Her Birth story: I can remember it clearly… I had a few cramps and then felt nauseous… she was making her descent to the free world… I was not ready at all!!! Baby Karimah, was finally asleep, but I couldn’t sleep. I’m still up watching TV doing my breathing exercises. The intensity and the time 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; She was exhausted and was not in the mood to hear that I was needing her. But she relented. She arrived about 30 minutes later, checked my cervix. I was 6 cm… there is no turning back now. We were having a baby!!! The pangs increased. Zakiyah was moving constantly. It was if she was trying to get in a position that would stop it as well! It felt like my stomach muscles I was pushing her down… because they were! The Midwife went to call the hospital and I went to pick up my robe that fell off the bed and the pressure of that broke my water! I stood up, and all you saw was her dropping to her knees saying her head is out! I was like, “…you have to be kidding me!!! Now way…” (seriously). 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 there! He said, “There she is… and so is this little boy coming to see us…”. He called for the NICU and the respite (respiratory) team. I had about 15 people in the room waiting for her arrival. Remember I mentioned that the Doctor said “he”… and thats we thought. At 28 weeks, I had a sonogram (you call them ultrasounds now) stating “male gonads”. I even had an amniocentesis that read “chromosomes… male…” so I had prepared for HIM! One push and 45 minutes after all this began, you hear Dr. Williams say, “…here is your little… GIRL?!? What the …” Yup… a girl, already flipping the script and making her presence known! 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… 6 weeks early! Go figure! So the respiratory team immediately left. 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! Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Please repost this square in solidarity of #KiyahsLaw