Soldier performs 'daddy duty' from Baghdad
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Travis VanEkelenburg is not much different than most of the other anxious papas whose wives gave birth Nov. 20 at Utah's Alta View Hospital.
He played coach and comforter to his wife, Kathlene, during labor. Listened intently to the doctor's direction. Held his breath until Baby Ava unleashed a good cry. Maybe even whispered a post-delivery prayer of thanks for the healthy child and mother.
Still, his delivery room presence was a bit unusual. He is an American soldier serving in Iraq, 7,000 of miles away from his wife and newborn daughter. But thanks to global cell phone service, a good-hearted squad leader and a bit of luck, the military combat engineer owns priceless memories of Ava's birth.
Baby Ava was not expected to arrive until late December. But Brother VanEkelenburg had a premonition Nov. 20 that he was about to become a father. He had just finished a military mission when he dialed his wife's cell phone number.
"Sure enough, when I called her she told me that she was in the delivery room in labor," wrote Brother VanEkelenburg via e-mail from Baghdad. With the approval of his squad leader, he stayed on the line throughout the two hour delivery.
"He heard the first cry," recalled Sister VanEkelenburg, a member of the Taylors Grove Ward, Taylorsville Utah Stake.
The VanEkelenburgs had long awaited a baby's wail. They married six years ago. Travis was not a member then, but joined the Church soon after. The VanEkelenburgs were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and looked forward to starting a family. Three years passed without children.
In the meantime, Travis VanEkelenburg — a full-time student at the University of Utah — had joined the Utah Army National Guard. He was activated last February and was temporarily stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash. Sometimes Kathlene would visit on weekends. While preparing for his combat deployment in Iraq, the couple learned a child was on the way.
"It was very difficult on me to know I was going to miss our baby's birth, one of the most important days in my life," he said.
He was able to spend some time with his wife in Salt Lake City in October during a two- week leave from Iraq. "It was a bittersweet visit because I knew I was not going to see our daughter Ava born — but, on the other hand, I could still be a part of Kathlene's pregnancy for two weeks," he said.
While together, the VanEkelenburgs assembled the baby crib, installed Ava's car seat and peered at their daughter's image on an ultrasound machine. The trip back to Iraq was tough for everyone. His belief that Ava would arrive early was realized with that Nov. 20 call home.
"I would talk to him between contractions; it was a circus," said Sister VanEkelenburg, laughing. When contractions hit, Brother VanEkelenburg would be handed off to Kathlene's mother, Mavis Kelley, for a grandmotherly "play-by-play."
As soon as Ava arrived the family snapped a digital photo of the healthy, 5-pound, 10-ounce girl. They immediately e-mailed Ava's image to her proud father in Baghdad "so he could see the most beautiful baby in the world," Sister VanEkelenburg said.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
