Army warrant officer Jason Jernigan expected to return to his Sanford, North Carolina, home before his wife, Tiffany Jernigan, was set to give birth to their second daughter. But when Tiffany went into labor early, the couple knew they had to come up with a new plan.
Tiffany, 27, went into labor four days early on Sept. 19 — three days before Jason was set to return home. So, she called her husband, who quickly hopped on a flight from Seattle, hoping to get to Sanford’s Central Hospital in time to see little Beckley Jernigan enter the world.
“I was sad that he wasn’t gonna be here. I wanted him to make it home in time,” Tiffany tells PEOPLE. “Once I realized that he wasn’t gonna make it, and I was progressing so quickly … I was like, ‘Oh yeah! We could FaceTime him!’ ”
So, that’s what she did. With a friend holding a cell phone, and a photographer snapping photos, Tiffany gave birth to Beckley on Sept. 20 with Jason watching via FaceTime.
“He answered and I was like, ‘Stop walking! We’re gonna push this baby out,’ ” Tiffany recalls. “He’s very quiet and reserved so he just watched. He was crying happy tears and sad because he wasn’t actually there. I was really excited and happy. I was just smiling like, ‘Oh my gosh! She’s finally here.’ ”
Beckley was born just after midnight and Jason arrived at the hospital around 8 a.m. that day. The family of four posed for sweet photos in the hospital bed and Jason has spent the following weeks with his family.
“These past few days have been really sweet,” the mom of two tells PEOPLE. “I breastfeed so I have to feed her then he’ll hold her after I feed her and burp her and let her sleep on him. Our 3-year-old is really in love with her and likes to hug on her and love her.”
Tiffany first shared her story with Love What Matters and says Jason was “happy” that he got to be a part of the special moment from miles away. She says it’s “hard” having Jason away so often, noting that she’s seen him about five times this year.
“It’s tough. I’m already dreading have to take him to the airport today,” she tells PEOPLE. “My 3-year-old …it’s gonna be hard on her when he leaves again.”