Bartlesville Soldier Returns Home To Newborn Baby

More members of Oklahoma's 45th Infantry are returning home as part of demobilization out of Afghanistan and Kuwait.

One Bartlesville soldier got to come home a little earlier than expected. Early enough to welcome a new baby girl into the world.

As a new baby grabs her daddy's finger with her tiny hand, she already has him wrapped around her little finger.

Just a month after Kenneth McBride's deployment to Afghanistan, his wife Megan found out she was pregnant. Now the couple's first child, Aislen Danielle, has her daddy home.

"We were worried we wouldn't have him home for her birth and it's just wonderful he was able to make it," said new mom Megan McBride.

"I'm just so happy. It's what I've been dreaming and looking forward to was getting back to both of them," said new dad Spc Kenneth McBride.

Specialist McBride wasn't set to be demobilized out of Afghanistan just yet. His commanders made it happen a little early.

"We weren't even supposed to leave ten days. They said hey there's a big snowstorm coming so you're going now. So I had like five minutes to pack everything and get out of there you know," Specialist McBride said.

Now out of the cold, and warmed by the joy a baby brings, he can't help but think of how lucky he is.

It's been a hard deployment for the 45th. Three of his fellow soldiers in his battalion were killed, including close friend Chris Gailey.

Kenneth has tattoos of Gaileys' dog tags along with those of Josh Seals, who was also like a brother, and Serina Butcher, the first female causality of the Afghanistan war.

During his deployment, McBride carried a little stuffed giraffe with him everywhere he went. Now, photos of the giraffe will be in a special album for Aislen to enjoy when she gets older.