BALTIMORE -- A new father missed his daughter's birth but had a reason -- he was possibly infected with the H1N1 flu.
Dan D'Orazio wasn't allowed to be in the hospital when his wife, Brandie, gave birth to their first child because he's sick.
The family said they didn't expect their daughter to make her grand appearance until Nov. 2, but Brandie went into labor early Tuesday.
When the D'Orazios arrived at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Dan was told to go home.
The couple said they understood it was the best thing for their child, but that it didn't make it any easier.
"At the moment when I had to leave, I looked at her and she got very teary-eyed, and we also had masks on our face so it was hard to see all of her emotion. But I knew she was very upset," Dan said.
A friend came to help Brandie in the delivery room and videotape and take pictures of the birth of the first child. Dan went home and had to settle for staying in contact with Brandie via cell phone.
"They put me on speaker phone, and I was listening in as she was delivering. And they were giving her instructions, and I was speaking to her and they said, 'We can see the head, we can see the head,' and the doctor pulled the baby out and said, 'Brandie, tell Dan what it is.' And she looked and said, 'It's a girl,'" Dan said.
Dan got pictures of his new daughter sent from a cell phone and did what every new dad does. He called his friends and family and sent out pictures of newborn Stella Rose.
Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, after being fever-free for 24 hours, he was allowed to see his daughter for the first time.
"When I saw her today, it was really amazing. Healthy, beautiful and just everything we imagined," Dan said.
Even though the birth didn't go as planned, the new parents said the situation has broken them into parenthood already.
"The whole experience was unexpected, but I think I've learned that as a parent, you roll with the punches. I learned that lesson early," Dan said.
Mom and baby were expected to come home from the hospital on Thursday.
