It only took about an hour for Clinton Sadek to travel from his home near Bluffton to Red Deer hospital in the wee hours of New Year's Day.
But Sadek was carrying precious cargo, and for him, the trip seemed endless.
"The roads were bad and from Sylvan to Red Deer they were snow covered," he said.
"It was not a good night to be out."
But as much as Sadek was in a hurry to arrive at his destination, his partner, Stacie Bishop wanted to get there even faster.
The young woman was in labour and the pains, which were 10 minutes apart, had increased to only six minutes apart by the time she and Sadek arrived at the hospital.
The fact that her daughter might be the first baby born in the new year at the Red Deer Hospital did not even cross her mind.
"I just wanted to get there," she said.
Sadek had been scheduled for a C-section on Jan. 3, but when the pains began, she knew she had to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
"She was a breach baby and they did an emergency C-section," she said.
Aleah Mae Sadek, weighing 5 lbs., 2 oz., came into this world at 5:44 a.m. on Jan. 1.
Her parents had opted not to find out the baby's sex before hand.
"I honestly thought the baby would be a boy,' said Bishop, who said her daughter has been named after her paternal grandmother.
Starting out the new year with a new baby is truly a blessing, she said, noting she had lost her step-dad in 2016.
The couple moved from Springbrook to Bluffton last year. Bishop is grateful her mom, Audrey McCrimmon also lives in Bluffton and her sister, Shiela Bishop lives south of Rimbey. She also has a sister in Red Deer.
Sadek, who works as a steamfitter for Bunch's Welding from Leslieville, also has family roots in the Rimbey area.