WSU Global Campus student Chris Jose took cap and gown photos with his wife, Kim, in a Labor and Delivery room the night before his graduation commencement, not expecting his daughter to be born just a few hours before he logged on to Zoom to graduate with a degree in social science.

Kim had complications with her pregnancy and went to Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver just a few days before the ceremony on May 2, which also happened to be her birthday.

She said she was able to have a birthday lunch before being sent to a Labor and Delivery room and going into four long days of induced labor.

“The labor wasn’t progressing as it should have, but I was still positive throughout the whole experience,” she said. “The Legacy team was amazing. They even told me I was one of the most positive people that they’ve seen that has gone into labor for such a long time.”

At 2 a.m. May 6, the doctors told her they were going to prepare her for a C-section, and after talking about Chris’ graduation later that morning, they decided to follow through with their daughter’s birth.

“We thought that probably the fourth or fifth that she would be with us,” Chris said. “But it just so happened that morning was when it all kind of happened.”

At 3:35 a.m., the couple welcomed Aaliyah-Iris Tabaquin Jose into the world.

By the time they got to the postpartum room, it was already 9 a.m., and Chris said the experience was quick; they went from the birth to the postpartum room right into his cap and gown and to graduation.

“Our nurse was really sweet,” Kim said. “She helped change her right before he went on the camera, too.”

Chris had taken cap and gown photos with Kim while she was pregnant, not knowing they would go to the hospital the next day, he said.

Right before his graduation started, he put on a cap and gown and took photos with Kim and their daughter, he said.

While Aaliyah was their firstborn, she was not Kim’s first pregnancy; she had a miscarriage in 2021.

“It was just really special because she’s definitely our miracle baby,” she said.

Chris said her birth is a great way to remember Kim’s birthday and his graduation at the same time, and it is not something they will forget.

“I had to go through the labor and my birthday with her … and his graduation week,” Kim said. “It’s a cute story to tell.”

Having these two accomplishments on the same day was amazing, and not something Chris thought would happen, he said.

Her due date was May 23, Chris said. He thought they would have a couple of extra weeks and that the birth and his graduation would be two completely separate occasions.

“To have it all happen on the same day was just kind of a whirlwind,” he said. “I’m 33, so I’ve been working on getting my degree for quite a while, and to have that accomplishment at the same time as having our first child … is so cool to have.”