Mother of New Year’s Baby Drives Self to Hospital

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A woman's path to giving birth to Rapid City's first baby of 2013 began with her behind the wheel driving to the hospital.

Linda Black Bear wasn't expecting to deliver for a few days when her contractions began coming quick at 3 a.m. Tuesday. She was in Box Elder and had no one to drive her to the hospital.

The Rapid City Journal reports that with desperation and determination, she drove the roughly 10 miles alone. She made it to the Rapid City Regional Hospital and gave birth to a baby boy.

Caden Blaze Black Bear was born at 6:48 a.m. Jan. 1.

His mother tells reporters that she'd tried to hold off his arrival, but Caden was apparently determined to make a grand entrance.

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