CENTREVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) — Early Monday morning, one Michigan family got more than they ordered in a McDonald’s parking lot.
Alyce and Kevin Rotunda had an unexpected yet memorable experience as they welcomed their newborn daughter beneath the iconic golden arches. This unique event turned out to be more fulfilling than any Happy Meal for the couple.
“I’m just really grateful it all worked out,” expressed Alyce Rotunda, who resides in Centreville. “If it meant having the baby in a McDonald’s parking lot, then that was just meant to be.”
Due to her high-risk status and previous complications during childbirth, Alyce had planned to have her fourth child at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo.
- Special delivery: Baby born at McDonald’s parking lot
On Saturday, believing she was in labor, she drove 45 minutes to the hospital, only to be sent back home when doctors confirmed it was a false alarm. However, by Sunday night, her contractions returned, and this time, the situation intensified rapidly.
“Everything changed so fast,” she recalled. “There was a lot happening that I could sense… I really wasn’t sure how it would all unfold.”
Understanding the urgency, Kevin knew they couldn’t waste a moment. They jumped into their car and sped towards the hospital, reducing the typical 30-minute journey to just 15 minutes by driving at 100 miles per hour.
“I got really nervous,” Kevin said. “I felt like we weren’t going to make it… I was rushing. Things were happening and I was nervous.”
He pulled into a quiet McDonald’s parking lot around 3 a.m. He called 911 and within minutes and a police officer from nearby Schoolcraft arrived to assist. Alyce stood in the parking lot, refusing to lie down on the asphalt. That’s when Kevin noticed the baby wasn’t waiting any longer.
“Anybody that knows me knows that I would be the last person who would ever deliver a baby,” he said. “Every time we’ve had one, I was always at my wife’s head… but everything slowed down and I just focused on catching the baby.”
For Kevin, the moment was surreal, but both parents described the entire thing as instinctual.
“He caught her and I had a huge sigh of relief when she honestly just fell out and immediately started crying,” Alyce said.
The ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later, taking Alyce and newborn baby Matilda to a local hospital. At seven pounds, 14 ounces, her official birthplace is listed on her birth certificate as the Schoolcraft McDonald’s address. The Rotundas told Nexstar’s WOOD some family members have already nicknamed her McTilda, McTilly and nugget.
A McDonald’s manager told WOOD they had no idea the birth even took place until they were contacted. By the time the restaurant opened Monday morning, the parking lot was already cleaned up.
For Alyce, the experience was humbling, but the family says they are simply grateful.
“I’m just really thankful and blessed that everything was fine and there were no complications,” Kevin said.
Alyce, who also celebrated her own birthday on Sunday, now has a story to tell for a lifetime. And as for baby Matilda — her parents say they’re lovin’ her.
