SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — Becoming new parents can be a bit of a wild ride... and no one knows that better than a local military couple.
Army reservist Brian Strait and his wife Jhoselyn bought a mini-van thinking it would be good for a family one day, but they never envisioned their first-born's first breath would be inside.
"I reached up and I could see him and I just put him right to her chest," said Brian.
Now in the NICU at Naval Medical Center San Diego, little Dawson weighs just over three pounds.
He was born at 2:13 a.m. Tuesday – eight weeks before his due date.
Jhoselyn says prior to his birth, she went into pre-term labor three times, so the fact he came early wasn't a shock.
What was a surprise is how it happened.
"It all just kinda went really fast," said Jhoselyn.
She was at home in Lakeside when she started having contractions and called Brian who was at work.
He picked her up and the two drove towards the hospital, but it didn't take long for them to realize they weren't going to make it
"I'm in the car holding myself up and I'm like 'I can't do this anymore," said Jhoselyn.
Brian pulled over in La Mesa along Interstate 8.
Before he knew it, he became a dad.
A Naval Medical center nurse reached by phone told Brian to keep Dawson warm so he used the t-shirt he was wearing and a blanket in the back seat.
She then suggested tying his shoe lace around Dawson's umbilical cord while they waited for first-responders.
"As soon as I tied it tight, then he started screaming," Brian said.
The sound was music to their ears.
Dawson was taken to Grossmont before being transferred.
While he has a long road ahead of him, his parents are optimistic saying he's clearly a fighter having survived such a dramatic entrance into this world.
"I'm just really happy and thankful," said Jhoselyn.
"It's tough to not think we have somebody watching over us," Brian said.