Quake Shakes The Baby Out

For two Microsoft Corp. employees, the earthquake that jolted most of Washington state Thursday night brought the fluttering of stork wings.

Whittnee Chen, pregnant and due to deliver on May 29, was watching a televised basketball game with her husband, John, at a friend’s dinner party when the 5.4 magnitude quake struck.

“We jumped into doorways, and then Whittnee’s water broke and she said calmly, ‘I think it’s time,”’ Chen said.

In less than two hours, she delivered a 4-pound, 14-ounce boy at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland.

“We definitely think the earthquake was part of the cause of him arriving,” Chen said.

Little Maxfield Chen may be a tough act to follow.

“Somebody said they’d be back to see us again when we have a tsunami baby,” Chen said.