Baby Blues (Part III): Expecting and the Unexpected

By Charisse N. Montgomery

At 33 weeks pregnant, my husband and I went to the ultrasound clinic for a routine follow-up ultrasound. Because I have fibroids, as about 60% of Black women do, the doctors kept a close eye on their growth throughout my pregnancy. This appointment, however, revealed more than fibroids. Having been through thorough ultrasounds for the past four months, I noticed a difference when the ultrasound tech continued to take photos of my baby’s spine and brain. Her silence and her concentration on these areas were a red flag that something might not be okay. Not really wanting to know the answer, I asked, “Should his spine be curved like that?”

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A Letter to My Daughter on Graduation Day

By Richard Montgomery

I have pictured the day when you graduate from high school since you were a young girl, hoping that when that day came I would have prepared you to make your way successfully in the world.

I have always taken fatherhood seriously, knowing my role was to guide you, make you think, and let you decide.  When you were three years old and your favorite question was “why is that daddy?,”  I always spoke carefully because I knew that you were not randomly asking questions about nothing; instead you were asking me to help you make sense of the world.  As you got older, I watched you begin to see the world in ways that no longer showed the naiveté of a child but that of a young woman growing up in a world that is sometimes cruel, unfair, and unforgiving.

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