Teena Miller holds her newborn son Luke while husband Ty, who is stationed in Iraq, watches via a Webcam hookup. Ty was able to see his son's birth through the Webcam link with Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling.
WHEELING – Jackson Kelly attorney Teena Miller didn't let 6,000 miles or so keep her husband from witnessing the birth of his first son.
On Monday, United States Army Chief Warrant Officer Ty Miller was able to see the birth of his son at Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling from his military station in Iraq by way of a wireless remote video connection through his computer.
Teena Miller gave birth to Luke Everett at 12:29 p.m. He weighted 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 20.5 inches long a birth.
"It was very exciting," Teena Miller said Tuesday. "Everybody's doing really good. We did get online again today. He got to see the baby again today."
Teena Miller said they learned she was pregnant shortly before her husband left for training in Oklahoma in February. She and her husband communicated with a webcam then until he left for Kuwait and eventually Iraq in July. They still use a webcam, but it isn't as often.
"But I'm sure we'll try to do it more often now," she said. "We had been doing it once or twice a week, but we'll do more now I'm sure."
OVMC set up a wireless remote video and audio connection in the hospital's labor and delivery birthing rooms and broadcast to Ty in Iraq. A wireless remote also was set up in Teena's recovery room so she and Luke can communicate with Ty while she was at OVMC.
Ty Miller currently is serving as a helicopter pilot at Camp Speicher in Iraq with U.S. Army National Guard unit C Company, 1/150th Aviation Unit from the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport. He also a Corporal with the Wheeling Police Department.
Teena Miller practices in Jackson Kelly's Litigation Department out of the Wheeling office. She does civil defense work, insurance and labor and employment law as well as adoptions.
"All of us at Jackson Kelly congratulate Teena and Ty on this joyous occasion, and thank everyone who made it possible for them to share it." Jackson Kelly CEO Al Emch, a Vietnam and Persian Gulf veteran himself, said. "How very special!"
Teena Miller said having her husband away on duty during much of her pregnancy was "very tough," but she said the pregnancy also was a blessing.
"At the same time, it was a distraction," she said. "It gave me something to look forward to while he was gone."
"I'm taking off through end of the year," she said. "And Ty's coming home in December around Christmas for two weeks for R&R. And he'll be home for good next July or August."