Not crying, not moving, just sleeping soundly and oblivious to the drama she had recently caused. Earlier that afternoon, she came into the world without a sound. The attending nurse hurriedly removed her from the doctor's hands and placed her in the incubator. I overheard the nurse saying, "Come on, baby! Girl, you got to breathe!" Her usually loquacious father had grown silent. What in the world was going on?.

             I was expecting to have my baby in my arms by now. Instead, I heard my husband ask, "Is she supposed to be blue like that?" Over the next several minutes all I heard was the doctor barking orders, but no one was telling me anything. I was so afraid. I wish I had said something, but now it seemed to be too late. I saw one nurse squeezing an ambu bag while the other nurse was rubbing the baby's chest like crazy. The umbilical cord had been around her neck. Maybe, as she moved through the birth canal, it had grown tighter. Maybe all of the medications had taken a toll on her little system. My husband had begged me not to get that epidural! Either way, it did not matter, my baby was not breathing, and there was nothing I could do about it. I just sat there in the bed, in disbelief, watching them perform CPR on her. I was numb, not due to the epidural.numb on the inside. My child still had not announced her arrival to the world.

             After what seemed like forever, we finally heard a hearty wail and then a second one. The nurse placed Amiyah and the bundle of blankets she was wrapped in into my arms for a brief moment only to whisk her away to the NICU to be monitored. As the doctor finished working on me, I lay there wondering was she really okay. My husband's face had recovered from a state of panic to one of absolute delight. His first child had been born and he had to call and report to all of the family that were not present.

             Later on, I got the report that Amiyah weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 inches long.