Baby Born in Car During Deep Freeze

A baby girl decided she didn't want to wait for mom and dad to reach the hospital early Tuesday, so she was delivered in an SUV outside of Vienna during one of the meanest cold streaks to hit this region in years.

Fairfax County dispatchers received a frantic 911 call shortly after 6 a.m., when temperatures were in the single digits. Their location wasn't immediately clear due to a language barrier, police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell told Patch.

Officer T.M. Henderson was first to find the vehicle, parked on the median near the intersection of Nutley Street and Virginia Center Boulevard. It was still dark outside.

Operators had discerned they'd received a medical call, that a woman was giving birth. When Henderson arrived, the scene was "calmer," Caldwell said.

"He saw a woman in the back seat, and she smiled at him. He made the OK sign, and so did she, and she pulled back the blanket to reveal a newborn baby girl," Caldwell said.

"The officer was surprised and somewhat shocked. But he, too, smiled. He said the baby appeared to be healthy and it had good color, and he checked on the heat, checked on blankets."

She added: "There's no such thing as a routine call."

It was the first time in 21 years that Henderson responded to such a scene. He waited with the family until paramedics arrived a few minutes later.

The baby was taken to Fairfax Hospital.

Her name or photograph was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.