Baby Doing 'Awesome' After Mom Gives Birth on Florida Freeway

It’s a boy! And boy, did he not want to wait!

As Grendalee Rosales, 27, of Riverview, Florida, in her advanced state of pregnancy jumped in the car early Tuesday and raced toward the hospital with husband Jose, 26, their three other children and a relative, the baby on the way signaled to mom he was ready to make his debut – and Jaden Juniel Rosales was born right there in the vehicle on the side of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

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“I was a little scared,” a smiling Grendalee Rosales told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.”I never had a baby in the car.”

Jaden – all 7 lbs., 12 oz. of him – was kicking and screaming by the time an ambulance (summoned by a 911 call) showed up about 3:30 a.m. He arrived just slightly ahead of his Jan. 31 due date, Lisa Greene, a spokesperson for Tampa General Hospital, tells PEOPLE.

“He is doing fine,” says Greene, “as is Mom.”

Dr. Luis Maldonado, medical director of Tampa General’s Newborn Nursery and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of South Florida, further elaborated: “The baby is doing awesome,” he told reporters. “He’s 100 percent healthy.”

In this instance, Dr. Maldonado added, that’s thanks to “only mom and God.”

Grendalee Rosales got up in the middle of the night and realized she was having contractions, says Greene. As soon as everyone at the home piled into the car, Jose headed for the hospital. “She thought they had time to get there,” says Greene.

But newborn Jaden, who joins siblings ages 2, 5 and 6, had other plans.

As the baby was emerging, frantic dad Jose pulled to the side of the expressway near the westbound 78th Street exit. The 911 call and a passing driver they flagged down for help quickly summoned paramedics from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, but Jaden “beat them to the scene,” says Greene.