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[1] Now to the golden rule of parenting expect the unexpected⁽¹⁾. - Isn't that the truth a lesson quickly learned by one Florida woman who gave birth as hurricane Milton barreled through the state.
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[2] NBC News correspondent Steven Romo joins us now with her story, and Steven just getting to the hospital was not easy.
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[3] Yeah as you can imagine already a stressful situation, and they had to drive more than half an hour through wind and rain to get to the hospital, and at the time they weren't even sure if they were going to be turned around and sent back home, thankfully this has a happy ending.
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[4] As hurricane Milton was bearing down on Florida's Gulf Coast, Kenzie Lewellen was bearing down in labor.
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[6] And Dad Dewey Bennett III was nervous too. - At 4:00 a.m. she woke me up saying "I'm having contractions."
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[7] Not just because keny's contractions had kicked in as the hurricane was approaching, but because during Hurricane Irma they liveed through a painful experience trying to get medical care for a loved one.
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[8] Back in 2017, my dad had a massive heart attack, because the ambulance could not come out to us during the storm, so he later that day passed away.
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[9] With that concern looming over them, and Milton not far behind, the Port Charlotte⁽²⁾ couple decided to travel to a hospital in Venice. Knowing they may be sent home if labor wasn't far enough along.
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[10] She was so far in having contractions that they went ahead and then admitted us, that took a lot of stress off my shoulders.
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[11] And as Kenzie labored, they watched the storm from the hospital's windows. - And I'm like "Oh that tree looks like it's going to fly out of the ground." We were just watching the storm and the wind and the rain go crazy.
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[12] After more than 10 hours in labor and an unplanned C-section, their first child Dewey Bennett IV was born.
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[13] He's the cutest baby. - I always told myself that "oh I would never name my kid you know Dewey until my dad passed away."
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[14] While one hurricane contributed to the death of Dewey II, hurricane Milton will be remembered for the birth of a brand new Dewey. - I kind of feel like it was fate.
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[16] Yeah they actually had some plans to go to the Eastern side of the state, they'd have to find a new hospital, new doctor of course, so they ended up saying, and they're glad they did because the place they were going to go ended up getting hit with tornadoes in that same area.
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[17] So they're glad that things worked out the way. - So many variables, yeah that's a tough situation, I'm so glad that it all, I mean what a beautiful little baby.