Former Xscape band member Tameka "Tiny" Cottle sat down with Essence magazine and opened up about the heartwrenching loss of her daughter, Leyah, with rapper T.I. Tameka says that while she was pregnant the sac that held her girl was split in two. By the time Leyah reached 16 weeks, the sacs still hadn't combined the way they were supposed to, and doctors told Tameka that her daughter might get tangled up in her umbilical cord.
At the time, losing her daughter never occurred to her, says Tameka. Everything appeared under control, but that's when things turned sour. She went to a specialist, who determined there was no heartbeat. Leyah Amore was stillborn 6 months into the pregnancy, and the heartbroken mother and father spent hours in the delivery room with her following her birth.
Leyah recounts, "After Leyah was born, I kept her in the room with me the whole day. They placed her in the little basket and we dressed her in an outfit and had a blanket wrapped around her. They came and got her because her body went cold and I wanted her back so they warmed her body again and I kept her. Everybody came to visit her and then me and T.I. had our time alone with her."
Tiny says she hardly ever visits Leyah's grave because the memories make her "too sad." Even after the devastating grief from losing their daughter, Tiny and T.I. found great solace in each other, and soon got engaged again.
Leyah "taught me not to take life for granted," says Tiny. It "definitely brought us closer in our relationship."
Tiny and T.I. are also parents to Clifford, 4, and Major, 9 months. From a previous relationship, Tiny also has a daughter, Zonnique Jailee, 12. T.I. has Messiah, Domani, and Deyjah.
T.I. is preparing to start a one-year stint in prison next month because of an illegal firearms possession charge.
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