Dana Pinho: through the eyes of her sons...

What celebrity mom or historical/political figure are they most like and why?
Our mom is like Jenny McCarthy. Jenny McCarthy took challenging circumstances that her family experienced and used it to educate and empower other families. She took her sons diagnosis of Autism and fought endlessly until she found ways to help alieviate his struggles. Her steadfast dedication and love for her son affected many in great ways.

While Jenny McCarthy experienced autism, our mom experienced prematurity. All of us were born premature, varying from 25-34 weeks. Each time, our mom was there right by our side. Even through news that would have crumbled the resolve of the average woman, she always stood strong and never waivered. She would not accept no for an answer when it came to our wellbeing. Even through months and months of hospitalization, she still came nearly every day to see us. Even when we were to sick to be held or touched, she would come just to look at us and tell us that she was there.

Even through our struggles with prematurity, our mom finds ways to give back. She makes sure we know that the March of Dimes helps babies that were born like us and encourages us to donate a part of our allowance to them. She really tries to get people to support the March of Dimes March for Babies and their other efforts to raise funds for sick and premature babies. She tells us it's so that one day no family will have to go through what our family has gone through.

Our mom is a shiny lip gloss, mascara, bright-pink cape wearing super mom, just like Jenny McCarthy.

What would their family say makes them the best mom ever?
Our mom is the best mom because she is perfectly imperfect. Sometimes she forgets to brush her teeth (and hair), but she always carries a toothbrush and toothpaste in her bag so that when she remembers she won't have morning breath. That's a great thing, too, because sometimes we forget and at least we can borrow hers. Once in a while she lets us eat popcorn and kaki mochi for lunch, but she always puts in furikaki (because we need our veggies, too!) When we're sick and accidentally vomit on the carpet or on the bed because we thought we weren't going to be sick, she always checks to make sure we are okay before magically making the stink and smell dissapear.

In all seriousness, our mom is incredible. She has sacrificed so much, asked for so little, gives more than what everyone expects, is loyal to a fault and loves so freely. When she found out she was pregnant with our twin brothers she went on a quest to give them a fighting chance at making it as closest to term as possible. She gave up her favorite foods and drinks because they weren't good for pregnant woman to have, good-bye to her favorite fish and caffinated drinks she so loved and hello to organic and local grown produce! She eliminated as much stress as possible and added exercise to her day to provide the most perfect environment for her growing babies.

When our twin brothers were born prematurely at 26 weeks despite all of our moms efforts to keep them in as long as possible, she did everything she could to provide the best for them. She pumped breastmilk every two hours around the clock for over 3 months because preemies have risks for an intestinal disorder called NEC and breast milk is the best prevention for NEC. She pushed for them to co-bed as soon as possible because it was good for growth. Even when doctors told her that she wouldn't be able to breastfeed her twins until many months later, at 30 weeks she realized that one twin had signs of being ready to nurse and fought to do so. Surprising the doctors and nurses, our tiny two and a half pound brother nursed for 7 minutes and never took a step back since then. When 2 months later she stopped producing as much milk, she consulted every professional she could reach in order to find out how to keep up production of milk to feed twins. Though many doctors said that most moms can't and won't make enough milk to successful exclusively feed twins, she managed to find someone to help and has managed to provide them with breast milk till this day.

Then through December and January one of our twin brothers was hospitalized. Our mom made this incredibly stressful situation as easy as it could be on our family. She allowed us to learn about our brothers condition and participate in his care, so that his equpitment at home would not be as intimdating for us. She allowed us to see that he was the same brother we had, he just had a few extra "accessories" now. During this time our baby brother refused feedings by everyone but our mom, so when she should have been celebrating the holidays she instead spent weeks driving back and forth from our home to the hospital in order to feed both of our twins (since one would only breastfeed and the other had never had a bottle before). Some days she spent hours driving back and forth from the hospital to our home (sometimes five or six times a day), or waiting in the parking lot of the hospital for hours because one of our twin brothers was not allowed to visit and he still needed to eat. Our mom still manages to spend time with us all and provide our brother with the medical care he needs, most of the time single handedly. When he was discharged, even though our schedule still is booked with our twin brother's medical appointments we still get to do fun things.

Our mom does everything she can to better us as a family. She has done everything from adding better foods to our diet and showing us why local, organic produce is the best for us (we even tried to grow okra) to allowing us to participate in making our twin brothers baby food (our favorite is applesauce because we eat it too). She gives us enough room to grown, but enough guidance to keep us grounded. She loves us so much, but allows us to make our own mistakes.

Why should they be Hawaii's Next Hot Mama?
Our mom is Hawaii's Next Hot Mama because she is the mom that everyone would die for. She manages to mix cookies while carrying both of our twin brothers. She manages to make tofu taste like steak. Our mom rocks because even when she has challenging days with our little brother, we still get time with her alone. OUr mom is the best because she still manages to be humble and has incredible amounts of love despite going through so much.