May 1, 2024
And then there was Max. Max is my fourth son and, more than likely, my last child. I am fortunate to be a father of 4 living children. I had 2 twin daughters who passed away. I never wrote about the birth of Max. He is my Covid baby. Conceived in 2019, born into history in 2020. What a time to be pregnant. Lockdowns were prevalent, and shelter-in-place was ramping up. It was mass hysteria in the United States and the world. I would ask myself several times what kind of society we were bringing my boy into? Being blessed to have a child should be an exciting time for parents. But when there is so much uncertainty about the world, restrictions regarding who can attend doctor appointments, and witnessing a tanking society, there sure was doubt on bad days.
Max came pretty quickly after his brother Blake was born. Be forewarned, men: Once women figure out their bodies and can get pregnant, their sense of fertility is greater. Having a second baby rather quickly after the first baby is a reality. I don't care if it is your 1st child, 2nd child, or 15th child. One never realizes how much they need that kid in their life until after they have one. I needed Max. He completes us. Selfishly, I did secretly hope for a daughter. We had a gender reveal, and when my wife opened the box, I saw a pink balloon. For half a second, I thought we had that girl, but very quickly, I saw a cluster of blue balloons surrounding a larger balloon with "ITS A BOY" scrawled in the middle. At that point, I was happy. I just wanted him to be healthy.
The pregnancy for Max was not complicated at first. Lauren made her way around Madrid, Spain, without any issues for about 3 weeks from Christmas through the first 2 weeks in January. When Covid hit, well, that is when she and I could no longer go to doctor appointments together, so I missed out on a lot of witnessing his womb development. Something I was a part of with the other 3 boys. I wasn't totally cut out until the end.
Max was a c-section baby. He was scheduled for the early morning hours. He was born without complications. I had the opportunity to cut his umbilical cord. That is always a treat.
Lauren wanted the name to be Max only. Cleaner that way. But his name needed to be more official. Especially when filling out any kind of official document. I did like the name Maximus. But, for some reason, mom did not like it. Even after seeing Gladiator!
While in the hospital with the new baby, an aide from the county who registered the babies' names came into our room with official documents. She asked us if we had his name selected, and we both said yes. She left the paperwork with us and told us to fill it out. She would come back later to collect it.
While filling out the form, I used the clean Max. After it was all said and done, I called the aid, and she came and took our paperwork. But it didn't sit well with me, and I wanted an official name that idea would weigh on my mind if I did not change the name. Lauren gave in to me and informed me to go with it. I called the lady back, and she gave me new documents to fill out, and Max was reborn into Maximilian. Even though his name is Maximilian, and his mom and dad are happy with that, the baby boy will always be called Max. After all, we were a family of five until along came Max, so why wouldn't we be glad about that?
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