The newest member of one Colchester family refused to let the Blizzard of 2013 cramp her big entrance into the world.
Elizabeth Judy was born at 7 pounds, 4 ounces on Friday evening to her parents, James and Donna Ambrosia.
The couple’s first child together was scheduled to come on Feb. 23. The delivery was supposed to take place at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, but when Donna went into labor during the peak of the blizzard, they were forced to head to Backus Hospital in Norwich.
With the roads impassable, the Ambrosias called for an ambulance. It arrived at their Crestview Drive home within 10 minutes, escorted by a plow. James said that helped them get to Route 2, but from there, they were on their own.
“Route 2 was something else. Over a foot of snow,. We couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us,” said James, who works for the Navy in Groton. “We had been trying to follow the guy's tracks in front of us and then we decided that’s not a good idea cause the guy had gone off the road.”
The 14-mile trip took more than 45 minutes. Once they arrived at Backus Hospital, Lizzie decided her time was now. The emergency room doctor climbed into the ambulance in the parking lot and within minutes, the baby was born.
Donna said several people told her the baby, the sixth child in this blended family, should be named Nemo, after the blizzard. She stuck with the original plan.
“Instead of calling her Lizzie for short you can call her “Blizzie” for short,” said Donna. “So she is “Blizzie Lizzie.”
Baby Lizzie’s siblings, aged 9 to 14, are excited by the arrival of their new sister and already have plans on what they want to teach her first.
“I kinda wanna teach her how to sing,” said 12 year old Cathering. “Cause I like to sing.”