Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410100063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When the doctor told Vanessa Fagan she was pregnant, her mind searched for the date of conception, racing back to a cold and icy February evening.
"It only took a little bit of thinking about," she recalled this past week, sitting in her cozy living room, eight months pregnant.
"Then I started laughing," Len, her husband, said. "I said, 'I know. I know when it was, Vanessa.'"
Feb. 13, two days into one of the fierce ice storms that left the Roanoke Valley slick and powerless last winter.
During such storms, most people worry about immediate survival, such as carving out paths from the front door to the car, stocking the shelves with supplies, and unearthing the extra blankets. For OB/GYN specialists, though, there's an extra thought - baby booms.
"We all laugh about it all the time," said Barbara Detamore, head OB/GYN nurse at Bedford County Memorial Hospital, chuckling even now. "Whenever there's something in the weather like a big storm, we say 'ah-ha.' We've been waiting to see what will happen this October."
The Fagans' little white house sits on U.S. 221, about six miles outside Floyd, remote even in the best weather. With forced-air heat and no wood stove, the cottage is dismal in a storm.
"Our power was out for four days," Vanessa Fagan said.
The young couple thought they'd mastered the ice storm routine. They loaded up the car, slid 10 minutes to Len's mother's house in Floyd, parked at the bottom of the sloped driveway and trudged indoors. Their home away from home was powered by a generator. Not every room stayed heated - the bathtub, full of water, froze solid that week - but the house was comfortable.
The only problem was the dogs. "We had to come back and check on them," Len said.
On Feb. 13, they ventured back to their home and climbed into bed.
"We told my mother we'd come back," Len said, "But, well, we changed our minds."
Worried, Len's mother kept phoning. "He called back down and said he couldn't get out. His car was stuck," Vanessa said, smiling.
Then Len and Vanessa did the bravest thing a couple could do under the circumstances - they took off their thermal underwear. Not all the way off, mind you, but far enough.
There's no doubt in their minds. That's when it happened.
Gulf War veteran Len Fagan, 24, is a recruiter for the Marine Corps, and his busy work schedule had gotten in the way of "quality time."
"Len had gone from reserves to active duty, so he was working a lot," Vanessa explained. "On that day, we stayed in bed to keep warm ... There was nothing else to do. You're laying there close together, and it gets dark out. You can't read or watch television."
The pregnancy wasn't planned. Vanessa, 23, had stopped taking birth control pills a month earlier because of their side effects. The couple, who had only just purchased their home, weren't married yet. But on that cold day, Len, Vanessa and their baby - Wyatt Haynes if it's a boy, or Anna Claire if it's a girl - became a family.
So goes their story, and the untold tales of many others. Hospitals across the region have noticed recent increases in deliveries, and birthing units are bracing for an even greater onslaught of pregnant women in the weeks ahead.
Susan Brandt, assistant director of communications at Lynchburg General Hospital, pointed out that Sept. 27 was the earliest due date for women who conceived during the mid-January ice storm. Since the storms continued through March, some ice storm moms may not give birth for another several weeks.
"It's a little early to speculate on the impact of the ice storm," she said.
Nonetheless, a check of enrollment in Lamaze classes at Lynchburg General showed a significant rise. On average, 15 couples participate in the childbirth preparation sessions, but the upcoming courses are teeming with sign-ups, Brandt said. Some have as many as 25 pairs of parents-to-be.
Sharon Parker, an OB educator at Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley, said her classes are full, too. So did Nancy May, a spokeswoman for Lewis-Gale Hospital.
"We typically have some slots still available in our breast-feeding and childbirth classes," May said. But not this year.
Most expectant parents register at least a month before their due date.
"Based on those numbers, it looks like we are going to have a very active October and November," May said.
OB/GYN employees at Bedford County Memorial Hospital are enjoying a brief respite. Last September, 23 babies were delivered there, a hospital spokeswoman said. Two-thirds of the way through September this year, there had been only 10 births, but the lull won't last.
"We are expecting twice as many births [in the coming weeks] as last October," OB/GYN head nurse Detamore said.
It was in the midst of the icy weather last January that Montgomery Regional Hospital spokeswoman Judy Tynan predicted the boom.
"We have, in fact, had a lot more babies here. We've gone from deliveries in the 30s to the 50s," Tynan said recently, but she was reluctant to attribute the rise to moments of not-so-frigid passion.
"We have expanded the unit and have a new OB/GYN," she said, "and I'm not sure whether [the increase in deliveries] is because of [the new doctor] or because of the ice."
Baby wards aside, there are other indicators. Nine months into the thaw, maternity clothing store owners also are reporting a growth spurt.
Laura Barnwell, owner of Dressed to the 9, estimated a 20 percent increase in sales compared with business last fall. Her mailing list also has doubled.
"Our business has definitely been up," she said. Barnwell is certain the storms were a factor in some of the pregnancies, but she can't prove it.
"I've been here for over five years, and people rarely talk about the conception," she said, laughing.
But Len and Vanessa Fagan don't mind.
"I can hear it now," Len said. "Mommy, Daddy, where did I come from?"
"The ice storm of '94," Vanessa piped in.
"Yeah," Len said, "the ice fairies brought you."
by CNB