If there is one thing to know about having a baby, it is to expect the unexpected. Even the most carefully designed birth plan can be tossed out the window when a mom goes into labor. Rebecca and Danya Mahota were ready for Rebecca to give birth any day when she went into labor on August 8. What they weren't anticipating was just how quickly their daughter would arrive.
When they left their Cape Cod home for the hospital, the GPS read 56 minutes to their destination, the couple told WCVB. It quickly became clear that was going to be way too long for their baby girl to wait. Before they knew it, baby Summer had arrived.
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The couple left for the hospital on the baby's due date.
Rebecca and Danya told WCVB they knew it would be tight getting to the hospital, but they didn't expect to have to deliver in the car.
"One contraction later, he had pulled over to the side of the road, I was already holding her head," Rebecca said.
"Boy, we made it 26 minutes into that 56-minute trip. My wife is an absolute legend," Danya added.
Per the Cape Cod Times, the family ended up in a Dunkin' parking lot where paramedics eventually got mom and baby on an ambulance.
"They handed me a sterilized X-Acto knife, and I, like every Massachusetts father, cut my baby's umbilical cord in a Dunkin Donuts parking lot," the dad said.
Somehow in the process, the dad lost his wedding ring.
It was such a whirlwind that while they were pulled over, Danya somehow lost his wedding ring. The pair noticed at the hospital that it was missing and he and some friends went back to the area a few days later and found it.
"Just as we were about to leave, I looked down, and by the grace of God, I found it right between my toes. I was scraping some grass away, and I just couldn’t believe it,” the dad told the news station.
Danya announced his daughter's birth on Facebook.
He shared a picture of Rebecca and Summer along with an apology to anyone who was on the highway on August 8. He explained that he knew he looked like a "madman," but they were just trying to get to the hospital as fast as they could.
"Let the record show there is a new Mahota among us, and she appeared in quite dramatic fashion! Everyone is healthy and happy at the hospital, and life is good. My wife is amazing," he wrote.
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The whole thing happened in a flash.
Friends and loved ones were shocked when they heard the news that Summer had been born in the car. Danya shared in a follow-up post on Facebook that for Rebecca who has an older daughter, labor came on so quickly the second time around, that there was nothing they could have done to get to a hospital any sooner. They were monitoring contractions, but it was faster than they expected.
"FOLLOW YOUR HEART and not your mind. Looking back, we both KNEW it was coming….BUT our reality did not fit the guidelines. We were downloading apps, clicking timers, checking bags (that were checked 20 times already), ensuring dogs were fed…all things that could have been ignored if we had been following our instincts instead," he wrote.
He added a tip for expecting parents: "I can't thank everyone enough for the kindness you have shown us. I hope this positive story brightens up your day. Follow your heart. And bring a few towels for the ride just in case."
