First-time father delivers breech baby girl in Brandon pawn shop parking lot

BRANDON, Fla. - A drive to the hospital turned into an emergency roadside delivery Thursday night when a baby girl arrived in the front seat of a car outside a pawn shop. 

Yasser Solorzano and Aysha Tenouri were rushing toward the hospital when she realized the baby would not wait. Solorzano pulled into the parking lot of Value Pawn & Jewelry and dialed 911.

Sudden labor on the road

What they're saying:

Tenouri says they had only been on the road for a few minutes when she realized the baby was coming.

"We were about five minutes from the house, and I was like, 'oh my gosh, it's coming right now,'" she said. "'The baby's head is about to come out, pull over.'"

Solorzano says he quickly pulled into the first parking lot he could find.

"Sure enough, I'm starting to see something come out," he said. "At that point, I quickly go into the first parking lot that I find, which happens to be the pawn shop."

Front seat emergency delivery

Timeline:

Solorzano soon realized the baby was breech and delivered his daughter in the front seat of the car. Tenouri says her partner remained calm throughout the unexpected delivery.

"He was very calm, very supportive and helped me relax," she said. "We got through it really smoothly."

Six minutes later, EMTs had pulled into the pawn shop parking lot. Tenouri and her newborn daughter were rushed by ambulance to HCA Florida Brandon Hospital. Solorzano says the baby arrived nearly four weeks early, before they had even settled on a name.

"I will be honest, I thought we had the time to name her," he said. "Today was the day we named her."

Healthy arrival and hospital stay

Big picture view:

The couple eventually settled on the baby's name: Liana Valentina Solorzano. She currently weighs 4 pounds, 10 ounces.

Surrounded by several immediate family members outside the hospital, Solorzano reflected on becoming a first-time father. Family members rushed to the hospital to meet Liana after learning about the unexpected delivery.

"You can only be thankful for how smooth it really turned out to be," he said. "That's something I'm very grateful about."

Tenouri held Liana in her arms from her hospital room, where the two have remained together.

"Very grateful that everything is okay, and we're both healthy," she concluded. "Liana didn't even need the NICU. She's been here with me the entire time."

Hospital discharge plans

What's next:

The new family of three hopes to leave the hospital and head home on Saturday.

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