LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)-- At an East End home in Louisville, not far from the busy Gene Snyder Freeway, a sleep deprived couple basks in the glow of having a newborn.
Cute as a button, Benjamin, isn't the first baby for Tommy and Abby Carroll. He's the third, but everything they thought they knew about bringing a baby into the world was about to take a dramatic turn.
"I'm a teacher over at Christian Academy," Abby explained.
That's where she noticed what sure seemed like some contractions last Tuesday (Feb. 28).
"I was just kind of keeping watch on them," she explained. "They were like 5 to 10 minutes, no pain."
False alarms can be common, and she was letting past experience guide her.
"This has taken 12 plus hours for the other boys," Abby explained.
Still she headed home.
"We're like oh we've got plenty of time, we can get a shower, I went for a run," explained Tommy. "Then I came home, and she was on all fours screaming."
"I'm like okay, we definitely need to go," Abby added.
The couple got in the car as fast as Abby was able, weaved in and out of traffic, and called 911.
"The dispatcher is like, 'tell me what's going on. What's your emergency? What's happening?'" Tommy remembered. "I'm like, we're having a baby!"
"I think everyone was like looking at us like we were crazy," Abby said.
"I think the moment we got on the Gene Snyder, she's like, 'he's coming!'" Tommy said.
Tommy pulled over, and right there on the side of the freeway, in the middle of rush hour and in their Subaru Forrester with no epidural, baby Ben was born.
"I just kind of guided him out, and gave him to her," Tommy said.
"I think I was in a state of shock, and just so thankful that he came out with no complications," added Abby.
When the ambulance got them to Norton Women's and Children's, and they made it to their room in the Mother/Baby Unit, it was time to make the name official.
"We had the name Benjamin ready," said Abby.
However, the middle name they considered got tossed out the window.
"After all this happened, I'm like, Gene's a good name," said Tommy with a smile.
It's a nod to Ben's birthplace, the Gene Snyder Freeway.
"My grandfather's name was Gene, so it was too good to pass up," said Tommy.
The Carrolls will be talking about the unusual birth for awhile. Probably every time they get on the freeway, and as Benjamin Gene Carroll grows into a man.
"Always going to remember that moment, and I'll probably be laughing about it from here on out," Abby said.
Abby may laugh, but "daddy deliverer" joked, "We're not having any more kids."Â
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