Hurricane evacuees start over with birth of daughter at Maryview

By ELIZABETH SIMPSON
The Virginian-Pilot

PORTSMOUTH — The birth of Chelsea Rodriguez did not go exactly as planned.

She was supposed to be born in Slidell, La., and go home to her newly decorated nursery with a rocking horse theme.

That was before Hurricane Katrina, and a few feet of water in her family’s house.

Instead, her birth story began when her parents, Kimberly and Bobby Rodriguez, fled their home Aug. 28 to escape the hurricane , then drove their minivan nearly 30 hours over a one-week stretch to stay with Kimberly Rodriguez’s parents in Portsmouth.

Despite the havoc, when

Chelsea was born at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center at

2:47 p.m. Thursday, everything felt perfect.

“It was like our happy moment after two weeks of panic,” said Kimberly Rodriguez, a 1992 Cradock High School graduate. “Now she’s here, and she’s healthy.”

The bundle of pink cheeks and brown hair makes the couple feel like they’re about to start a new life with their two boys, Caleb, 6, and Cameron, 8.

Not only that, but Chelsea is going to have quite a story to tell when she grows up.

“I’m going to be able to tell her what an adventure this was,” said Kimberly Rodriguez, who cradled the newborn in her arms Friday.

When the couple realized that Hurricane Katrina was headed toward Slidell – a 30-minute drive northeast of New Orleans – they figured they would do as they always did : go to West Monroe, La., to ride out the storm with friends, then go home in a few days.

Kimberly

Rodriguez was two weeks from her due date. At first, she wasn’t even going to take any baby clothes with her. But as forecasts of the powerful storm became clear, she decided to pack a small bag for Chelsea and some clothes for herself. She also packed up her photo albums.

Bobby Rodriguez, who was gathering birth certificates, insurance and military papers, had thought taking photo albums was silly at the time, but he thanked her later.

It took the family seven hours just to get to West Monroe because of bumper-to-bumper traffic. For a day after the hurricane hit, they didn’t know how their city and neighborhood fared. But by the following day, they realized they were not going to be able to go back for a while.

They decided to drive to the home of some of Bobby Rodriguez’s relatives in Jacksonville, Ala., on Aug. 30. That took another seven hours. Once there, Kimberly started having labor pains. She went to a hospital, but the contractions eased off.

Other family members from Slidell – including Bobby’s parents – also were going to stay with the Alabama relatives because their homes were flooded. So Kimberly and Bobby Rodriguez decided to keep driving north to Portsmouth.

Before they left, the mother-to-be asked her parents, Bonny and Allen Holland, to print out the names of all the hospitals along the 12-hour ride.

“We’re lucky Chelsea wasn’t born along the side of the road,” Bobby Rodriguez said.

They made it in fine shape, arriving on Sept. 2. In the next few days, they lined up Maryview Medical Center for the birth and found a new doctor who coincidentally had a Louisianian-sounding name: Rebecca Thibodeau.

In yet another twist of fate, the doctor delivered the baby on her own birthday.

Bobby Rodriguez is going to return to Louisiana next week to check on damage to their house, and to return to his workplace, NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he is a valve technician.

Meanwhile, Kimberly Rodriguez will be caring for Chelsea, enrolling their boys in a Portsmouth school and filing insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency papers. Friends and family have bought baby items to supplement the few clothes Kimberly brought with her.

“We’re just so thankful,” Bobby Rodriguez said. “The generosity of people here has been unbelievable.”

They don’t know when the whole family will be able to go back to Slidell, but they will return as soon as they have a safe place to live.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Kimberly Rodriguez said, looking down at her daughter. “But she’s going to help us start over. We’ll be doing it for her, and for her brothers.”

Reach Elizabeth Simpson at (757) 446-2635 or elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com.