When the time came and little Cole Stephen Guess was ready to enter the world, Chad Cole did what most first-time fathers do in the delivery room: He lent good counsel to his wife, Lauren, and then tried to stay out of the way.
The second part was easy: He was 8,000 miles away.
But the Guesses were working in concert Monday, Lauren delivering little Cole at 11:45 a.m. at Northside Hospital while Stephen —- U.S. Marine Cpl. Guess —- watched in wonder via a computer videoconference from Al Asad, Iraq, where he is deployed.
"I'm very impressed," Chad said later. "She did a great job."
The videoconference was possible thanks to the Freedom Calls Foundation, a nonprofit organization that built a satellite network in Iraq to keep servicemen and women connected to their families.
Their timing was exquisite. Chad, who phones Lauren daily, happened to call just when she was beginning to go into the late stages of labor. Chad hurried to a computer, the connections were made, and soon he was talking his wife through the delivery.
"To have him be able to sit over there and watch his son being born, it was amazing," Lauren said. "I can't imagine doing it without him there."
The computer screen with Chad's feed was set up right next to the bed, exactly where he would have been if he were present. In time, her husband was making Lauren laugh from a war zone.
"So many guys, even guys he's with, miss this," Lauren said. "But we were able to see each other."
The Freedom Calls Foundation is funded entirely by donations. Its satellite network serves deployed military personnel and their families 24 hours per day free of charge. Until Monday, the couple did not know they would be able to talk during the delivery. Chad had been stationed on a more remote base for most of his deployment and was only recently transferred to Al Asad.
"As soon as I saw his face pop up yesterday, I was so excited," Lauren said.
Married in 2007, Chad and Lauren have spent the past six months apart, Lauren going through most of the pregnancy without her husband.
"It was hard going to doctor's appointments and seeing other people's husbands there and not mine," Lauren said, fighting tears.
Chad, who joined the Marines in 2005, serves as a radio operator, handling communications for his battalion. This is his second deployment in two years, and "hopefully his last," according to Lauren.
The couple live at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, but Lauren came home to Georgia to be with her family during her pregnancy and delivery. Chad will return to the United States in two weeks, another case of perfect timing.
"Just in time," Lauren said, "to change diapers."
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