All was quiet in Wollongong's birthing unit on Wednesday afternoon, as Brittney McCauley and James Nathaniel basked in their son Alby's newborn calm.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But hours earlier, things were much more frantic as the Shell Cove couple tried to race against Ms McCauley's increasingly close contractions to get to the hospital on time.
As they drove up the M1, it became clear that Alby was coming fast, and just after the first turn off to Dapto, Ms McCauley knew she needed to start pushing.
So her partner calmly pulled over and the pair got in the back seat to deliver their baby together.
Minutes later, Alby was born.
He is Ms McCauley's second baby, and the couple's fourth child, but she said nothing could have prepared her for the speed of Alby's birth.
Her waters broke while she was out visiting Mr Nathaniel's Shellharbour Village bakery, Thirteen, to get her usual bacon and egg roll and soy latte, "which I didn't get to enjoy".
"I didn't really know what to do next, so I just went home and waited for James. He asked me if he could have a shower, and I just said 'no, I don't think there's time for that'," she said.
"I called my midwife, Kylie [Hazelton] and told her things are starting to ramp up and we're going to head to the hospital."
"By the time we got to Albion Park, I was on the phone to Kylie asking 'where are we going to park at the hospital' because I thought, this is pretty intense and the baby is going to be born as soon as we get there," Mr Nathaniel said.
"But Britt was like, no I've got to push. So Kylie told us to hang up, pull over and call an ambulance."
With some confusion among paramedics tasked to the scene about whether the couple had parked on the Princes Highway or motorway, they didn't make it on time.
"Next thing I knew, I saw a car pull up behind us and I thought 'I hope it's Kylie' and when she hopped out I just said 'oh my god, you're not going to believe who pulled up behind us," Mr Nathaniel said.
After hearing how close together Ms McCauley's contractions had been, Ms Hazelton had hopped in her own car - also coming from the south - to meet the couple at the hospital.
"I saw James standing by the side of the road just before bub was born, so I pulled over and I managed to get my hands on him just as he was born and give him to Brittany, so it was all good," she said.
A few hours later, Alby was peacefully unaware of all the excitement he'd caused as he rested in his parents' arms.
"He's just next level," Mr Nathaniel said. "So relaxed, so content and oblivious to everything."