Couple welcomes baby girl amid raging snow storms in California: 'Luckily, it worked out'

A couple from California traversed through four feet of snow down the side of a mountain to give birth to their daughter. A nine-month-pregnant Crystal Wade and her husband Brady were alarmed when the forecast showed snow for Lake Arrowhead. Snow made it nearly difficult for the pair to descend the mountain. "I was in a lot of pain, and the roads were unplowed, all the way down," Crystal tells TODAY. "So all the bumps were making the contractions so much more intense." The drive to the nearest hospital was "substantial," but the unplowed roads made it difficult as the snow continued to fall. However, the couple made it safely down the mountain and into the hospital just in time. 

"They got us into a room, and I was eight centimeters dilated," Crystal says. The couple gave birth to a girl on February 24, 2023, at five in the morning, giving her the name Winter. "She came out with the cord wrapped around her neck," noted Crystal. "So I was so thankful that we were at the hospital because if we were in the car and the cord was wrapped around her neck, I would have freaked out not knowing what to do." They were released from the hospital and could go home, but they needed to get back up the mountain. "We got a window to come up, and we left at the bottom of the hill at 6 p.m. It's usually an hour's drive, but it ended up being a two-hour drive because the highway was in such bad shape," Brady explains.

"A lot of the highway was just a one-lane road. You're just hoping someone doesn't come at the same time." The couple had to return up the mountain because their son, Braden, needed them after being left with a friend for safety. "Our son was with our friends, and they were running out of food," Crystal says. They drove the truck as high as it would go before continuing to climb the mountain on foot. Brady expressed that getting home was harder than going to the hospital. It was the "craziest part of the whole ordeal." Their son, Braden, crawled over the snow to forge a path for his mom to walk on. "I went ahead and cut as good a pathway as I could because I knew it was going to hurt and be tremendously hard on Crystal," he said.

According to CNN, the winter storms that have moved across the Western US have compelled many in the San Bernardino mountains to be trapped in their homes. With driveways blocked and cars buried under snow piles that seem as high as second-story windows, grocery stores and businesses in the area have closed temporarily. “People are getting desperate. They need medication. They need food for their children,” said Derek Hayes, a community resident of Cedar Glen. San Bernardino County is under a state of emergency issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week. There has been an influx of emergency supplies, including the California National Guard, to support rescue and recovery.

Around 150 people were rescued and 22 residents were taken to shelters or off the mountain on Sunday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department reported. The authorities also distributed food among the residents over the weekend. Moreover, over 80% of the county-maintained roadways were made passable. “Passable means at least one lane open with less than 8 inches of snow, which can be navigated by four-wheel drive vehicles with chains.” the update said.