A Florida woman’s baby was ready to make her arrival, hurricane or no hurricane. According to Good Morning America, Hanna-Kay Williams, 22, of Melbourne, Florida, started having contractions on the evening of September 27 just as Hurricane Ian started to ramp up in intensity.
Fierce winds and torrential downpours were threatening the area, but Williams knew she wouldn’t be able to ride out the storm. Her daughter was coming, and she had to get to the hospital fast.
Holmes headed to the hospital in the middle of the night.
As her contractions continued coming consistently, Holmes told her fiancé it was time to go. The couple and Williams’ mother headed to Health First’s Holmes Medical Center about a.m. Wednesday. The winds had become much stronger by this time, but Williams felt safe.
“We decided to go to the hospital at 2 a.m. because that’s when the contractions really started,” Williams told ABC News. “I was going in and out because the car was swaying in the wind and the rain was intense, but my fiancé is a great driver so I was in great hands.”
The couple arrived at the hospital, but the baby was still hours away from being born.
Williams was in labor for more than 20 hours. At this point, Ian was drenching the area with heavy rains and producing wind of more than 40 mph. Doctors performed an emergency C-section on Williams because the baby showed fetal distress. (This can happen when a fetus shows signs of oxygen deprivation or changes in heart rate.)
“It was very clear my cervix [was] not completely dilated and we were not going to have a smooth sail with a natural birth,” she said. “It was a little disappointing because of all the hard physical work that was put in before that, but I knew that I wanted what was best for me and my baby,” Williams recalled.
Williams gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
After a long and exhausting day, Williams gave birth to a healthy baby girl at 10:11 p.m. She named her Wajiha. The sweet baby weighed 7 lbs., 13 oz. and was 20 inches long.
Williams said the baby girl’s name means “beautiful woman” and “glorious.” Her fiancé picked out the name, and she said that when they looked at their new little girl, it was a perfect match for her.
Despite the dangerous conditions, Williams believes that they did the right thing.
She told ABC News that the nurses and medical team treated her well and made the situation much more comfortable. She was able to remain calm because of their help.
“I don’t think I would have made it through labor as calmly as I did without them,” she told ABC News.
Hurricane Ian produced record damages and will cost billions in recovery.
ABC News reported that economists have said recovery from Hurricane Ian could cost as much as $75 billion. In the best case scenario, damages are at $66 billion.
Ian crushed through Florida and the Carolinas last week, taking no mercy on residents. On Wednesday, Ian was registered as a Category 4 storm and sustained wind speeds of 150 mph when it hit Florida’s west coast, according to ABC News.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a major disaster declaration for Florida.
More than 8,700 people have registered for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday, according to another report from ABC News.
