Ok so today was kind of crazy. Had to take the wife to the hospital - she's pregnant with our third (actually fourth, but in a way the fifth) child. Fifth child you say? Yes. Fifth. Let me break it down for you:

The sixteen year old is her first (my step son Aaron)
The 3 year old is our first - kinda (Thomas John Mark Jr.)
The 2 year old is our second - kinda (Malcolm)
Now there is another one coming...it's a boy don't have a name for him yet. Yes, I have nothing but boys. Do I want a girl?

Our first child was a little girl. Her name was Kennedy Malia. I'll never forget the anticipation of waiting on that little girl to be born. I had plans man. She was gonna take karate and ballet at 5, kick boxing at 7 and whatever else she wanted to do after that. Hey forgive me for wanting my little girl to be able to protect herself when daddy's not around. Any way there were complications early on in the pregnancy. First, she'd never sit still long enough for the ultrasound to get a real good picture of her. There was a miscarriage scare, we thought my wife had miscarried - she didn't, the technician at the hospital told us he didn't see the baby while doing an ultrasound. He was wrong.

Three days later when my wife went to see her doctor, what did we see? The little girl swimming around as usual. You now the Stevie Wonder song "Joy inside my tears"? That's how I felt.

Anyway, November 29th 2000 was the due date. My wife called me at work on November 28th and said there was a problem. I rushed over to the hospital. I didn't feel like there was anything wrong. You know how you can just feel it when something is wrong? I didn't feel that.

I get to the hospital and the doctor says: "I'm not hearing a heartbeat." I didn't panic. After all this was a little girl who could never keep still. I thought, "Nah, she's just hiding right now that's all". How wrong I was.

The Ultrasound showed the baby, but she wasn't moving. After we found that out came the most heart-crushing 24 hours of my life. You see the baby had died and now my wife had to deliver the baby just like she would any other.

When you have a problem - especially one of this magnitude, it isn't something you can just walk away from. Nor can you act like it didn't happen. No matter how much it hurts you have to tell people. Especially your family. The hardest part for me was telling my mother that her first grandchild was dead. Broke my heart.

I've always been an optimist. I held out on faith that this was all some mix up or mistake or whatever until the last possible second. When I saw for myself that my little girl wasn't going to be with me. The cord had gotten wrapped around her neck.

It took me a long time to get over that episode. And to be honest: I don't think that I'll ever really "get over it", you know what I mean?

But then on January 9th 2002 God sent me and the wife a present in the form of our son: Thomas John Mark Zuniga- McCord Jr. People that have seen me with him have all remarked how close we are. After losing the little girl, can you blame me? I told my wife that since he's here now I no longer need to celebrate my birthday - because his b-day is 2 days before mine. After 30 plus years of celebrating birthdays - I can step aside and let my little man take over.

And then September 10th 2003 we got another one: Malcolm Alexander Zuniga- McCord.

This latest pregnancy was NOT planned. AT ALL. SHIT HAPPENS you know what I mean? So today the wife gets cramps and starts bleeding, shit started sounding like a rerun you know what i mean? The doctor comes in and says: "Shit ain't looking good" ( my words not hers). "Uh-oh" I thought, "Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!"

But nah, everything is looking good thank god. Niggas just gotta be careful you know what I'm sayin'? So I'm gonna have another son...damn a brother can make some boys can't he?

Mark Skillz