When Carson Mignano was born six days ago, his dad, Michael, was busy serving in the US Army in Iraq.

"It's hard, as a father, to miss your son's birth," says Mike's wife Laura.

So they got a special gift through a national non-profit group called the Freedom Calls Foundation. They set up an hour-long video conference call at the Fort Myers Interactive Videoconferencing Center.

There, Laura, accompanied by two-year-old son Mason and Carson, got the chance to talk with Michael in real-time, a big difference from their fuzzy, highly-delayed webcam meetings.

"Oh, this is much better," says Laura. "I feel like he's actually here with me."

"It's hard to say goodbye," she says, "but I know he's doing his duty and I'm proud of him."

For more information on the Freedom Calls Foundation, which sets up video calls for military families for free, check out www.freedomcalls.org