Baby- Dad at War

I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant, just a couple weeks after my husband, Jeret, was sent off to Iraq to go to war. He had been in the Navy for years, and this was his first actual time at war.

We had only been married a year and a half, and this was our first baby. I didn't know what to expect. With Jeret gone, not knowing when he was going to get home, it was terrible!

I was so excited, and Jeret got the news as soon as possible, and he was overjoyed. His biggest fear, though, was if he would make it home in time to be there when I had the baby. And, unfortunately, he wasn't. He had been home when I was 6 months pregnant, got to see ultrasound pictures and went to a doctor's visit with me, but wasn't home for long!

I went into labor on July 31, which started out as mild abdominal pains, and led to horrific back pains, which led to my water breaking. I quickly called my doula and my parents.

My doula (Marcie) arrived 15 minutes after my call, and my parents arrived about half an hour after my call. I wanted a shower, so Marcie said it was OK. Then we were off to the hospital, since my water had already broken and I seemed to be moving along quite well. I didn't know how Jeret would find out yet, and I felt so bad for him and I actually felt bad for myself.

When we got to the hospital, I got so emotional and thought a lot about my baby being born without her daddy there. I was checked and already dilated to 5 centimeters. I received an ultrasound, fetal monitoring and an epidural. And at 12:23on August 1, I gave birth to our first daughter.

She weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was very healthy! Jeret and I had decided months ago that if it was a boy, it was going to be Mitchell Jay, and if it was a girl, it was going to be Malorie Ava. So that was her name!

Six days after I had Malorie, I was able to get a chance to talk to Jeret. It was the first time I heard him cry like that. Ever! He was so happy to be a dad!

Malorie is my little princess, and Jeret met her for the first time when she was 5 months old. It was an emotional time for him, and they had such a bond from the first moment they laid eyes on each other.

Jeret has been home three times since then, and he's actually to be expected in the next two to four months to be home again. That's something to look forward to. Maybe once he gets home, we'll try for our second baby and have a little brother or sister for Malorie to play with.

Malorie knows where her daddy is and what he's doing (as she says, he's helping our country), but it's still very difficult watching her grow up on my own, and it's extremely difficult for Jeret, to miss her first word, her first steps, her first evreythings. But, with that said, Malorie will definitely always be Daddy's Little Girl!