Girl born on I-5 latest in roadway baby boom

Just when State Patrol troopers were breathing easy that an apparent rash of roadway births had ended, a baby girl was born on Interstate-5 today.

Sandra Ruiz, 23, of Burien, dialed 911 from a cellphone shortly after 8 a.m. to say she was in labor while stuck in morning rush-hour traffic, according to State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill. She requested a police escort to the hospital but declined help when dispatchers offered to send an ambulance.

A few minutes later, Ruiz called to say she wasn't going to make it to the hospital. Troopers patrolling near South Seattle and medics from the Seattle Fire Department responded, Merrill said.

Ruiz gave birth to a 5 pound 13 ounce girl just after she was moved from the Pontiac convertible that her sister was driving to the ambulance, Merrill said. Ruiz and her daughter are recovering at Swedish Medical Center.

Samantha Sophia, Ruiz's second child, was born on the shoulder of I-5 near Spokane Street.

Ruiz is the fourth mother to give birth on the freeway in King County since Jan. 5.

On Jan. 30, Wendy Meza-Jimenez delivered 7 pound, 7 ounce Alexa on Interstate 5 near Boeing Field.

On Jan. 29, Liz Kirkman was on her way from Snohomish to Swedish Medical Center in Seattle in morning rush-hour traffic. She delivered Juliet as her husband drove in the I-5 carpool lane near Northgate.

On Jan. 5, Jenny Miller, of Brier, delivered her son Ian on the same stretch of I-5 as Kirkman. She and her husband were on the way to Northwest Hospital.

In Pierce County on Jan. 19, Rena Scarberry, 19, of Tacoma, delivered her son outside a Red Robin restaurant.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com