Carpentersville woman gives birth in car at red light on way to hospital on April Fool's Day

ELGIN, Ill. (WLS) -- A couple from Carpentersville welcomed a baby boy on April Fool's Day - and the story of how the baby was born had their own friends in disbelief.

Not only was the baby delivered in the car on the way to the hospital, but no one on the road even knew what was happening.

"Friday morning started out like any Friday morning," Katie Hayes said, "I woke up, did my workout, got up the kids."

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But soon, the mother of two said she started feeling some serious contractions. She knew it was time, but had no idea how little time she had before baby Hudson would make his debut.

"We got in the car with the bag and I had a thought, I don't know if we're gonna make it," she said.

As they raced to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, not far from their home, Katie's water broke.

"And that's when I just knew, because my other son, as soon as that happened he was out within like two minutes," she said. "This is not good. We still had like 10 lights to get to the hospital."

Katie and her husband Tim decided to keep driving. Luckily, they hit all green lights - until they got to Fox Lane and Randall Road.

"By the time we got to Fox Lane and Randall, I was like, okay, his head was out," Katie said. "So he was able to pull into the turn lane."

"I just put it in park, kinda hopped over and helped her get him out," Tim added.

"Thank goodness those Randall lights are long," Katie said, laughing. "So in that case, it helped us."

All the while, no one on the road knew baby Hudson was born right at the intersection at a red light.

"Then the light turned green, so I just handed him back to her and continued to the ER," Tim said.

And just like that, baby Hudson was born on April Fool's Day with a story that surprised their own friends and family.

"A lot of them believed he was born, but they were like, um, we're not gonna buy the story he was born in a car and you helped deliver him. A lot of them were skeptical," Katie said. "We're just blessed that everything turned out safely and healthy and now we look back and it's just a great story and memory. And we're just happy to have him as part of our family."

The baby's full name is Hudson Fox Hayes. His middle name is for Fox Lane, the intersection where he was actually delivered.