Baby born in Amherstburg, Ont., driveway no April Fools' joke

When Don Hazelton's wife complained of labour pains Friday morning, he felt no particular urgency. It was April Fools' Day, after all.

The Amherstburg, Ont., family has a long history of pulling elaborate pranks, and the baby was due the following day. 

"We've been joking about this for quite a while now," said Susan Dasilva. "I was going to prank them on April Fools', so he didn't believe me. He didn't get up. He just laid there."

No joke

But the contractions were no joke. An hour after they started, the couple were following their birth plan: get their four other kids to school, then drive to the hospital. 

"I didn't even make it into the passenger seat of the car," said Dasilva. "I told Donnie, 'Listen, you have to call the ambulance. It's coming now.'"

The emergency operator on the other end of the line asked if the baby's head was visible. Hazelton was instructed to undress his wife to see if anything was "popping out," he said. 

"I said, 'Oh my God, we're in the middle of the street. There's people all around.… We have a convenience store across the street.' So we got the car door open [in the driveway], I pulled her pants down and as soon as I pull her pants down, the [baby's] head's there."

Their baby girl, little Skye Hazelton, was halfway out before the paramedics arrived in the family's driveway. 

"I was panicking. I thought I was going to soil myself," laughed Hazelton. 

New car left 'kind of messy'

Once the ambulance arrived, paramedics were able to complete the delivery, and then brought the newborn and mom to Windsor Regional Hospital. 

Hazelton still had a few more tasks before he could join them. 

"I was still with the kids. I had to get them off to school," he said. "It took a while to sink in this actually happened."

And he had to clean up the family's new car, purchased just a week ago. 

"It was kind of messy," he said, considering the delivery happened in the passenger seat. 

His wife chimed in: "The poor kids! Oh my goodness. The poor kids. They had to go to school after that."

And after the shock and adrenalin wore off? 

"We're ecstatic. We're so happy," said Dasilva. "It's all done — the drama of the day. Now, we can enjoy the baby. This is a story we can tell for the rest of our lives."​