The first to call me Mommy. Makaio was born on Monday, September 2nd (which happened to be Labor Day that year). He is silly, smart, funny, expressive & stubborn; my Minnie Me (except for the stubborn part…he gets that from his Daddy). He’s a little hesitant to open up to people he doesn’t know, but once he does, there’s no holding back. He loves to make people laugh. Whether its singing, dancing, playing instruments or pretending he’s a power ranger, when he’s in the mood to entertain there’s no stopping him.
On his 2nd birthday, I went into pre-term labor with the quints at just over 23 weeks and was immediately admitted to the hospital. It was such a sad day for him. He’d never spent a night away from me, and he didn’t understand what was happening. Clearly, something was wrong. All I could think of was “please don’t let anything horrible happen on Makaio’s birthday”. I prayed we’d not remember this day as being a tragic one. Thank God my doctors were able to stop the labor and I didn’t have to deliver so early. As a result, I was in the hospital for the next 5 ½ weeks. He’d spend most nights crying for me but would completely ignore me while visiting me in the hospital for the first couple of weeks. It was clear to him that his life had changed.
The babies were born and I finally went home. That first night, while sitting at the dinner table, I could see how happy he was to have both his Mommy & Daddy home again. He kept looking at the two of us with the biggest smile on his little face. To him, life was normal again. A whole month went by before we took him to meet the babies for the first time. He kept hearing about these babies, but I don’t think he really understood what was going on. When Ray brought him to the hospital, he was so excited to see them. He even thought ALL the babies in the NICU were ours! He was so gentle, and so loving, and so genuinely happy to meet his little brothers and sister.
There’s been such a huge change in his life; one that most people in the world would never understand or even experience. I wondered how he was going to deal with these 5 babies coming into his world. Would he be jealous? Would he be mean to them? Would he ignore them? He’s been dealing with this life-changing event much better then I could have ever imagined. I mean, he’s 2…he acts out, but I can’t attribute that to the babies. He loves them so much. You’ll see in pictures and videos how affectionate he is towards his siblings. God knew what he was doing when he blessed us with Makaio. He gave us someone who had room in his heart for 5 little miracles. #ilovemymakaio
five misters & a sister 