The micro-blogging site Twitter has given an increasing number of expectant dads something to do while their wives are giving birth: Provide the world a real-time account of what may be the most intimate experience of their lives.
Tally Wilgis couldn't wait to tell family and friends details about the birth of his second child, Ainsley, in January at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. As his wife, Kristy, endured her contractions, the pastor from Timonium kept his 800 Twitter followers up to date with a continuous, online play-by-play.
Or is that tweet-by-tweet?
FOR THE RECORD
An article in Wednesday's editions about fathers tweeting their children's births used an incorrect pronoun in referring to Michael Schwartzberg of Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Schwartzberg is a he. The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.
"Doc came back from the emergency across the hall. He seems eager to get to work," Wilgis tweeted a few moments before Ainsley was born. "He's going to get the team. We'll see.
"Contractions over 135 ... Kristy is ready to fight somebody. Poor nurse says, 'Hopefully you'll have amnesia when you get through this.'
"Baby Ainsley is here!!!!! 5:17 p.m. 7.8 lbs. She's beautiful! Kristy did an amazing job. I am so in love with that woman. [Three] pushes and she was out! I'm going to hold my daughter now!"
The free San Francisco-based site allows users to post entries (or Tweet) what they're doing in 140 characters or less. Expectant parents are using its versatility to keep loved ones informed in an instant.
Some expectant parents like Wilgis bring laptop computers into the delivery room and post updates for those who follow their entries. As his daughter was being born, he captured emotions - including his own - that might have gone unrecorded had he waited to talk about them over the phone.
Matt Tatham, media relations director for online measurement company Hitwise, said it's not surprising that sites such as Twitter have become popular in delivery rooms. He said that such sites are compatible with new electronic devices such as the BlackBerry and iPhone, and deliver posts that their receivers need not log on and search for.
"It happens because it's there and it's possible," Tatham said. "The biggest hurdle is always ease of use. People can do it from their cell phone. It's a way for their family and friends to be there with them whether they want to be or not."
As the company's name has become all but synonymous with cyber dialogue, Twitter users keep coming up with venues for tweeting. Tatham said he posed the idea of tweeting during the delivery process 15 months ago with his then-pregnant wife.
