For Army dads, it can be difficult to know their babies are being born hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away while they’re serving our country. But thankfully, Brooks Lindsey got a rare view of the birth of his daughter via a Facetime interaction graced by the patient souls stewarding the homebound plane he was scheduled to board this week.
Brooks discovered his daughter Millie was coming earlier than expected, so he rushed from his training station in El Paso to a hospital over 1,000 miles away in Brandon, Mississippi. This father-to-be was DETERMINED to witness the birth of his baby girl at all costs.
While he intended to be holding his wife Haley’s hand as she brought their newborn into the world, his travel plans threw him a couple curveballs when his flight got delayed TWICE due to maintenance issues.
However, it seems as though those delays may have been a blessing in disguise per the uncanny chain of events that Haley relayed to Love What Matters:
“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.”
Here’s the video of Brooks Lindsey watching Millie come into the world 💞
Posted by Haley Fritz Anne Lindsey on Saturday, May 5, 2018
“(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!”
Haley Lindsey
“Push, push, push, push, push! You got it,” Lindsey said. “Here she comes then boop! She popped out.”
Another passenger, Tracy Dover, captured the proud father’s emotional reaction to Millie being born.
“I’m thinking, Oh my gosh,” said Dover. “He’s watching his baby be born on the phone and it was the most gut-wrenching, heartbreaking thing I’d ever seen.”
Haley Lindsey
“When we heard the baby cry, then just that whole section that was heading to Mississippi just started cheering,” she added.
The breathtaking moment has since been viewed by thousands of people across the web who have been captivated by this father’s joyous moment.
.Facebook
“This Army soldier was on my delayed flight home yesterday to MS,” Dover later shared on Facebook. “He had to watch the birth of his daughter on FaceTime. He was crying and our hearts were breaking. We all gave him space. When we heard the baby cry, we all rejoiced for him. I wanted to share this because I never want us to forget about our soldiers who serve us everyday and the sacrifices they make.”
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