Shawna Lowe had a better chance of having her baby in a car than winning the Powerball, but she never believed she would.

A few months before her son was due, the northern Alabama mother watched a video online that showed a couple stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital and the mother giving birth inside the running car.

“I giggled (about it) for months,” Shawna said. “I had no idea it was going to be me.”

Only about 6,600 babies nationwide are unintentionally born outside a hospital or care facility each year, according to a 2011 statistic cited from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Barrett Lowe added his name to the short list Sunday morning when he decided to make an entrance into the world — inside his parents’ truck.

“It’s something we’ll be able to tell forever,” Danny Lowe, Barrett’s father, said.

The Lowes were asleep at their Huntsville, Alabama home around 3 a.m. Sunday when Shawna’s contractions started. Barrett wasn’t due until Feb. 10 and she was to be admitted Tuesday for induced labor, so the hospital advised her to take an ibuprofen and soak in the bathtub to see if the pains went away. Initially thought to be false labor, the pain worsened and the contractions came faster not much longer than an hour later.

Shawna woke Danny and told him to get ready to go. It had taken 10 hours for their oldest son, Austin, to be born, so Shawna told her husband to take his time. But her contractions came faster.

“By the time he got showered and got dressed, I said, ‘Get in the car, let’s go,’” Shawna said.

Shawna’s doctor is in Athens, Alabama, about 45 minutes away, so the couple and Shawna’s mother loaded into their Chevrolet pickup and hit the interstate, passing three other hospitals.

Meeting Trooper Kesler

As the sun came up on a chilly Sunday morning, there were hardly any cars on the road. Danny admits he was speeding, but Shawna was in pain, after all, and he hadn’t seen any law enforcement vehicles out on the road. He thought they were going to make it to the hospital.

“I had driven for 30 minutes, I made that exit (onto U.S. 72) … I thought we were on easy street,” Danny said. “Every time she screamed louder, the faster I drove. It was just a risk I was willing to take.”

Then it all went downhill: the blue lights came on behind him, his gas light flickered to life on the dash and Shawna began screaming. Danny couldn’t believe his luck.

“There’s no way this is happening,” he recalled thinking.

Danny said Shawna’s mom told him to keep going, but he pulled over and jumped out of the truck to explain to Trooper Michael Kesler what was happening.

The Lowes have described the whole situation as surreal. Kesler told Danny to calm down and go back to the car and help his wife. When he returned, Shawna said the baby was coming. Within seconds, Shawna pushed and Danny caught all 6 pounds, 10 ounces of Barrett on the side of U.S. 72, in front of a Lowe’s Home Improvement store.

Following Barrett’s arrival, Kesler — who had before been helping Shawna’s mother get out of the truck after she became locked in — got supplies out of his patrol vehicle to keep mother and baby warm. He called an ambulance and acted as a support for the family as they tried to wrap their heads around what had just happened. Once at the hospital, Kesler came by with gifts for the family and an official traffic citation for Danny, which is more of a memento than anything. In the details box of the ticket Kesler wrote, “… wife had a beautiful baby boy!!!”

A new son and a new friend

As news spread about their experience at a not-so-typical traffic stop with Kesler, area reporters have been in and out of the hospital, visiting with the family. Danny said he went outside the hospital for a cigarette Monday morning and was recognized by several people who had seen him on the news. Shawna is still in shock.

“I’ve said probably hundreds of times, ‘I had a baby in a car,’” she said. “It blows my mind.”

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency hailed Kesler as a hero.

“Trooper Kesler’s actions (Sunday) exemplify the mission of the Alabama State Troopers — to serve and protect,” said ALEA Secretary of Law Enforcement Spencer Collier.

Meanwhile, the Lowe family has a new son and a new friend.

“We will always have a special place in our heart for Trooper Kesler,” Shawna said. “He will always be part of our family.”

Croomes writes for the Athens, Alabama News Courier.