S. Elgin mom gives birth in car outside Bartlett 7 Eleven

On Saturday night Carmie Antepenko didn't need Good Samaritan Hospital or even a good Samaritan to help her give birth to her second son.

Mason, at 6 pounds, 5 ounces, entered the world all on his own. In a hurry. In his parents' car in a 7 Eleven parking lot.

Antepenko, 29, felt her water break a little after 9 p.m. Saturday while she was at her South Elgin home. She and her husband, Derek, immediately left for Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove because that's where her doctor delivers. She was in labor for 14 hours with her first son; she had no idea the drive would pose a problem.

“We were going to attempt to make it there, but once we got on to basically Stearns Road we knew that was not going to happen,” Antepenko said.

Antepenko said she could feel her son's head already on its way out when she first got into the car. A contraction on the road meant the couple didn't make it past Bartlett.

Antepenko had her husband pull over in the 7 Eleven parking lot at the corner of Schick Road and Route 59 where she finished delivering Mason before paramedics could even arrive. Then they waited.

“It felt like an hour, but it was probably only two minutes,” Antepenko said.

Both mom and baby are in Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, healthy and happy — if not slightly traumatized by the adventure.