Army Spc. Eric Connell had planned to be there for the birth of his first child.

Instead, he was on the phone with his wife, Malathy, until 6 a.m. local time in Afghanistan when Brandon Connell was born April 3.

"Words really can't explain it," he said, about seeing his son in person for the first time earlier last week in Bismarck.

Eric is on leave from his overseas deployment earlier than scheduled. He's here in time to find out if his son will undergo another surgery. On May 8 he will return to Afghanistan on his first wedding anniversary.

The couple will find out today if their boy will have a colostomy. Brandon was born with the absence of an anus.

"Otherwise, he's perfect," Malathy said.

Brandon had surgery to correct it at Medcenter One. But he is having difficulty with his colon working properly, so his stomach swells.

"His colon is being very lazy," Malathy said. "When they take the tube out, his stomach balloons up."

Doctors use syringes to remove the contents and relieve the pressure. She saw him once when his stomach was swollen, and it was difficult to see.

Malathy, who grew up in Scranton, has stayed at Bismarck's Ronald McDonald House since April 5. The Ronald McDonald House provides low-cost housing for families who have children getting medical care. It has been open 15 years in Bismarck.

"Even though they have children with different medical problems, they get tremendous support," from each other, executive director Kathy Keiser said.

The Ronald McDonald House has served 2,757 people since it opened and can serve up to eight families at a time.

Malathy's husband and mother-in-law, Lisa Hott, and mother, Marlene Teske, are staying there, too, while they are in town.

"I'm grateful," Malathy said. "At first I did not know where to stay. It has become my home away from home."

Her mother lives three hours away in Scranton and visit on weekends. The Ronald McDonald House is just a few blocks away from the hospital.

They can see Brandon, but only pick him up twice a day, before his feedings. At first he was in an isolette, which is an enclosed type of baby bed, and it restricted how much they could touch him.

They do not know how much longer he will be in the hospital.

"I take it one day at a time, and they won't tell you," when you'll leave, Malathy said.

In the meantime, it is her husband's and her mother-in-law's first time to North Dakota.

"I expected to see farms and buffalo," Eric said.

He grew up in Romney, W.Va. It too, is a small town, Hott said. It has one stop light, she said. Apparently, that is one more than Scranton, which has none, Teske said.

Malathy and Eric met while serving in the Army in advanced individual training in Ft. Lee, Va. She left when she became pregnant.

After Eric returns to Afghanistan, the family plans to keep in touch by computer, as they've done throughout his deployment. When he returns stateside in a year, they plan to move to North Carolina, where he is stationed, Malathy said.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)