09.03.05
Nashua
There was an article in the local newspaper about how we named our little girl Katrina and the recent Hurricane Katrina that hit the Gulf Coast. They spelled our name wrong, even after checking it with us repeatedly before they left. It’s still pretty neat.
I feel obliged to mention that donations for the victims of Hurricane Katrina can be made at The Red Cross
The text of the article is copied below.
Merrimack couple sticks with name Katrina for girl
By MEGHAN CAREY, Telegraph Staff
Published: Friday, Sep. 2, 2005
NASHUA – Lisa and Carl Ezankovich searched for headlines about Hurricane Katrina for almost a week. But announcements of devastation and disaster didn’t capture the excitement they wanted to scrapbook and remember.
“We wanted to find something that said KATRINA HITS!,” said Carl Ezankovich with a laugh.
Their excitement was not for the hurricane, but for their own baby Katrina. She arrived at lightning speed Wednesday afternoon, right as the weakened storm hit the New Hampshire area. She measured in not as a Category 4, but at 7 pounds, 6 ounces.
Once Lisa was ready for the delivery room, there wasn’t enough time for their regular doctor to get there before little Katrina arrived with her full head of dark hair.
The Ezankoviches arrived at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center before Lisa was considered to be in labor. To speed up the delivery, she walked squares around the hospital corridors announcing that Katrina was coming.
Some people may have thought she was giving out a weather advisory.
For days, she and her husband had been receiving such advisories from family and friends. Phone calls and e-mails warned that Hurricane Katrina was foretelling of Lisa’s delivery and the future behavior of their newest edition.
Even though Hurricane Katrina had just destroyed the Gulf Coast area, becoming perhaps the worst natural disaster to ever hit the U.S., the Ezankoviches say they never considered changing their baby’s name.
Katrina had been on the Doppler screen for them for 6½ years.
“We decided on Katrina one night when I was in tears because my sister-in-law had named her baby our favorite girl name,” Lisa said.
When the Merrimack couple first found out Katrina was set as a hurricane namemonths no one would even remember the storm.
And even if Hurricane Katrina did arrive this year, it would seem almost fitting for their family. Katrina’s older brother, Carl, was born just months before Hurricane Karl hit last year. There was also a Hurricane Lisa that year.
Although Katrina appears calm now, sucking on a green pacifier her father holds to her mouth, Lisa fears she’s jinxing herself to point out her daughter’s serenity.
“I never would have guessed she would be so quiet when she was inside,” Lisa said.
Carl Jr. was also quiet when he was born, for about 10 days.
For now they will admire the eye of the storm, Katrina’s twinkling baby blues staring up at them. She’s alert and attentive for a day old, already stretching out her fingers and trying to suck a thumb.
The couple hopes to avoid hurricane conditions when they return home Friday. Dad will be fighting Mother Nature on that one.
“He’s definitely the disciplinarian,” Lisa said. “We’ll do our best to let her know that we love her to death, but she can’t rule the house.”