DAYTONA BEACH -- No electricity and plenty of free time during three summer hurricanes can bring couples a lot closer.They can play poker or talk or . . .
Nine months later, the lasting legacy of Charley, Frances and Jeanne is appearing in birthing classes and obstetricians' offices throughout the area.
There's a boom going on, a baby boom.
Jan Wagner's bringing-baby-into-the-world classes at Halifax Medical Center are filled to capacity. There are 38 prospective moms and dads on Wednesday nights. The average is 12 to 15.
"I'm inundated. I can't remember anything like it," said Wagner, a delivery-floor nurse and baby-preparation teacher at the hospital for 26 years. "The increase is absolutely the result of those hurricanes. No TV. No electricity. People staying at home. Say no more."
Wendy and Fletcher Turner of Port Orange admit it. The mood after Hurricane Jeanne was right for candles, a song on the guitar and romance.
"We were cooped up in the house with no power and ended up with a kid," said Fletcher, a 29-year-old electrician. "We have a few friends who are in the same boat."
The couple's first child, Fletcher Christian Turner, is due July 10, although the couple says the estimated time of arrival was miscalculated, late by a week or two. They never considered naming the boy Charley or Ivan.
"Ten, 15 years from now, no one would know the connection," Fletcher said.
Dr. Cecille Tapia-Santiago, a Daytona Beach obstetrician, said she expects to get very little sleep during the next few weeks. Volusia OB/GYN, the office she shares with two other doctors, is seeing 51 expectant mothers due in May and 43 more due in June. During an average month, Tapia-Santiago said 28 to 34 expectant mothers are seen.
Looking at the due dates, she determined 11 women conceived during Charley, 22 during Frances and eight during Jeanne over the two months hurricanes impacted this area, with power outages sometimes lasting weeks.
"There's a definite correlation. It's by far the most we've seen," Tapia-Santiago said of the hurricane baby boom, adding lightheartedly, "We're busy. Too busy."
Over in Ormond Beach, Jan Sanchez said baby doctors have notified her to expect a busy couple of months at Florida Hospital, where she oversees the birth-care center.
"We're adding staff to handle it, if we do have an influx," she said. "I've been told by physicians our numbers are going to increase. I'm trying to be as prepared as I can."
Dr. Christine DaSilva, a Daytona Beach obstetrician, said her office's census of expectant mothers stands at the normal maximum, 30 for May and June.
"We haven't had to refer anyone out (to other doctors)," she said.
But DaSilva said several patients have confided the hurricanes had an impact on their pregnancies and that office census numbers might have been lower if it weren't for the storms.
Erin White of Deltona is due to give birth to a Hurricane Charley baby next Wednesday. The storm knocked out the electricity at her house for six days. More importantly, the 24-year-old woman's pharmacy was without power.
"I couldn't get my birth-control pills, and we said, 'We'll see what happens.' We accepted the possibility," she said of the romantic interlude with her musician husband, Neil Keeran. "We're having a girl. We're very excited."
During her recent baby shower, White held up a Hurricane Charley DVD that an Orlando television station produced, showing it to the gathering of friends and family members.
"Everyone was confused," she recalled, laughing. "I said, 'You know, the hurricane? Nine months ago?' "
Years from now, White plans on explaining to her daughter, expected to be named Dara Marie Keeran, the significance of that DVD, and how a hurricane named Charley helped give her life.
DID YOU KNOW?
Baby boomers make up a large part of our society and have already made their own distinct mark.
· Former President Bill Clinton was the first baby-boomer president.
· There were 76 million babies born in the United States between 1946 and 1964. This compares with 50 million in the same number of years before the baby-boom generation. The largest number of boomers born in one year was 4.3 million in 1957.
· Baby boomers are referred to as "boomies" in Canada and "the bulge" in Britain.
· In 1996, the first baby boomers became eligible to join the AARP.
· Baby boomers have their own day called Baby Boomers Recognition Day, which falls on June 21.
-- Compiled by News Researcher Tom Rabeno
SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, Chase's Calendar of Events
