A mixed blessing
Mom, infant anxiously await dad's return from Iraq
What a difficult, but yet amazing year it has been for our family.
My husband, David Stephens was told mid-2008, that he would be deploying to Iraq with his Wisconsin Army National Guard unit.
As newlyweds, the time that led up to the deployment in February 2009 for me was filled with many emotions - sadness, loneliness, and uncertainty of the future, and so much more.
Though, as a military wife, I was proud of my husband for doing what he so much loved to do: fight for the freedom of our country.
The time came for him to deploy on Feb. 21. As I dropped him off that morning, I left feeling sad, but knew that I needed to be strong for the year ahead for both myself and for him to make the deployment easier for both of us.
Quickly after he deployed, we found out that we would be expecting our first child in mid-October. On Oct. 22, Margaret Joanne Stephens was born.
David was home on leave and present for the birth, being able to spend five short days with her before returning to Iraq.
David will return home to Wisconsin in mid- to late January!
- Katie Stephens
West Allis
The Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Clinics-New Berlin blog offers health and safety guidelines, as well as tips on injury prevention, seasonal health, parenting and resources for families. 
WestAllisNOW.com is teaming up with the city of West Allis on a new blog that provides the community with the latest news from all city departments. 
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don't see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Please login or register to post a comment.