Plano dad delivers baby in hospital parking lot after wife goes into labor

Emma and Diego Contreras of Plano had already decided that Diego would take a more hands-on role in the birth of their third child, who wasn't due until the following week.

But Emma might be a little more careful about what she wishes for from now on.

Diego ended up being far more involved in the delivery than either of them ever imagined.

"So whenever we were stuck at that red light, I think that's when my heart sank, and I thought, like, 'We're in trouble,'" Diego said. "But I still did not think the baby was coming."

Baby Beni, however, had other plans. He arrived in his father's waiting hands in the parking lot of Medical City Plano.

"I guess he was crowning," Diego said. "I saw the top of the head. And so instinctively I just, like, squatted in front of him and I don't know how much time passed, but he just slipped out."

But let's back up a bit.

On the morning of Oct. 11, Emma began having what she thought might be contractions.

Maybe.

"I told Diego that I'm going to go on a walk," Emma said, "and I don't know if these are real contractions. And so, I said, if I can't make it around the block, I think I'm in labor, but I did."

Walk or not, Baby Beni decided he'd waited long enough.

"So, I used some techniques I knew to try and stall pushing," Emma said, "which is hard. But once we got to the hospital, it just got intense so fast."

By the time Diego alerted emergency room staff and rushed back to the car, he said the "urgency" of the moment could no longer be denied.

"She said something like, 'He's here,'" he said. "And so, I pulled her pants down, and I saw... I guess he was crowning... I saw the top of the head."

Mother, baby, and two busy big brothers are all doing fine. And what a story Diego will have to share with other dads.

"I'm really proud of him, honestly," Emma said. "Because I did, I really did, tell our doula I wanted him more involved."

Then, with a laugh, she added: "Yeah, be careful what you wish for."

And what a story they'll have to tell Baby Beni one day.

"And it's so funny because like I said, we walk there often to go to Starbucks. So now when we walk there with these guys, we can literally point and be like that," Diego said, as Emma finished the thought. "We can say where he was born."

"Yeah," Diego said. "Usually, dads are pretty useless during delivery, so I'm glad that at least for this one, I contributed!"