The day started out just like any other morning with the usual cast of customers and coffee drinkers, except for one erratically parked vehicle that became a makeshift delivery room at the Shell off northbound Interstate 35 in Temple.

Inside the back of the Chevy Blazer was a man, his wife and the tiny legs and feet of a partially born, bluish baby girl in the breech position.

The Belton couple, unable to make it to Scott & White Memorial Hospital in time, had swung into the nearest parking space they could find. Their lives quickly became entwined with the first person on the scene, Trevino, who also works as a certified nursing assistant.

Trevino had been alerted to the emergency by an incoming customer before quickly grabbing the phone and dialing 911. She relayed instructions from the emergency dispatcher as she assisted Maria Perez's husband, Juan Licea, in delivering little Natalie Licea.

"I was worried about the lady and I was worried about the store," said Trevino, who atypically was the sole cashier at the time. "The mother was in the back of the truck and she didn't know what to say. The baby was blue."

Though she'd gone into labor at home just a little more than an hour earlier, Perez had found herself in the unenviable position of actually prying the wedged baby's body from hers.

"She was turning purple and her head was still inside and she wasn't coming out," said Perez. "I put my hand inside and pushed her out."

Licea, the father, helped pull the baby from her mother's body.

"Then I blew in her mouth, patted her back and turned her upside down," Perez said.

But despite her efforts, the dazed mother was unable to bring normal signs of life to the 7-pound, 10-ounce baby's body.

"I thought she was going to die," Perez said. "I didn't know what to do."

With Temple Fire and Rescue and EMS still on the way, Trevino began frantically cleaning Natalie's mouth and nose with her fingers. The dispatcher cautioned Trevino not to cut the umbilical cord.

"She knew I was very nervous," Trevino said. "She kept telling me to calm down. I was worried because the cord was still attached to the mother.

"It was like nothing I've ever done in my life."

Back inside the store, customers waited patiently, seeming to be aware of the magnitude of the moment. A soda delivery man guarded the cash register as Trevino rushed by gathering clean towels.

"I feel blessed she's alive and healthy and nothing went wrong," said Perez while meeting with Trevino a few hours later at the hospital. "I am grateful she was there."

Trevino, who resumed waiting on customers for the rest of her shift, said Natalie's birthday is a day she'll never forget.

"I am just glad I was there for them," Trevino said. "It made me feel real good, especially when she started breathing.

When she passes by the Shell station, she needs to tell her baby when she's grown up that she was born here."