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t m c » p u l s e | o c t o b e r 2 0 1 7 14 M any parents have crazy stories from the day their first child was born, but few have a story like Greg and Annie Smith, who welcomed their baby girl amid the rising floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey. The Smiths moved to Houston in June after spending four years at the University of Virginia for their medical residencies— Annie in internal medicine, specializing in geriatrics, and Greg in anesthesiology. Both are now completing fellowships in their respective specialties, Annie at Baylor College of Medicine and Greg at Texas Children's Hospital. When they moved to Houston, Annie was pregnant with their first child and due to give birth in late August, right around the time that Hurricane Harvey arrived. The couple had little experience with hurricanes, but as it became apparent that Harvey's arrival could coincide with their baby's birth, they made plans to leave for the hospital early Sunday morning (Aug. 27) if the storm got worse. "Everything had gone smoothly at that point, though I had been having contrac- tions off and on for four weeks," Annie said. "Greg's mother had been staying in Houston for two weeks prior to the hurri- cane in anticipation of an early delivery." However, when the couple woke up on Sunday, their apartment was sur- rounded by two or three feet of water, with more on the way. Hurricane Harvey had exceeded even seasoned meteorologists' expectations and unleashed devastating floods across the Houston area. As the floodwaters rose, Annie's contractions were growing worse. "Around the time we saw the flooding on our street and parking lot, I went into active labor and started having frequent, painful contractions," Annie said. Greg tried calling emergency services, but the lines were so busy with rescue calls that he could not get through. Annie called her fellowship program director, who was working at a nearby hospital, to see if they could do anything to help. While waiting on help, however, the A Miracle Delivery In the midst of Harvey, the Smiths welcomed their daughter Greg and Annie Smith with their baby, Adrielle Charlotte. W H E N H A R V E Y H I T