4 Blizzard Baby Birth Stories You Won't Believe!
Shutterstock
Call it a blizzard baby boom! As much as two feet of snow blanketed much of the East Coast this weekend, causing most people to hunker down and wait out Winter Storm Jonas—except a few impatient babies who just couldn't wait to be born. A friend of mine here in New Jersey had to brave the blizzard-like conditions to get to the hospital to deliver her third child, but at least she made it there in time! The same cannot be said for these women...
Another New Jersey mama was forced to give birth at home Saturday due to waist-deep snow accumulations, and subsequently poor road conditions. Thankfully, EMT's made it to the makeshift delivery ward just in time, as the baby girl was already showing when they arrived! "I'm here 35 years in this job and this is the first time we've delivered a baby in a blizzard," Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps' president Thomas Molta told NJ.com.
But this little girl wasn't the only one who couldn't stay put until weather conditions improved. Little Annabelle Jade was born at home in Charlotte, North Carolina during the snow storm after two hospitals sent mom Amanda Anderson home, because they didn't think she was ready to give birth. Apparently they were wrong, as Anderson soon welcomed her daughter to the world on her mother's sofa! Luckily, Annabelle was born healthy. Says her mom, "She's perfect. Her vitals were perfect. Everything was awesome."
Meanwhile in Virginia, a woman and her husband were on their own to deliver their baby with only the guidance of a 911 operator. Their midwife couldn't make it to their home to assist with the delivery as planned due to brutal road conditions. Talk about a stressful situation!
And yet another mama was left to deliver her infant on the side of the road in Pennsylvania. Mariah Bryant was not due until February, but when contractions started Saturday morning, she decided to head to the hospital to get checked out. The roads were bad, and incredibly, Bryant herself was driving when she says, "I knew I had to deliver my baby. And my motherly instincts kicked in." So she pulled over and did just that! A friend wrapped the 4 pound, 8 ounce newborn in a hooded sweatshirt, and ran down the road to flag down a snowplow. Soon ambulances arrived to transport mother and child to Lehigh Valley Hospital.
Bryant, who had medical training, says she believes her boyfriend's brother Jory, who died of cancer at age 8, was watching over her. "I felt like someone was there with me. I then felt a sense of complete calmness." Her son Brantley Jory was named after the "angel" who was with her that day.
Don't forget to sign up for our free Parents Daily for Babies newsletter
Congratulations to these brave mamas and their blizzard babies! Here's hoping things are a little less dramatic from here on out.
Melissa Willets is a writer/blogger and a mom. Follow her on Twitter (@Spitupnsuburbs), where she chronicles her love of exercising and drinking coffee, but never simultaneously.
