15 Chapter 15

“Good. Hand her gently to Dad, paying close attention to the cord. Don’t let it kink, don’t pull it taut, and don’t cut or tear it.”

“Okay.” Cradling the phone between my shoulder and my ear, I straightened my back and told Elijah, “She wants you to hold her.”

His arms were already out, and I transferred the baby like she was a bubble I was afraid might pop.

“Is she okay?”

“Tell Dad to take slow, deep breaths. This will…”

She kept talking, but I shifted my focus to Elijah. “She says take slow, deep breaths.”

“I don’t think she’s breathing at all,” he squeaked.

“911 wants you to take slow deep breaths,” I reiterated.

I heard Loretta in my ear say, “If the baby’s not purple or blue in the face, she’s probably still getting her oxygen through the umbilical cord. The more oxygen Dad gets, the more oxygen the baby’ll get.”

“Get oxygen into the cord,” I abbreviated, worried for a second that Elijah would stop breathing, too.