Morales was deployed to Iraq in June, when his wife was 17 weeks pregnant.
Mrs. Morales said she had wanted her husband to be a part of the birth, as much as possible. Since the family communicates over the Internet, it just seemed natural that with a Web camera he could be there on the big day.
When she learned King’s Daughters Hospital didn’t have Internet service in the patient rooms she tried to tap into a nearby Starbucks, to no avail.
Mrs. Morales then purchased a high-tech phone that could be used as a modem and set it up when she got to the hospital on Tuesday.
A nurse saw what Mrs. Morales was trying to do and contacted the hospital’s IT department, which took a wireless router from the cafeteria and plugged it in outside Mrs. Morales room on the fourth floor, which freed up her cell phone.
“This has meant the world to me,” Morales said of being able to be a part of his son’s birth.
Morales watched his son being born and nursed for the first time. He witnessed the first diaper change and was available to lend moral support to his wife when she needed it.
Married for 12 years, the couple - originally from New York - were high school sweethearts.
Mrs. Morales said her husband was able to calm her down when she was having a rough time Tuesday, crying in frustration as she tried to get the furniture in place in her hospital room.
“During the strong contractions on Wednesday he provided comic relief,” she said.
Morales said he was happy when he learned they were having an addition to their family, but became concerned when he realized he would be in Iraq when the baby was born.
“I’ve always wanted to be there to welcome my children into the world,” he said from Iraq. “With help from the hospital and my wife’s hard work, we were able to make myself a part of this day, which a few years ago wouldn’t have been possible.”
Mrs. Morales said she had an amazing support system to get her to this point - including two friends, Chris Wahlgren and Kristen Brundage, who were with her when she gave birth.
Morales’ brother and his wife, who live in Austin, spent the night in Killeen with the Morales’ two daughters, Julia, 8, and Emily, 2.
Matthew is a calm baby, which gives Mrs. Morales hope she’ll be able to cope when she gets home.
Mrs. Morales said she’s been asked numerous times how she thought of setting up the Internet site to communicate with her husband during her hospital stay.
“It just seemed like common sense,” she said. “I was going to do whatever it took to get him here, without him really being here.”
It didn’t go unnoticed in Iraq that Morales was going to have a son.
Morales, stationed in southern Iraq, is helping to train Iraqi soldiers. In honor of his son’s birth, the Iraqi general Morales works with wants to sacrifice a goat.
His wife said, “I get chocolate truffles and he gets a goat.”
Mrs. Morales did tell her husband their oldest daughter wasn’t too happy about the goat sacrifice, but to take a picture before anything happens to the animal.
Morales’ first deployment to Iraq was with the 4th Infantry Division during the original surge in April 2003. This deployment won’t be complete until September 2009; however Morales is expected home for a visit in December.
Relieved that his wife and son are doing fine, Morales said he hoped the Iraqis would forget about their plans for the goat.
jgibbs@temple-telegram.com
