A pregnant Pennsylvania woman who was driving herself to the hospital during the weekend snowstorm ended up delivering her son by herself in the car.
Mariah Bryant, 23, of Sciota, Monroe County, says her contractions started Sunday morning, but she wasn't too worried since it was a month from her due date. Still, she thought she should head to the hospital to get checked.
Her boyfriend, Jesse Mackaravitz, spent the day digging out her car in Kutztown, so she asked him to stay with her 4-year-old and went to pick up her friend about 30 miles away in Bethlehem to accompany her to the hospital. As she drove, her contractions were around 15 to 20 minutes apart but she wasn't experiencing any pain.
After picking up her friend, she started driving westbound on Route 22. That's when her contractions got more frequent and Bryant knew the baby wasn't waiting any longer.
"He wasn't waiting for nothing," Bryant said. "He wanted out."
Bryant pulled over at the bottom of the Route 145 off-ramp and told her friend to call 911. She then put her feet up on the dashboard and delivered her son, Brantley Jory Mackaravitz, after three pushes.
"It did happen in my 2013 Ford Focus but it was a beautiful moment," Bryant said.
An ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later. Bryant and her 4-pound, 8-ounce newborn baby were then taken to an Allentown hospital.
"It's amazing," Jesse Mackaravitz said. "So amazing. It's a miracle."
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Bryant and her baby are both doing well. She told NBC10 she's looking forward to telling Brantley the incredible story of his birth.
"I can't wait until he gets older," she said. "I can't wait to tell him how he was born."
