Mother gives birth while husband listens by cell phone from Iraq

On the second floor of the Carson-Tahoe Hospital at 5:47 p.m. Saturday, Chelene Ceja, 23, gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Anson, weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces. More than 7,300 miles away, outside Baghdad, Iraq, Anson's father was clutching a phone receiver, listening to his newborn's first cries.

"There wasn't a dry eye in the house," said Ronda Gore, a nurse who assisted in the delivery. "We waited for the father to call the mother's cell phone before we induced labor. He was able to hear the mother push and the baby's first cries."

In one hand, the mother-to-be grasped a cell phone; in the other, a picture of her husband, Spc. Manuel Ceja, 27, a ground medic in the U.S. Army, belonging to the 1st Cavalry out of Fort Hood, Texas.

"[Manuel] had called me that morning," the mother recalled. "I had just been sent back from the hospital because I wasn't dilated enough. He said he'd call back in five hours. When I later got to the hospital, I wanted to wait until he called before I gave birth."

What did the parents-to-be talk about?

"He was saying thank you to all the nurses, and telling me how proud he was of me, and how excited he was," the beaming mother said.

Her sister, Amber Zaval, 24, who was also in the delivery room, overheard their conversation.

"Manuel was crying, and Chelene was telling him how cute the baby was and how much he looked like his dad," Zaval said. "I tried not to impose too much."

Zaval, who gave birth two months ago to a baby boy, also has a husband in the Army, a mechanic stationed in Kuwait, waiting to be deployed to Baghdad.

"There's a chance both our husbands will be stationed in the same base outside Baghdad," Zaval said. (Both wives declined to disclose the bases where their husbands are stationed for security reasons.)

Dad picked out the baby's name ahead of time - Anson.

Also present at Ceja's bedside during the birth were her best friend, her mother and mother-in-law.

"She has a great family and a great husband," Nurse Gore said. "Their baby boy will be very loved and feel very welcome into this world."

Ceja is thankful not only for her husband but also for everyone at the hospital.

"I couldn't have done it without the nurses and doctors," she said. "Everyone was so nice. The delivery went very well. I wasn't in any pain. People said I made it look easy."

Ceja met her future husband at Carson High School. Back then, the two were just friends.

"After high school, we kept in touch for four years, and then we started dating," she said.

Then, in November, Spc. Ceja was deployed to Iraq. He was reluctant to go because his wife was pregnant. Before leaving, he transferred from the Army National Guard to active duty in the Army, so he could ship out with a more experienced unit, which had already seen a year and a half of action in Iraq.

Ceja speaks with pride about the good her husband is doing overseas.

"He distributes clothes to Iraqis" donated through a church he belongs to, she said. "As a medic, he doesn't just help soldiers. He helps whoever his commanding officer tells him to help."

Ceja and her family send phone cards back to her husband so he can call weekly from the base. When he can get to a computer, she talks to him using instant messenging, while they gaze at each other through the grainy resolution of a webcam.

The next time they chat, she hopes to show him the new baby on the webcam.

According to Ceja, her husband is eager to come back. He is scheduled to return to Fort Hood on leave in mid-March, when hopefully he will see his son in person for the first time. Until then, he will have to content himself with hearing and seeing - but not holding - his first born.

n Contact reporter Dan Moreau at dmoreau@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.

G.I. Phone Home

• Spc. Manuel Ceja was able to hear the delivery of his first born, while stationed in Iraq, by using a prepaid phone card. The military does not usually cover the cost of calling home.

• To donate prepaid calling cards to servicemembers, so other troops like Ceja can call their families back home, please visit www.aafes.com, www.navy-nex.com, or www.usmc-mccs.org.

• Residents can also purchase gift certificates for servicemembers by visiting www.commissaries.com or calling (800) 770-GIFT. Gifts can be sent to a particular or any servicemember.