The Birth and Early Childhood of the Beloved, Peace be Upon Him

'Abd al Muttalib decided that it was time for his youngest son, his beloved 'Abdullah, to marry, and he decided to make a match for him with Aminah bint Wahb, from Bani Zuhrah. At the same time, he contracted to marry her cousin Halah.
On the day that the marriage was to take place, 'Abd al Muttalib and 'Abdullah set out together to go to the place of Bani Zuhrah. As they were walking there, they passed by the house of Qutaylah, the sister of Waraqah. Qutaylah surely knew that this day was a wedding day, and she had no doubt seen 'Abdullah many times before. But on this day, something about him struck her. As they passed her by, she said, "Oh 'Abd Allah." He turned to her, and she asked where he was going. He said he was going with his father, but did not say where. She said, "Take me here now as your wife, and you will have as many camels as those that were sacrificed in your place."
"I am with my father," he replied, adding that he could not go against him, and they left. The marriages of 'Abd Allah and Aminah and 'Abd al Muttalib and Halah took place as planned.
Some days later, 'Abd Allah came across Qutaylah again, and he stopped near her, yet she did not speak. He finally asked her why and she said, "The light has left you that was with you yesterday. You can not fulfill today the need I had of you yesterday."
Subhan'Allah!
Months later, in the year 570, an event took place that forever marked that year as the Year of the Elephant ('Am al Fil). 'Abd Allah had gone to trade in Palestine and Syria and was not present during the miracle of the birds. On his way home, he wanted to visit with his grandmother and kinfolk in Yathrib, where he fell ill. The caravan returned to Makkah without him, and 'Abd al Muttalib sent Harith to bring him home. But when Harith arrived, he found that his brother had passed away. His death was the source of much grief in Yathrib and Makkah.
The only consolation the new bride Aminah had was that she was pregnant with 'Abd Allah's unborn child. Aminah felt a light within her, one that shone so brightly she could see the castles of Syria. And she heard a voice say, "You carry in your womb the lord of this people and when he is born, say: 'I place him beneath the protection of the One, from the evil of every envier'; then name him Muhammad."
When she gave birth to her son, she was in the house of her uncle, and sent word to 'Abd al Muttalib. He took the baby to the Haram, and into the Ka'abah, where he gave thanks to Allah subhannahu wa ta'ala. On his way to return the child to Aminah, he stopped in his own home, where he showed the baby to his youngest son, 'Abbas. "This is your brother, kiss him," and three year old 'Abbas did so. May Allah be pleased with him.
It was the tradition of the city Arabs to send their sons to be nursed and weaned in the deserts by women of the Bedouin tribes. Some of the tribes had a better reputation than others. One of these was Bani Sa'd. That year was a year of drought for the Bedouin, and things were hard. Halimah, one of the nurse mothers of Bani Sa'd barely had enough milk to feed her own son, but she rode into Makkah on her thin little donkey hoping to find some baby and favor of the Quraysh. Aminah went to nurse mother after nurse mother, and they all refused to take her little boy! finally she came to Halimah. Halimah was initially skeptical about the idea of taking on a poor orphan boy. But something in her made her return for this child, even though she was fairly certain that she and her family would not reap the traditional rewards of the nurse mother relationship, due to the lack of influence and wealth that Aminah had. "Perhaps," Halimah thought, "God will reward us for this act of taking the orphan."
No sooner had she put him to nurse than she began to become engorged with milk. There was enough not only for her new milk son, Muhammad, but enough for her own son as well. Then, Halimah and her husband Harith found that their old camel was also suddenly full of milk, a blessing for a family that was the poorest of a poor people. As she rode away from Makkah, her formerly pathetic weak donkey took the lead over all of the Bedouin. "Where did you get this new donkey from?" the others asked as she rode past them.
"By God," replied Halimah, it is the same one I rode into the city on." Halimah and Harith continued to see evidence of God's blessings on them after that. Their sheep were able to graze and return full and fattened, while other shepherds struggled to feed their flocks.
When he was two, Halimah weaned him and prepared to return him to Aminah, but as she prepared to do so, she implored her to let her have him for a little while longer, citing his quick and strong growth, and her fear of diseases in the city. Aminah agreed, and so Muhammad stayed with her for a little while longer.
Then one day, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was about four years old, Halimah's son came running to her, saying that two strangers in white had taken her Qurayshi son and opened his chest with a knife. Halimah and Harith went running to him, and found him standing, yet very pale. When they asked what happened, he said that two men dressed in white had come to him, laid him down, opened his chest, took out his heart, and put it in a bowl of snow or ice. They then poured Zamzam water over the heart. They then put it back in his chest. There are two riwayas, one that said he did have a trace of stitch marks on his chest and another that says he didn't. Halimah and Harith looked here and there but found no trace of the strangers.
Halimah and Harith were extremely shaken by this event, for they believed that the boys were all telling the truth. Harith asked her to return the boy to Makkah , which she did. Aminah was able to hear the tale of the mysterious strangers, and waved away Halimah's fears by saying that she knew her son had a great sha'en or a great affair. She told her about her pregnancy, and the brilliant light she had seen. Halimah left Makkah and returned to her family, reassured.
(sources, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and Martin Lings, Muhammad, His Life Based on the Earliest Sources).