Mike and Lola Meakin with newborn daughter Tsarina and 2-year-old daughter Ceilidh. (Laurie Fagan/CBC)

An Ottawa couple welcomed the birth of their second child Wednesday morning in their car on the side of Greenbank Road.

The birth of eight-pound, nine-ounce Tsarina Meakin happened so quickly that by the time paramedics arrived all they had to do was cut the umbilical cord.

Lola Meakin, 30, said at 7 a.m. her contractions began getting closer and closer together.

Her husband Mike Meakin was driving her to Queensway Carleton Hospital when at 7:53 a.m. she told him — after a three-minute-long contraction — that the baby was coming.

"I had the feeling we're not going to make it and then a big push and I felt the baby's head," she said.

Mike Meakin was dialling 911 for help and advice on what to do, but before the operators could help, his wife had pushed the baby out.

'I was just there to catch'

"The baby came out in three pushes and she came out in my hand... I was just there to catch," said Mike Meakin.

"I'd say I have to thank George Clooney. All those hours watching ER didn't go to waste," he said.

The 911 dispatcher told Lola Meakin how to clear the nose and mouth so the baby could breathe, and then paramedics arrived to cut the umbilical cord and bring the family to the hospital.

The baby is healthy and the family is looking forward to getting some well-deserved sleep.

Lola Meakin said if she has a third baby, she's going to choose to have pain killers. Her husband said he might make some adjustments as well.

"I'm buying a catcher's mitt," he said.