October 13, 2009 (WLS) -- ABC7's Judy Hsu was headed to the hospital early Tuesday morning- but her baby boy just couldn't wait.
Hsu was on her way to the hospital around 3 a.m. to deliver her fourth child when she gave birth on the side of the Eisenhower Expressway. Her husband, Tracy, delivered the baby boy.
Baby and mom are both fine and now recovering at the hospital.
Judy went into labor just after 3 a.m. and left for Northwestern Hospital with her husband, Tracy, shortly after. They made it to the inbound Ike at Cicero when they had to pull over.
"We were heading down the Eisenhower. At a pretty fast speed," said Judy.
"I said, 'Do you need to pull over?' Judy said, 'I don't know!'" said Tracy.
"I didn't know. I think I was in denial the whole time. I did not want to pull over on the side of the expressway. But the time came, and I knew the baby couldn't wait. I said, 'OK, I think we better pull over and call 911,'" said Judy.
Tracy helped Judy give birth in the front seat of the car. He said he remembered a story from ABC7 News This Morning about a woman who gave birth on the side of the road and her husband used his shoelaces to tie off the umbilical cord. Tracy did it, too, and he said it worked like a charm.
Paramedics from Truck 113 arrived a few minutes after Alexander James was born.
"When we got there everything was done. We just finished it up," said Kevin Farrow, paramedic. They treated Judy and the baby in the ambulance and transferred them to the hospital.
"She was fine and did not say much. Her husband told me who she was and I finally recognized her," said Farrow.
"Can you believe it?" Judy said. "It's so wild. It's stuff we read about in the news, and I never, ever thought would happen to me. It just went so fast. It was pretty incredible."
One of the paramedics suggested a nickname- Ike, after the expressway where he was born- and so far it's stuck.
Alexander James weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 oz. He has a brother and two sisters.
