By theGrio
12:15 PM on 11/16/2011
Randy Blackwell and daughter Aaliyah
Cherie Grace's baby wasn't due until Friday, so when the Hamden, Connecticut mom started feeling labor pains days before, she thought she had some time to wash up before heading to the hospital.
Little did she know little Aaliyah Mary Blackwell had other plans."After the bath, she started to come out, no questions asked," Randy Blackwell, Aaliyah's dad, said. Blackwell rushed to Grace's side and called 911 at the same time he prepared to delivery his daughter in the bathtub.
"The baby's head was starting to crown and I was trying to juggle that, empty the bathtub, trying to deliver her and talk to them (911) at the same time. Two minutes later, she was born," Blackwell said.
Blackwell took care of the umbilical cord and made sure Aaliyah was breathing. When the baby started screaming, he could finally take a deep breath himself.
"You don't really have time to think. It's just everything is happening right now, and just the adrenaline is kicking in, you just do what you have to do," Blackwell said. Now, holding his firstborn in his arms, he can only imagine the future joys of fatherhood, which started with a pretty amazing delivery.
"I guess not too many fathers can say they delivered their own child, not nowadays, so it's a little special," Blackwell said.
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Wednesday, November 16th 2011 at 5:35PM
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