EMS Crew Helps Deliver Baby Along Southern State Parkway

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – If you think rush hour is stressful, how about being stuck in traffic when you go into labor?

That's what happened to one Long Island couple who didn't quite make it to the hospital.

As CBS2's Natalie Duddridge reported, baby Connor was calm and quiet Friday. But the night before, he couldn't wait to come into the world.

"He came out, and I heard his crying. And then five minutes later, he was just looking around, like 'hey, I'm here,'" mother Nicole Cathnott said.

Just 24 hours before, Connor's mom and dad -- Nicole and Collin Cathnott – were on the Southern State Parkway trying to make it to the hospital at 5:30 p.m. in bumper-to-bumper traffic, when Connor decided it was time.

"She just yelled, 'My water just broke.' I'm in the left lane and I'm like, 'Oh Lord, I have to make it to the right lane,'" Collin said.

That's when he called 911 and prayed that EMS would make, and they did.

"When I arrived on the scene, she was in the middle of having a contraction," said Wantagh Fire Department EMS Captain Stephen Lincke.

First responders quickly lifted Nicole into the ambulance. Two pushes later, the baby was out -- weighing seven pounds and two ounces, arriving two weeks early.

It was a first for the Wantagh EMS crew.

"It was beautiful experience, it was very nice to see, it was nice to be part of something so awesome and such a good thing in the world," one first responder said.

EMS brought mom and baby to Nassau University Medical Center, where they were met by his 12-year-old sister.

"He is adorable, he's calm, and he doesn't cry as much as I thought he would," sister Nyolanee Blackman said.

The parents said they went back and forth trying to decide what to name him, but decided on Connor because of its meaning.

"I wanted to originally name him Nigel, but I was like Connor -- it fits him, because it means determined, and he was determined to come," Nicole said.

They hope he will be just as determined when it comes to setting his sleep schedule and letting them get some rest.

The EMS crews is made up of volunteers.