Like Mother, Like Daughter - Hurricane Gloria Baby Gives Birth During Irene

A Riverhead woman who was born during Hurricane Gloria in 1985 gave birth this weekend as Hurricane Irene barreled through Long Island.

A week overdue and with reports of a hurricane expected to hit, Melissa Farrish of Riverhead said she was starting to worry. Then, just hours before Irene arrived, Farrish went into labor.

While most doctors tell mothers who are in labor to wait it out until their water breaks or contractions are four minutes apart, her doctor said with ambulances expected to stop running, she should head to .

“If I didn’t go, I was afraid I would give birth at home by myself,” Farrish said. “We hurried to get to the hospital.”

At the hospital, Farrish said it was a lot of waiting and not dilating fast enough when her doctor induced her. 

Then, on Sunday morning, as the wind whipped and rain pelted down outside, Farrish’s doctor urged her to have a c-section. She had stopped dilating.

What Farrish didn’t know was that as the C-section was performed the hospital had lost power and emergency generators had kicked in.

“I guess she is the first generator baby,” joked Farrish.

Hailey Elizabeth was born healthy to Farrish and her father, Kevin Witt, also of Riverhead, at 10:30 a.m., weighing 8 pounds.

Hailey, said Farrish, will have a story to tell about her birth and irony that her mother was also born during a hurricane. “I was born during Gloria in North Carolina.”

Farrish says her mother told her she was born with her twin two months early and when the hospital lost power, mother and babies were transferred to Duke Raleigh Hospital, which had generators.

And if that is not coincidental enough, Farrish said, her anesthesiologist was also born during a hurricane.

Farrish, a dental assistant and Witt, a master plumber, who both graduated from , say they will be going home on Friday and will be surrounded by family and friends who have already been to the hospital to meet Hailey.