A North Carolina military husband celebrated a gender reveal with his comrades while deployed 3,000 miles away from his wife.
Marine Zach Zapata had his closest military colleagues next to him at his military base in Japan when he found out the gender of his unborn baby in a video shared by Caters News.
His wife, Janet, wanted to make sure he felt included in the pregnancy in spite of the distance.
The excitement in the room was apparent as Zapata looked into the box full of pillow-soft sports toys and a pair of newborn boy’s shoes.
"Everyone in my company knew that my wife was pregnant and they were all very excited for me, even more so because they really wanted to know what the sex of the baby was going to be," Zapata said. "The feeling of knowing I had so many of my people around me to share this announcement truly made it special.”
The road to conceiving wasn't easy for Zapata and his wife, and the couple spent years trying to do so, so the moment was all the more special.
“With both Janet and I constantly being disappointed and saddened by seeing other friends around us having children, it had definitely took a toll on us,” Zapata said.
But now, their dream is coming true.
“When Janet announced her pregnancy to me, I couldn’t believe it," Zapata said. "I remember immediately thinking the struggle was finally over – we had finally received the news we had been fighting [for] for so long.”
Zapata has since returned home.
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