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A Look Back: Baby Number 3
On Tuesday, Judy delivered Alexander James, nicknamed Ike, with the help of his dad, Tracy.
After he made his big debut Tuesday, Judy said, the baby has been a very good, peaceful baby. Judy was on her way to the hospital around 3 a.m.when Ike decided he couldn't wait. They made it to the inbound Ike at Cicero when they had to pull over.
While mom and baby turned out fine, Judy says this is the story of what not to do when you are pregnant with your fourth child.
"I think I did everything wrong because I was waiting for my contractions to become regular," Judy said. "It was in the middle of the night, and I didn't want to wake up my neighbors and all the classic excuses. I had them all. By the time we got out the door, the contractions were every two minutes."
Co-anchor Hosea Sanders said he's always considered Judy a "Wonder Woman" but never knew she was married to a real-life MacGyver.
"You know my husband, Tracy," Judy said. "He is so resourceful, and of course now he adds delivering a baby to his list of things he can do. I'm just happy he did not pass out on me."
Just weeks earlier on our own morning show, Judy read the lines: "The newborn grandmother tried to drive them to the hospital, but Jada wouldn't wait. They ended up pulling over and called 911. Molly Jones dispatched an ambulance and coached them through the delivery."
The family in the story used a shoelace to tie around the umbilical cord. Judy's husband saw the story, which is how he knew what to do when Judy went into labor.
"We were heading down the Eisenhower. At a pretty fast speed," said Judy.
"I said, 'Do you need to pull over?' Judy said, 'I don't know!'" said Tracy.
"I didn't know. I think I was in denial the whole time. I did not want to pull over on the side of the expressway. But the time came, and I knew the baby couldn't wait. I said, 'OK, I think we better pull over and call 911,'" said Judy.
Tracy helped Judy give birth in the front seat of the car.
Paramedics from Truck 113 arrived a few minutes after Alexander James was born.
"When we got there everything was done. We just finished it up," said Kevin Farrow, paramedic. They treated Judy and the baby in the ambulance and transferred them to the hospital.
"She was fine and did not say much. Her husband told me who she was, and I finally recognized her," said Farrow.
"Can you believe it?" Judy said. "It's so wild. It's stuff we read about in the news, and I never, ever thought would happen to me. It just went so fast. It was pretty incredible."
One of the paramedics suggested a nickname- Ike, after the expressway where he was born- and so far it's stuck.
Alexander James weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 oz. He has a brother and two sisters.
Judy's roadside birth is also fodder for cartoon illustrators as well. On page 18 of Wednesday's Chicago Tribune is a cute cartoon showing a traffic jam on the Eisenhower with a baby crying. In one of the captions, someone asks Judy what she's going to name her baby. She says, "It will be in honor of the place he was born." And another person says, "You're going to name him bottleneck?"
