YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — An Air Force transportation specialist at the U.S. military’s airlift hub in western Tokyo helped with a special, unexpected delivery last month.

A scream from his wife Oct. 19 summoned Staff Sgt. Kyle Thomas, 29, of Lathrop, Mo., to the bathroom of the family home in Ome, located near Yokota, where Kyle is stationed with the 730th Air Mobility Squadron.

Alexis Thomas, 29, was expecting the couple’s third child and this time her husband was on-hand to provide support. Kyle was deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, when their son, Tannen, 2 was born.

Alexis had been in labor so long with Tannen and oldest daughter Braelyn, 6, that the couple expected plenty of warning before their third child arrived.

“We were trying to wait until the last minute to go to the hospital,” Kyle said Wednesday.

But 15 minutes after Alexis went for a bath, she was screaming for her husband to help deliver the baby, he recalled.

“I always wanted a home birth,” Alexis said Wednesday, “but not in a bathtub with no midwife.”

The staff sergeant told his wife to push once, and he saw the baby’s head. She pushed one more time and the baby made her entrance, he said.

“I was super nervous because there was a substantial amount of blood,” Alexis said, “but I just decided the baby was more important and I just focused.”

The youngster, named Millicent, weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces, Kyle said.

The couple cleaned up and drove to the base hospital, where surprised staff kept mother and baby overnight, he said.

Young Millicent, described by her mother as “the best baby,” slept serenely in a blanket Wednesday evening while other kids played on a sports field at Yokota.

“She is so quiet and sleeps immaculately at night,” Alexis said.