CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- To look at their baby's peaceful face, you'd never guess there was so much drama surrounding his birth. Bess Shannon and her husband Chris had planned a gentle, quiet water birth at a birthing center in Milford, N.H. They never made it from their home in Chelmsford, Mass.

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"As we were getting into the car, I started shaking and turned to Chris and said, 'I don't think we're going to make it'," said Bess. "As we got off Route 3, my water broke. About five minutes later, I said, 'he's coming, pull over!'"

Chris pulled their Toyota Camry into an empty parking lot on Route 101A in Nashua, N.H.

"As I opened the door, she said, don't bother with the midwife, call 911," Chris said. "The baby was already there, he was crowning. I took off my jacket, pulled off my sweater, just in time to catch the baby in the sweater, and put the baby in the warm sweater."

At 8 pounds, 3 ounces, Noah entered the world three weeks early, five minutes before the ambulance arrived.

"I pulled off my sweater, just in time to catch the baby." - Chris Shannon

"They said, 'where's the mother, where's the mother? How quick are the contractions?'" I said 'It's already done, it's already done, she's given birth she's fine,'" said Chris.

Ironically, Bess Shannon is a midwife by profession, but this was a new experience for her.

"Birth is unpredictable, and it happens the way it happens, and you can envision it however you want and make all the plans that you want, but it's going to happen the way it happens and just be ready to embrace the unexpected," she said.