"It all came together in exactly the right way": Minnesota families welcome blizzard babies
OWATONNA, Minn. -- As if nine months of pregnancy wasn't stressful enough.
"For me, I said what better thing to do in a storm than have a baby," Micah Trautman, a new mom to baby boy Hudson, told WCCO. "And I was born during one of Minnesota's biggest heat waves in history, so it's fun to have that opposite event."
Micah and her husband, Adam, arrived at Owatonna Hospital on Tuesday night for a pre-scheduled induction, and the short drive from their house was not an easy one.
"I remember the first stop sign right outside our house, I skidded through it," Adam Trautman recalled. "Pretty slippery right off the bat."
They arrived safely, however, and a fully staffed hospital was waiting for them.
"I was thinking who's going to be on staff and who's going to be there to support us because we're first-time parents," Adam added. "Everyone here was amazing."
Indeed, hospital administrators told WCCO that storm preparations started well before the winter storm and included a review of hospital operations from across Minnesota and even nationwide.
"We learned an awful lot from hospitals in hurricanes and tornadoes and how do hospitals last without power for seven to 10 days," said Helen Strike, Allina Health's co-lead for storm planning. "It's OK maybe for one shift to try and handle things internally, but when it's two to three shifts in a row that means we have to have forward planning."
Beyond staffing, planning included securing plenty of medical supplies and even linens.
"If we've got staff staying in the hospital that don't normally stay there, we need linen for them to sleep on and towels to shower," Strike added, while also emphasizing the role of maintenance, facilities and housekeeping in supporting hospital operations. "Nutrition staff is probably the highest commodity because they're going to be feeding a lot more people 24 hours a day than they would have on a normal basis with extra staff staying in the hospital."
For the Trautmans, Micah and Adam's decision to bring one week's worth of snacks has kept them well-fed, but Hudson's arrival has them overflowing with joy.
"Overwhelmed with love and joy. It all came together in the exact right way."
