meanwhile, four days after the operation, jadon wakes up. he is ready for something his parents had only dreamed of. he can be picked up and cuddled for the first time. it s as if nicole sees him for the first time. as a mother, you know when you hold your child, you know every bit of their face. well, his face also encompassed anias s. it was my first moment of relearning his face. when he looked up at me for the first time in that way, i got to see that he was reassured and he was comforted in my arms, which is something i was scared of. i was scared he didn t want to be held because they d never been held. he melted in, and it was
and they did everything a baby that age would do. except they were stuck. they were individually perfect, and i knew that cutting through them could change it. nicole is terrified to change who her boys are, but she knows they still need this operation to survive. so just one month after that meeting in the bronx, march 2016, the mcdonalds leave their home in illinois on a donated private plane for new york city. was there a special medical setup of some sort? on the plane? no. they think there is no need. the boys are stable when they take off. one hour into the flight, anias mysteriously stopp es breathing his lips were turning a little bit blue. he wasn t responding to me. nothing. i pinched him. i just did everything i could. nothing works. nicole panics. this is a good amount of
aguir aguirre. it worked. both boys survived. since doing it now, we ve had no deaths, no mortalities. what has happened here no mortalities in nearly a dozen operations. sweet boy. a result he hopes for with jadon and anias. there is no time to lose. if you don t get them separated by 3, you ve kind of lost that window. the mcdonalds know the clock is ticking. little munchkins. looking at their twins, they appear to be thriving just the way they are. laughing. singing. even fighting over toys, just like all siblings do. i know. anias is playing with it. for nicole, they re perfect. they looked at me like their mother. they reached for my face.
that s growing in. hi, baby. jadon has come a long way. he s moving, talking. back, nicole says, to his pre-surgery self. jadon is now even more rambunctious, and he loves everybody. like he smiles at everybody. he wants to play with everybody. he s got 900 girlfriends on the tenth floor. he s out of control. anias has not come as far. it s okay. nobody is here to touch you but me, and in a nice way. no pain. when you understand what s happened in the last month, you ll understand what s going on here. anias is, sadly, still shy and reserved, but now has this fear component because every time people approach him that aren t our family, it s a pain
oh, my goodness. one month post separation. hi, buddy. a month of firsts for jadon and anias mcdonald. last time we were in this room, they were conjoined. first time in separate beds. first time being held. and first time actually seeing each other. you sticking your tongue out at me? it s a new trick. he wants you to do it. you re going to smile? each day is new. like today, november 15th. it s the first time nicole and christian will see jadon s head without bandages. oh, it s amazing. it is the most amazing thing. i can t even believe it. look at his little hair on top