Army captain returns home early from Iraq to surprise wife in labor

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Preparing for the birth of your first child can be nerve-wracking, especially if you don't know if your spouse can make it to the delivery.

An Orland Hills woman was preparing for just that when her husband deployed to Iraq in June, but she didn't know he had other plans.

U.S. Army Capt. Harold Rahming surprised his wife, Cara, at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn on Sept. 18.

He had been planning for weeks to surprise Cara by returning earlier than his original mid-October homecoming date, and had planned to surprise her at home before she went into labor.

When he found out the baby was coming four days early, and doctors were inducing labor, with the help of family and friends, he rushed to the hospital from Texas, arriving just hours before their son, baby Harold, was born.

"I was over the moon," Cara said. "We were together for the first time in three months."