Zahra Damballah from Nashville, Tennessee had just given birth to her first child, Ivy, but quickly realized that something was wrong.
She says that the hospital staff were moving around, and counting the minutes. “One minute, two minutes … five minutes, six minutes. Potentially, the longest six minutes of my life. She was unresponsive. How could this be?!”
Posted by Ocean Clark on Friday, March 8, 2019
Ivy could not breathe on her own and after counting those six minutes, the staff put her on a ventilator.
It was after two hours of birth that she could finally breathe on her own when she was kept in a more specialized facility. Ivy had to be isolated in a hypothermic state to avoid brain damage.
“We could touch her, but not pet her,” Damballah said. “We could whisper softly, but not talk.”
Her dad, Ocean Clark, posted on Instagram about when Damballah was able to hold Ivy.
View this post on Instagram
He said, “Momma got to do skin to skin, and baby latched right on and pulled the [feeding] tubes out of her mouth herself.
He said, he opted out of skin to skin till the next feeding, as the baby was exhausted and he wanted to wash his beard well. He added that he would hold her in the next few minutes and never leave her again.
Damballah took a video of Clark holding Ivy, you can see this heavily tattooed, huge macho guy crying worse than a little baby.
View this post on Instagram
“Ocean broke down and just melted as soon as soon as she was in his arms,” Damballah explained. “She rested in his warmth gazing up at him as his tears rolled into her. It was clear he was going to be the best dad ever.”
Ivy has gone home with her parents and as Damballah puts it, Clark is still the ever doting dad.
New dad overcome with emotion holding 'miracle' newborn baby at Nashville hospital
We’re not crying, you’re crying 😭😭😭 A Tennessee "tough-guy" dad breaks down in tears holding infant daughter for the first time since she was brought back to life ❤️
https://bit.ly/2LuXaUR
Posted by WZTV FOX 17 News, Nashville on Tuesday, May 7, 2019
She says that Ocean is very involved as a dad in changing diapers and they both feel thankful that their little girl is alive and well. They also thank their team of medical professionals, who supported them the whole time.