Technology has its ups and downs, but it certainly has the ability to bring about little miracles that we are thankful for. KTVB News’ Nishi Gupta shared one such story.

Sergeant First Class Mike Lewis is a medic for the Idaho Army National Guard, and he is currently deployed to Iraq. When his deployment began a few months ago, he knew that he will not be as close by as he wanted to be for a significant milestone in his family: the birth of his children.

His wife, Heather, shared: “For him to just be a part of something really special to begin with really creates that an initial bond that we thought was really necessary and important to us.”

Heather gave birth this week, and despite his being physically away, Mike was able to see his wife through the process and witness the birth of his twin children, through Skype.

Heather shared how Mike called her at the end of his day, and she told him that she was in labor. In response, Mike “drank a lot of coffee,” a good move considering he stayed up as his wife went through labor and eventually gave birth. Heather said: “He was right there with the delivery nurses and my sisters telling me, ‘Push honey, push.’ And really encouraging me along the way. He stayed up for 36 hours straight.”

Ken Dey, of St. Luke’s Hospital, said: “We really appreciate the active service members that are deployed  anyway we can help to bring them closer and bring them with their family members it makes us feel better.”

St. Luke’s tries to accommodate these special requests to witness a birth via Skype for all families, not just for those who are in the military.