In a video that has reached over 3 million views on YouTube, a Columbus, Ohio dad chronicles the both painful and joyful 107 day journey that his premature son took from the NICU to coming home.

Ben Miller presented the finished video to his wife Lyndsey, in celebration of her 32nd birthday on November 1st. Just one year earlier, they were taking 2 ½-month-old son Ward home for the very first time since his birth on July 16, 2012, 3 ½ months before his due date.

“He always has a camera in his hand, but I had no idea it was this,” Lyndsey tells TODAY of the gift from her husband.

“I just wanted Lyndsey to have a really cool film she could watch of her and her son,” says Ben. “I knew all the tender moments really meant a lot to her, and that a lot of people would relate.”

The photographer acknowledges that this year was the “hardest time of our lives. It was very draining physically, emotionally and spiritually.” But Ben says that he now knows why the couple was put through this difficult time. “God knew that I was going to make this video that would be shared by so many. A lot of people go through really hard times. It shapes who we are today.”

Watch the amazing gift below.