First flood baby arrives in Fargo amid the chaos

Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune

Jason Wojahm and Crystal Jackson enjoyed their newborn, Jackson Jay Wojahm, who was born at 3:22 a.m. Monday at Merit Care Hospital in Fargo, N.D.

By MATT McKINNEY, Star Tribune

Last update: March 30, 2009 - 7:57 PM

FARGO -- The first baby born in Fargo after the historic Red River crest of 2009 rested in his dad's arms Monday morning. Jackson Jay Wojahn, born at 3:22 a.m. on Monday, cooed from under a blue cap.

"It's not so bad out here, is it?" said his father, Jason, the baby boy stretching the length of his forearm.

Crystal Jackson said she and Jason were among the only patients when they arrived Sunday night at Fargo's largest hospital. It had evacuated 180 patients on Thursday to hospitals as far away as Minneapolis.

"It was pretty quiet," said Crystal.

For the past week, as he waited for the baby to arrive, Jason spent hours sandbagging against the rising waters of the Red River. Sandbagging duty slowed Sunday evening, just as Crystal's labor began. Jason called his sister, a nurse.

How far apart should the contractions be? he asked.

It didn't matter what she said next. Crystal's water broke. They rushed to the car.

The besieged city of Fargo has numerous road closings, flooding in some parts of town along the river, and, since Thursday, partially shuttered hospitals.

The couple didn't know where to go. A police officer told them to head to another hospital, but the city's largest hospital, MeritCare, was the one they knew.

"We got here at 11 or so," said Jason. They were met by staff ready to reopen the hospital since the river had dropped from its crest of 40.82 feet.

Crystal gave birth less than five hours later. Two other mothers soon followed.

By noon on Monday Crystal was still waiting for her first hour of sleep.

Elsewhere in the city, just a few blocks away, a crowd of people still fought the water at the Oak Grove Lutheran School, which flooded over the weekend. Further south, people stood along the Main Avenue bridge over the swollen Red River, taking in the spectacle of a city mired by natural disaster. And at a meeting in city hall Monday afternoon, a soldier showed city officials a slide show of images taken from a Predator drone aircraft showing massive ice jams up and down the valley.

Back in the hospital room, Jackson's bald head wrinkled and he cried, his soft voice drowned out by the oohs and aahs of family and well-wishers who heard him. He was due April 18, but even with the added anxiety of the flood, the parents were happy to have him come along so soon.

Just a day earlier they had been in Ortonville, Minn., where Jason's National Guard unit, the 151st Field Artillery Unit, had a going away party.

The unit deploys April 16 for up to a year in Iraq.

"We're taking the good with the bad at the same time," said Wojhan. "I feel bad for all the community that's lost their homes. It's a devastation. We're blessed to have a little baby boy in the family. It's truly a blessing."

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329

Recent Local + Metro stories

Pension ruling may save Mpls. taxpayers $10M - March 30, 2009

Pension ruling may save Mpls. taxpayers $10M - A judge ordered two closed pension funds for Minneapolis police and firefighters to reduce their claim on the 2010 city levy, which could reduce city taxes $10 million. More