those newborn snuggles.
That is incredible. Congratulations!!!!
Oh my gosh, Jannelle!! Biggest congratulations to you and Max! You are incredible! I’m so, so happy for you. <3
Wow, what a great story to tell for the rest of her life! Thankful that the car had stopped before she came out! Congratulations on your beautiful daughter!
Congratulations to your whole family! And if anyone needs a related laugh, search “Lobby Baby” by Seth Meyers on YouTube. Crazy and hilarious!
I watched it when it happened and never forgot about it. He s a fantastic storysteller and he looked so happy and moved! Love from Paris
Agnès, he is also my husband’s first cousin, so a little trivia for you as well!
Well Denise, he has fans in Paris ;-)
God, should I have a third? My first two were epically long. I know precipitous labor carries risks but girl can dream.
Congratulations Janelle!!! Glad everyone is doing well. Would love to hear the story behind her name at some point!
Wow, Janelle!!! Mil felicidades! You are amazing and baby girl is lovely! My first birth was very quick— I transitioned in the car (fun!), pushed in the hospital hallway and had a baby as soon as I got to the room. For the next three births, my traumatized mom and husband made me leave basically as soon as I started having contractions :) they were all born less than an hour after I got to the hospital!
Thank you for sharing Evelynn’s birth story, Jannelle! What a beautiful baby and big brother and what a wild entrance to the world! Amazing!
Congrats, mama! Your are so strong and your daughter was clearly ready to be here! Best of luck transitioning to a family of five. The new dynamics can be tricky (zone defense vs man to man, as they say), but it’s so sweet. For us, it was like that last little puzzle piece clicked into place and your family was so happily complete.
Our family! Our family was complete. No judgments on yours :)
Congratulations and amazing job, she’s beautiful!!
Congratulations Janelle and family on the beautiful baby. That’s quite a story!
I love this!! Congratulations Jannelle! I’m nursing my teeny tiny third baby as I read this with tears of joy in my eyes! My heart is so excited for your growing family!
Congratulations from one car baby mama to another! Welcome to the club :)
My daughter had her third in the same manner as you Janelle. At the entrance to the hospital. My SIL went in 3 times for help but they must’ve thought that he was a nervous first time dad. Finally a security guard came out-too late! The car was a mini van and their last name is High. I so wanted them to name him Owen Van High!! (but they had a “family” middle name picked out already), So glad everything went so well for you and your sweet little Evelyn!! She’s so precious!! Congrats to all!!
Congrats! And welcome to the club…I had my second baby at 46 years old in my hallway…no contractions, just some pressure and then realizing I need to push. Baby and I were healthy and I was amazed that all this happened so beautifully with no drugs, interventions, etc. The birth certificate lists me as the “attendant” where normally the doctor’s name goes. Our bodies are amazing!
You were the attendant! Badass!
I have never not bawled reading a birth story. Cue the tears! Congratulations, Janelle & fam! Love this update.
Amazing. Congrats Janelle and family!!!
I was reading Jannelle’s instragram post about her birth when my four-year-old came into the room. I decided to tell him about how Jannelle had a baby IN HER CAR and he thinks it’s the greatest story and has asked me to tell it to him over and over. He was SO THRILLED about the extra details from this post. Congrats Jannelle, she’s beautiful, and our whole family is cheering you on!
that is SO cute, Kaya!
Congratulations to Janelle and family! Wishing everyone well. What an insane story!
All the photos are beautiful and show such a loving story. 🌼
My sister had her second baby in her bathtub waiting for an ambulance to arrive. She actually has a heart condition. Thankfully everyone was safe and happy. After a lifetime of medical poking and propping she felt so proud and capable in her body. I hope you are feeling the same. Congratulations mamma ❤️
Amazing, congrats to the family. What an incredible story and beautiful baby.
What an experience! She’s beautiful!
I feel like everyone’s third baby story is the baby just emerges unexpectedly (bathroom floor, car seat, etc). Amazing. Congratulations! You did it! Thank you for sharing with us.
I never thought about it but you are right – several of my friends had this with their third baby, including one born on the way to the hospital, and they were asked repeatedly “where, where” so they knew what county she was born in.
Great job under pressure! Precipitous births are CrAzY. Love love love her name!
Jannelle welcome to the precipitous labor club! Having a baby shoot out of you like thunder is a crazy party trick. Def talk to a therapist to process it all – scary, insane, amazing! As my midwife said after our precip baby, “they only get faster!” ⚡⚡
Couldn’t have said it better!! But why have I never heard my midwives talk about precipitous labor?? Now that I’ve read all these comments & birthed 2 babies, I’ve realized there’s a name for “my body just births babies really quickly!” Hadn’t even left the L&D room after delivering my second and the midwife said if we ever had a baby #3 we should schedule induction and/or be ready for a car birth. Congrats, Jannelle & fam – she’s beautiful!
Precip baby club here too🙋🏼♀️, just echoing this comment! Came to the comments to say exactly this. It’s a wild ride and a LOT to process; please don’t underestimate the experience and emotions that come with it. So much love to all of you!
Precipitous labor here too! Baby #2 born in an Airbnb bathroom (we traveled to the States for a couple of months to deliver our babies since where we live doesn’t have great healthcare facilities). Entire fire dept came while I was on all fours, my baby still attached…they still send birthday cards & presents on her birthday :)