If the trend continues, state transportation officials might want to put baby delivery centers at major freeway exits or in mall parking lots.

Two baby girls have been born in the past two days on Interstate 5 in Seattle while their parents were driving through rush-hour traffic.

		Paul Joseph Brown / P-I
	Wendy Neba and Magin Rodriguez talk about their I-5 adventure Monday with Alexa from their hospital room Tuesday.

Tuesday welcomed Baby Alexa to the world of gridlock at about 8:40 a.m. when she was born in the northbound lanes of I-5 near Boeing Field, the Washington State Patrol reported.

Her Burien parents, Magin Rodriguez and Wendy Neba, were in their Toyota 4Runner during heavy traffic, Trooper Jeff Merrill said.

Alexa follows Baby Juliet, who weighed in at 8 pounds when she was born Monday on I-5 near Northeast 145th Street.

And they're not alone. Two more Puget Sound-area babies have been born in their parents' cars in recent weeks.

Juliet's parents, Liz and Brian Kirkman, were driving from their Snohomish home to Swedish Medical Center in their Ford van when their daughter showed up at 6:30 a.m.

They finally made their way to Northwest Hospital with their seventh child, who has brown hair and blue eyes.

Liz Kirkman, 28, said the girl is healthy and safe.

She also reflected on being part of a trend of mothers giving birth on the freeway -- and what she'll tell Juliet in the coming years.

"I think she'll love the story," she said. "It's a great memory."

With Alexa, Trooper Chad Phillips was in his patrol car when he saw the couple pull off on a shoulder, Merrill said. Phillips spotted Rodriguez, who had jumped out of his vehicle and started yelling.

The father-to-be was waving his arms and gesturing that someone had a big belly, Merrill said. Rodriguez pointed to his SUV.

Phillips ran to the vehicle and heard the mother screaming. "This happened so quickly," Merrill said. Phillips "opened the door and the baby was out."

He helped place Alexa on her mother's lap, Merrill said. Inside the SUV, the parents used blankets and clothing to wrap the newborn. Phillips called for assistance, and medics took the family to Highline Medical Center in Burien.

"She told her sister, and her sister didn't believe her," said Rodriguez, 31, Wendy's husband, who spoke in Spanish.

"It was unforgettable," Neba, 28, said in Spanish from her bed at the medical center. As she rested, she cradled her 7- pound, 7 1/2-ounce daughter in her arms.

The couple also had planned to go to Swedish Medical Center. But Tuesday morning traffic changed their plans.

As the family's SUV crawled through the car pool lane on I-5, Alexa gave clear signals that she was on her way.

"I got so scared," Neba said. "My doctor had said that when the contractions came every 15 minutes, I should go to the clinic. But they were coming every five minutes."

Last week, two troopers helped a mother give birth in the parking lot of a Red Robin restaurant in Pierce County, Merrill said.

On Jan. 5, Brier resident Jenny Miller gave birth to her son, Ian, on I-5 near Northeast 175th Street. Miller and her husband were making their way to Northwest Hospital when they encountered bad traffic -- and Ian decided to make his debut in the family's Honda minivan.