A POST-HURRICANE, PRE-NORTHEASTER STORM BIRTH

Getting ready to bring our baby boy home from St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital.

I don't think it was just a coincidence that my wife and I had our second baby in between the hurricane aftermath and northeaster. I believe it was a gift from God. A safe labor and delivery, because there will be enough storms in this life.

Delivering during this time afforded us a unique perspective into labor and delivery in this crazy city. My son Emmett Christopher - like his older sister Sophia Paige - was born at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital at 10th Ave between 58th and 59th Streets. St. Luke's was fortunate to maintain power during the hurricane and its aftermath. But that meant that it had to take on additional patients from other hospitals like NYU Medical Center and Bellevue.

We also got into the hospital the night before the snow storm and didn't go home until after the snow had melted. As if the miracle of life wasn't enough proof of God's footprints over this birth. Check-in was packed, there was a long wait for triage, and there was a definite shortage of beds. But when we finally got a bed, my wife delivered within 15 minutes. I'm still in awe of her. It was intense, but we're also thankful that labor didn't drag on.

One of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital unique selling points is its Birthing Center, a more natural and progressive labor and delivery option. Because of the influx of patients from other hospitals, the Birthing Center was unavailable when we delivered. My wife wanted to use the Birthing Center, but the labor was so fast that it probably wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

With the Birthing Center and the regular labor and delivery wing combined, St. Luke's Roosevelt delivers about 600 babies per month. And there are dozens of other hospitals in this city probably churning out similar numbers. It's no wonder that pregnancies and birthing - and all the classes and support groups that come along with it - have become an industry in itself in this city.