Suffolk County Police officers Danielle Congedo and Daniel Rosado helped Nicole Gonzalez deliver her baby girl in East Patchogue on Wednesday. At South Shore University Hospital on Friday, they were all reunited for the first time. Credit: Danielle Silverman

Nicole Gonzalez said when her water broke early Wednesday neither she nor partner Robert Notarnicola imagined the drama about to unfold en route to the birth of their daughter.

They had no idea they'd never make it to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore. That there'd be frantic calls to 911. That two Suffolk County Fifth Precinct officers would help deliver their child. That Gonzalez would give birth in the front seat of their Ford Explorer.

Two days later, the East Patchogue couple can laugh about the entire episode.

"It was like something that you see out of a movie," said Gonzalez, 27.

Speaking from South Shore-Northwell Health Friday, Gonzalez, who has two boys from a prior marriage and a 2-year-old, Giovanni Notarnicola, with Robert, 44, said she knew daughter Anna Bella Danielle Notarnicola was due any day.

Nicole Gonzalez delivered baby girl Anna Bella Danielle Notarnicola on...

Nicole Gonzalez delivered baby girl Anna Bella Danielle Notarnicola on Wednesday in the front seat of her family's SUV with the assistance of a pair of Suffolk County police officers. Credit: Danielle Silverman

But Gonzalez spent three days in labor with her eldest son, Jacob, 9; 12 hours in labor with her second, Shawn, 7; and eight hours in labor with Giovanni; and said she figured she still had plenty of time when awakened by a contraction at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

"I rolled over," she said, "and tried to go back to sleep."

At 5:30 a.m. she woke to a stronger contraction.

By 6:45 a.m., contractions were six minutes apart — and plans to drop the kids off at her mother's in Nesconset were out the window, Gonzalez said.

Especially, she said, when her water broke as Shawn helped her put on her shoes.

By the time Robert Notarnicola got everyone into the Ford, Gonzalez was frantic.

"You know how when you go see a comedian and they call you every name in the book?" Notarnicola said. "That's what I got … She was screaming. I think I just blacked out and went on autopilot. I don't want to say shocked. But, I was shocked."

He called 911 only to have the dispatcher tell Gonzalez "not to push."

As Gonzalez recalled of her response: "I was like, 'I've got to push, right now!' "

Notarnicola was on Hospital Road and said he had two choices.

"There was the fire house parking lot or the gas station," he said. "I thought … if we go to the gas station we'll be all over YouTube and Twitter and all that with people taking video."

So, he pulled into the North Patchogue Fire Department substation.

Seconds later Suffolk police officers Danielle Congedo and Daniel Rosado, both certified EMTs, arrived.

Suffolk County police Officers Daniel Rosado and Danielle Congedo, are...

Suffolk County police Officers Daniel Rosado and Danielle Congedo, are reunited with baby girl Anna Bella Danielle Notarnicola on Friday. The officers helped mom Nicole Gonzalez deliver the baby in the family's SUV Wednesday morning in East Patchogue. Credit: Danielle Silverman

As Congedo reclined the front seat to help Gonzalez into better position, Rosado ran to the police cruiser to get blankets and Notarnicola opened the rear hatch to get Shawn and Giovanni out of the sport utility vehicle.

By the time Notarnicola and Rosado got back to the front of the Explorer, Congedo had the newborn girl in her arms.

"She said, 'I'm going to have a baby right now,' " Congedo said, recalling the conversation, calling it "the longest three seconds of my life" as she waited for Anna Bella to cry.

"Thankfully, Danielle was there to catch the baby," Gonzalez said, "because there was no stopping her … Literally, they pulled up at 7:20 a.m. and by 7:22 my daughter was out."

As Rosado said: "It's something I'm never going to forget."

It turns out Gonzalez is no stranger to childbirth drama.

She was born March 15, 1993 — in the midst of the Great Blizzard of 1993.

That snowstorm caused complications for Gonzalez's mother, Jennifer Reichert, getting from their home in Astoria, Queens, to Flushing Hospital Medical Center — and Gonzalez said there was fetal distress, causing the need for an emergency C-section.

"My mother almost lost her life," Gonzalez said Friday. "In fact, she didn't get to see me for three days after I was born, she was recovering."

In a stroke of good fortune, Reichert made it to the fire substation Wednesday, arriving just as her daughter and new granddaughter were being moved into the ambulance.

"She did get a glimpse of the baby, so she was very happy," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez and Notarnicola decided on Danielle as their daughter's middle name in honor of both Congedo and Rosado.

"I tried to call the doctor," Gonzalez said of her obstetrician, "and he called me back when I was in the ambulance. I told him, 'Um, I kind of had the baby already. I had the baby in the car.' He was like, 'You're kidding?' "

"It's certainly going to make for a good story for a very long time," she said.

Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV Credit: Newsday

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