COALDALE, Alta. — All is calm now at the Blenkiron residence, but Devon Blenkiron said it was a different scene early Monday morning.
“I was screaming at her to get in the car probably 150 times it seemed like, and she was like ‘No, I can’t, I can’t,’ and I’m screaming get in the car.”
All the commotion was caused by Blaire Lynn Blenkiron, who entered the world a few days early at the surprise of her parents. Courtney had been having mild contractions about seven minutes apart, when all of a sudden Blaire decided it was time.
“I said, I think this is it, I think we should get up Austin, our son. I texted the next door neighbor and told her we would be over in five minutes with Austin and… we never made it out the door,” added Courtney.
Devon called 911 — and communication specialist Carroll Moore was on the other end.
“One minute there was no baby parts showing and then there was a baby. It was very fast, very very fast,” Moore recalled.
Courtney said she had a 13 hour labour with her first child; this one happened a lot faster.
“Within three contractions she was out, people ask if I was scared, and I wasn’t really. I didn’t truly think I was having a baby at home, until I was having a baby at home,” she told Global News.
For Devon, he wasn’t quite as calm cool and collected.
“I was terrified, Ill admit it. I don’t even like changing diapers, and I had to do all this,” he said.
Moore said the whole delivery happened in under five minutes. She’s been on the job 18 years and this is a call she will never forget.
“This was absolutely the highlight of my career. We deal with so much tragedy in our careers that to be able to do something that was such a joy and went so perfectly, I was just thrilled.”
Moore was given a stork pin for her first ever birth over the phone, a tradition carried out at the call centre. She says she will proudly wear it until retirement next year.
The paramedics arrived about 10 minutes after Blaire was born, along with the Coaldale Fire Department. They ushered mom and baby to the Chinook Regional Hospital.
“She was completely healthy. She was born at 3:46 a.m. Monday morning and we were discharged by Tuesday morning. I really did not plan to have a home birth, I wasn’t trying to beat the clock or anything like that. It was pure ignorance that kept us here.
“I just never thought it would happen that fast.”
The couple said they want to thank everyone involved in Blaire’s unique birth, from the paramedics and fire department, to the nurses and staff at the hospital. It’s a story they say will be in their family forever, and they can’t wait to tell Blaire how she came into this world
As for baby number three, Devon said it will be a different story.
“We are camping out at the hospital for two weeks.”
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