Becoming a lawyer is supposed to be tough, but this is ridiculous.

A Northwestern University alum went into labor while taking the Illinois bar exam but still completed the test, giving birth to her firstborn child less than two hours after leaving, Above the Law reported.

Elana Nightingale Dawson was evidently an outstanding student, ranking near the top of her Accelerated J.D. program and lining up a couple of prestigious clerkships with federal judges. She was not going to let a little labor pain get in the way of what she had accomplished.

"This was something we joked about with her before the test," a friend told Above the Law. "We didn't think it would actually happen!"

Apparently Dawson did, having approached the test proctors beforehand and warning them that she might have to leave abruptly. After she handed in her test around 4 P.M., one of the proctors carried her bag as she walked to the Northwestern's Prentice Women's Hospital, located just across the street from where she had been taking the test.

"The hardest part was going through a contraction and not moving," Dawson told the American Bar Association Journal.

"I just put my head in my hands and breathed," she added. "Hopefully everyone else just thought I was having a really tough time concentrating."

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