Yes Yes Yes! This is a wonderful day; her birth story was one for the record books! Let me tell you about it… I can remember it clearly… I had a few cramps and then felt nauseous. It was about midnight and was making her descent to the free world… I was not ready at all!!! Baby Karimah, who was 14 months at the time, was finally asleep, but I couldn’t sleep that night and was still up watching TV while doing my breathing exercises. The intensity and the time between the surges increased and I was now concerned… you see I knew what labor was but she wasn’t due until February 14th… a full 6 weeks from now! I called the Midwife. She was half sleep saying anything that could to allow her to go back to sleep; for you see, she just attended a birth just 12 hours prior that was a full 34 hours of just labor! She was exhausted and was not in the mood to hear that I was needing her. She wanted sleep! But she relented. She arrived about 30 minutes later and I was in the shower trying to relax to get some sleep. She checked my cervix and I was 6 cm dilated. Now for anyone that knows about birth knows I’m way over the threshold at this point… there is no turning back now. We were having a baby TODAY!!! The pangs increased and the Zakiyah was moving constantly. It was if she was trying to get in a position that would stop it as well! I wanted to just lay down but every time I went to sit on the bed it felt like my stomach muscles I was pushing her down… because they were! The Midwife went to call the hospital and before I knew it I was pushing! The midwife went to the car to get her bag to see how she could help me in the transport, but it was too late! Zakiyah was coming and I had no recourse! I went to pick up my robe that fell off the bed and the pressure of that broke my water! I stood up, reached forth Midwife and all you saw was her dripping to her knees saying her head is out! I was like, “…you had to be kidding me!!! Now way…” (seriously). The baby was coming and we were in the car heading to the hospital in her car. I couldn’t have this baby this early she was surely not going to live… it was 1994 and the mortality rates for premature babies was still high and I just didn’t want this baby to be in that number. We get there and surprisingly my transferring Doctor was actually working that day! It was a rainy day and I needed this day to go smoothly and be fruitful. He said, “There she is… and so is this little boy coming to see us…”. He called for the NICU team to come to the room and be ready with the respite (respiratory) team. So within five minutes of coming in the hospital, I had about 15 people in the room waiting for her arrival. Now if you noticed, I mentioned the fact that the Doctor said “he”… and he was right… so we thought. You see, at 28 weeks, I had a sonogram (you call them ultrasounds now) that was “clearly evident that there is a male in gestation…”. I even had an amniocentesis that read “chromosomes… male…” so I had prepared for HIM! Had a name and even was considering “Jr” just to make life easier in the planning! One push and 45 minutes after all this began, you hear Dr. Williams say, “…here is your little… GIRL?!?What the …” Yup… you guessed it, Zakiyah was here, already flipping the script and making her presence known her way! This little Angel not only tricked us into thinking she was a boy all along, she came out Screaming at the top of her lungs at 7 pounds and 7 ounces and 19 inches long… at 6 weeks early! Go figure! So the respiratory team immediately left. The screaming allowed them to know they were not needed. The NICU team stood there like I birthed an alien with two heads and even my Midwife, who had the baby at this point, put her on my chest saying, “…she is perfect…she is truly going to make a difference in this world…”. She has not disappointed us since then. Never crawling. Standing up and walking for a plated chicken leg that was on the table and potty trained by 19 months, this little Angel girl just defied the odds all her life. Now you see, flaws and all in life, that she was destined for greatness! So today in her 31st birthday, I would like to have you celebrate with me as we take celebrate her heavenly adventure with her. I’m sure she is up there changing rules and re-defining the word “different“ for all those that arrive after her! Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I pray you are having a wonderful time! We are sharing her life by reposting this purple square in support of #KiyahsLaw with the link to this post. Won’t you help as well?!?