Dear Family and friends-We are finally ready to share what has been a lot to process and come to terms with emotionally over the last almost 2 months and this is why there will forever and always be our lives before June 21, 2022 and our lives after. This is the story of how our lives changes forever. ♥️♥️ On the the evening of Monday June 20th Makena and I embarked on a mother/daughter road trip to Duluth for a nationals dance competition the studio Makena teaches at was attending. For those who know us well you know we love dance and I especially love anything that involves Makena and dance! So off we went for a fun week in Duluth. When we arrived in Duluth we checked into our hotel and joined our dance family for dinner at Green mill for dinner! Makena and I split a calzone. It was a pretty uneventful dinner and an uneventful walk back to our hotel. We had an early morning so when we arrived back at the hotel we spent some time relaxing outside chatting with with our dance family. Prior to going to bed Makena expressed she was not feeling so great. The next morning Makena woke me up and told me she still wasn't feeling well. Being that she was pregnant we ran through the laundry list of things that it could possibly be. Although she continued to have discomfort she proceeded to get ready to attend the competition as she had several dancers dancing that morning. Makena then drove herself to the DECC Arena in Duluth where the competition was taking place. Being the awesome dance teacher that she is she got her dancers on stage and even carried a prop on for them ♥️! Being the worrywart of a mother that I am I checked in on Makena to see how she was feeling. At that time she told me that I should come to the competition because she felt like something was not right and she needed to go to the hospital. Not being from Duluth I wasn't sure what hospital to go to but my google search took us to the nearest hospital which was St. Luke's. We checked in at the St. Luke's emergency room at approximately 9:45am and at that time the decision was made to have Makena transported upstairs to the labor and delivery floor. Upon arriving on the labor and delivery floor we were placed in a triage room. At approximately 10:00am the nurse with us helped Makena into her gown and from there she started to look for the baby's heartbeat and was working towards trying to assess what was causing Makena the discomfort. Around that time Makena shared with us that she needed to use the restroom. I believe at some point during that time the nurse left the room and to this day I am not sure why she left!?! Makena then came out of the restroom and got back into the bed. Soon after returning to the bed she expressed to me that she needed to use the restroom again. I helped her to the restroom as her discomfort was worsening. She came out of the restroom where I was waiting and shortly after that our lives change forever because at 23 weeks, Malik Maurice Brown, was born at 10:38am weighing 1 pound 0.6 ounces. We will forever be grateful for the swift action taken by the doctors and nurses at St. Luke's hospital. They truly are our heroes. Due to Malik's early arrival into the world the rollercoaster ride none of us meant to get on took off and away we all went. Due to his earlier than expected arrival they informed us that Malik needed to be transported to Essentia, a nearby hospital with a level three NICU. Before transferring him the team from Essentia Hospital came to prepare Malik for the transport. It was a site to see watching each nurse and doctor execute their very specific role in supporting Malik in this next phase. Since He was being transported to a different hospital Makena and I were allowed to go and see him. Meeting Malik, our miracle , for the first time was a very pivotal moment that I will never forget and it was probably the first time I actually took a full breath and my heart stopped ponding out of my chest since before the moment he was born. Since Malik was being transferred Makena stayed at St. Luke's for a couple more hours to be sure that she was doing O.K. and then was released to be able to go be with Malik at Essentia. From there we (Makena, Tre', Malik, and I) spent close to the next month living in a hotel, The Suites at Waterfront Plaza, in Duluth. We kept saying we never thought we would be living in a hotel in Duluth but there we were! Malik may be small in size but he has a huge heart and he had showed and continues to show us all what a very STRONG and very DETERMINED (like his Mommy)boy wonder he is! He is the ultimate rockstar and our own personal superhero. ‍♂️ Over the course of the weeks that followed Makena advocated and fought hard to bring Malik closer to home, being away from home and our center of support was hard and often lonely, but more importantly she knew the state of the art care he would receive at Children's was what he needed to continue his progress. We are so thankful for the care provided at Essentia that helped pave the way home to the cities for Malik and us too. It was on Tuesday, July 14, 2022 that we learned Malik would be able to be flown home to children's Masonic Hospital where he would receive the needed heart surgery he required. On Wednesday, July 15, 2022 the team from children's Masonic Hospital in Minneapolis assisted by the team in Duluth all prepared sweet Malik for yet another transfer and his first flight ✈️. Malik was taken by ambulance and was ultimately flown to the cities by airplane to his new interim home, Children's Masonic Hospital in Minneapolis. Let's just say the drive from Duluth to the hospital was the longest drive ever! In true Malik style he handled it like the incredible champion he is. Malik was all settled into his new digs by the time Mommy arrived. Malik has now settled into his temporary new home where he has stolen the hearts of those who care for him. Children's has also become Makena and Tre' second home. The place where they can be together and watch their son grow and where he continues to amaze us all with his strength, determination, and of course absolute adorableness. When Makena and I headed to the Hospital that morning none of us expected this would be how the trip to the ER in Duluth would turn out that day. This is Makena, Tre', and Malik's story and as scary as it was and admittedly sometimes still is we are so blessed by the gift of Malik. It has been a very emotionally, physically and financially draining journey for Makena and Tre'. As they continue to navigate the world of caring for Malik while he remains under care in the NICU for the next several months I am asking that you consider helping Makena and Tre' relieve some of the financial burden they are facing currently and in the year ahead so that they can focus on being there for Malik as much as they can, both are still trying to work as they are able to, so that they can finally bring him home with them, where he belongs. Malik and his Mom and Dad have a long road ahead and all of your prayers and good vibes and so welcomed to help lift them all up during this time. We thank you for being a part of our lives and for loving us. We are truly blessed by our tribe. Lanette Hess Mother of Makena Family to Tre' Gigi to Malik