“I went to my normal Doctor appointment Thursday morning thinking I would be scheduled for an induction for a week out. Brooks and I have been practicing my call to the Red Cross because we heard it was really hard to get men home for births and we were told the only way it would actually work is if I was in distress, so we were pretty upset about that because I was not having any issues with pregnancy other than a little high blood pressure. To continue, at my appointment my blood pressure was very high, and they did blood work and sent me home. About an hour later, after telling Brooks there was no hope in him getting home, I received a call from my Doctor that my pressures were too high, and the baby was being stressed and I was preeclamptic. She told me to be at the hospital in an hour and they would go ahead and induce. I called Brooks frantic and he was so excited! I then went on to call Red Cross and let them know it was indeed an emergency and they simply just needed clarification from my Doctor. I get to the hospital at 3 pm Thursday and they confirm my state and tell Brooks to book a flight from El Paso (Fort Bliss mobilization to deploy to Kuwait for a 9-month tour) to Dallas layover then to Jackson but that he could not book a flight until after 10 am the following day! I was sure that we would already have a baby by then! But at least he gets to come home for 4 days so I was taking whatever I could get.
Friday morning my water was broken at 7 am and Pitocin began. Brooks got to the airport in El Paso and boarded his plane at 10 am (mountain/daylight time) 11 am central time. He called me as soon as that flight landed in Dallas at 2:38 central time and I was 5 centimeters dilated. He was scheduled to take off at 3:55 but LUCKILY his flight was delayed to 5:45. Without that delay Brooks would have been in the air and unable to FaceTime! I quickly made my decision on who would be in the room during labor and it was my step mother, Dee Anne and my mother in law, Teresa! The Doctor came in to check me at 5:00 and she said it was go time!
My mother in law secretly FaceTimed Brooks and shoved the phone in the front of her shirt. When I began to push, the Doctor asked what she was doing, and she showed my Doctor Brooks’ face on the screen and she realized what was going on.
(Millie was delivered by a different Dr. who was not aware of the situation) My Doctor told her to pull the phone out and show him what was going on. Brooks was telling me it was okay, and I was doing so good and I heard him wincing and saying ‘wow!’ through my pushes. I could hear people in the airport talking and cheering! Brooks then went on to say that they were making him board and needed to get off as soon as she finally started to crown and all I remember was my Doctor screaming ‘Don’t let him board the flight! She’s here! She’s here!’ So, the airport personnel let him sit there and watch till it was over!
This is a FaceTime snap of his face during delivery…
Once it was over he turned off his phone, got on his plane and landed in Jackson airport at 7 pm and Millie was born at 5:23 pm (7pounds 6 ounces 21 inches long 2 weeks early) when Brooks got to the hospital I asked all 17 people to leave the room.
When he walked in at 7:20 it was just Millie and me. He picked her up and held her for five minutes and kept saying ‘wow I can’t believe we just had a baby’ but the entire time I was already dreading him leaving 4 days later.
He told me about the people on his flight cheering and watching and I told him it would be crazy if Ellen called. The next morning, we woke up to someone telling us to check Facebook where we had over 1,000 shares and 20,000 likes. We thought that was it but NO WAY it’s still going strong!
I have the sweetest messages and I also have other military wives and mothers messaging me about how I got in touch with Red Cross and got him home and any tips. We had random people bringing gifts to our rooms and nurses coming in and thanking Brooks for his service! It has been an amazing, emotional time full of so much support!”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Haley Lindsey, 22 of Brandon, Mississippi. For our best love stories, subscribe to our free email newsletter.
SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter to spread awareness of the everyday sacrifice our troops make.