Baby doesn't wait for hospital

A Lake Zurich couple's newborn made her own exit just after they made theirs off Route 53 in Rolling Meadows.

Layne and TC Morsch left their home for Northwest Community Hospital just after 9 p.m. Tuesday.

But those plans changed after they exited on Algonquin Road just shy of the Arlington Heights hospital.

"Her water broke as we were exiting 53," father Layne Morsch said.

They decided to call for help at the Algonquin traffic light just off the exit ramp.

"I said, 'You need to call 911. She's coming,'" 37-year-old TC Morsch said.

Layne, 38, called 911 and a Rolling Meadows police dispatcher instructed the couple to pull their Nissan Altima over rather than risk the roughly 10-minute trek to hospital.

With the dispatcher on the cell phone and her husband still behind the wheel, it was TC calling the shots from the passenger's seat.

She said the dispatcher wasn't really able to help her with the delivery, and her husband fell into a shocked silence.

"It was just like -- OK, this is the time. I can feel she's coming. She wants to come out. Let's do it," she said.

Within a few minutes, TC delivered a healthy baby girl weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces in the passenger's seat.

She was born at 9:31 p.m. -- just 20 minutes after they left their home.

She let out a cry, and the couple knew she would be OK. "That gave us a lot of peace," TC said.

Paramedics arrived soon after, cut the umbilical cord and took them to the hospital, Rolling Meadows police Sgt. Tony Gaspari said.

The couple had a few possible names picked out but decided on Meegan.

"Meegan was the most unique, and we figured she had a unique start," said TC, who has a photography business.

After a brief stay at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, the couple will head home today.

Meegan's older brothers -- 5½-year-old Jonah and 3-year-old Eli -- are waiting to meet their new sister.

In typical big-brother fashion, they already are thinking of nicknames, such as "Meegy" or "Sprinkles."

Layne Morsch, a DePaul University chemistry professor, said his mother wondered how he kept calm during it all.

"To me, God knows what's going to happen and how it's going to work out -- and I'm OK with that," he said.