Baby born to Kentville parents during blizzard
Jamarco Fletcher Thomas hadn’t even been in this world for three days before receiving his first nickname – Stormy.
Donna Thomas woke up at 6: 30 a. m. Monday to discover her water broke at a most inopportune time. Thomas climbed out of bed and looked outside only to realize she’d be making that rushed trip to the hospital in the middle of a blizzard to give birth to her seventh child.
“I looked out the window and it was blowing terrible,” she recalled in an interview. “I was like, ‘ what am I going to do?”’
Thomas wondered if she could wait until the roads were cleared, but quickly ruled that option out. The contractions told her time was of the essence.
“It was scary because I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” she said.
The snow in the driveway of the Kentville residence she shares with her husband, Revas Thomas, was up to their knees but they set out for the nearby Valley Regional Hospital. She feared she’d be delivering a baby at home or in their car if they didn’t hurry.
“If it wasn’t for my husband’s car being a four- wheel drive, we would have never made it to the hospital. The roads were completely covered,” she said.
The parking lot of the hospital was barely visible as strong gusts of wind hurled blowing snow across the wide, open space. Luckily for Thomas, the essential staff at the hospital stayed on- site that evening, and were ready to jump to action when they arrived.
Jamarco was born at 2: 31 p. m., weighing just shy of nine pounds. His parents can hardly wait to tell him about the story behind his nickname someday. The blizzard dumped recordsetting amounts of snow on some parts of the province.
“We’re doing great. We’re home,” said Thomas. “( It was a) rough start in the beginning for Jamarco, he had a little bit of difficulties … but he’s doing great.”