Nine months ago this week, folks living in the Ozarks were greeted by a massive ice storm, that left thousands without electricity, some for more than two weeks. Forced to survive in below-freezing temperatures, Ozarkers had to find other ways to stay warm.

For thousands across the Ozarks, the sound of silence was a familiar one last January. For Cheri Meyer and her family, that silence lasted four days.

"We played cards, it kind of forces you to talk more and do more together," Cheri Meyer, expectant mother, said.

You could say it was one lucky card game.

And when the lights came back on, Cheri found herself at the OBGyn office, plus two.

“I found out I was having twins. And I pretty much felt shock,” she said.

Apparently Cheri wasn't the only one who didn't expect to be expecting. Dr. Darren Lehnert, an OBGyn with St. John's says, compared to this time last year, deliveries are up 56%.

"Last week, I did almost as many deliveries in that first seven days as I did for the month of October last year," Dr. Lehnert says.

So why the sudden bump in babies? Although there's no proof, a clue could be as easy as turning back the calendar nine months; to the same time we were all braving the ice storm.

"People were put together with not a whole lot else to do except visit with each other and whatever else. There's no sports on, nothing else," Dr. Lehnert says.

"I think it goes to show maybe it's not so bad to turn off the TV and create a setting and have quiet time together because good things happen from it," Meyer says.

Dr. Lehnert says, this increase in deliveries is expected to continue throughout this month and into early November, which does coincide with babies being conceived during the middle of January.