The boost it gives to have our partner with us during labor and delivery cannot be overstated. It's one of the most vulnerable, uncertain, exciting, and nerve-wracking time in a person's life. So you'll want to make sure that you have someone in your corner who knows you, knows your wishes, can advocate on your behalf, and simply be there to witness the great work you're doing to bring a child into the world.
Unfortunately that's not possible for every expectant mom, but one Army soldier did everything he could to make sure that his wife had his support during the birth of their first child, even though he was deployed in Iraq when she went into labor. To everyone's surprise, it all played out perfectly.
'There were times that I didn't think I was gonna make it,' Harold Rahming said.
Harold, a National Guard officer in the US Army, managed to surprise his wife Cara on the day she went to the hospital to give birth. Harold, who is also a physician, had spent the last three months stationed in Iraq, unsure of whether he'd be present for the special moment.
“There were times that I didn't think I was gonna make it," Harold told Good Morning America. "I figured I probably could make September 22, that was kind of the plan, to be in the hospital by the time the baby was discharged."
Cara initially went to the hospital with a neighbor.
Thankfully, Harold was able to get there on September 17, a day before Cara gave birth via C-section. She had been admitted after she raised concerns with her doctor that her baby's movements had changed.
After her doctor recommended she come in for additional monitoring, she was admitted to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Cara went to the hospital with a neighbor.
'Everybody was on board to surprise her,' Harold said.
Eventually, Cara told her neighbor they could go home, but the neighbor insisted on staying until Cara got some rest and was settled in. As Cara got situated and went to use the restroom, Harold snuck in her room for the big surprise.
“I rallied up the nurses and everybody was on board to surprise her and we just waited till she came out,” he recalled.
'There's like no words to express that,' Cara said of the reunion with her husband.
When Cara opened the door and saw her husband standing there, she was confused. She saw the nurses first. “I saw multiple nurses with their phones out. And I was like, ‘Wait, why are they recording me coming out of the restroom?’” Cara said. Seconds later, she learned why.
“Then I see him to the left in his full military uniform. And there's like no words to express that,” the new mom said. “Because I didn't know he was coming home. I just knew I was in the hospital, I was being induced and there was a baby coming soon. And there was a lot of emotions to process, but I know the definite emotion I felt once I saw him was joy.”
'...everything worked out,' Harold said of the surprise and his son's birth.
After three months apart, Harold said the surprise turned out perfectly. “I just had to keep the faith and everything worked out,” he said. Despite some alterations in their birth plan, Harold and Cara said their 2-week-old son, Harold Rahming II, is really, really healthy. Harold commends his wife for making the best decisions for their son.
“I'm extremely proud of her,” Harold said of Cara. "She's very resilient and very courageous. She took seconds to say, ‘You know what, this is what we have to do to ensure my safety and the baby's safety.’”
The two new parents are excited for the next chapter in their lives: raising their new baby. “He's very calm and collected,” Harold said of his son. “He has a really, really sweet spirit. You can see like, just the softness in his spirit and the gentleness,” his mother said. “You'll see him smiling and wanting to play with you.”
