David, Lisa, Kayla & Isaac

Well, I started this post in May but am just now getting around to finishing it. Oops! Having 2 really does cut down on my free time! :)

There is a famous African proverb that says, "It takes a village to raise a child". I find this saying to be true, and sad; sad because all of our family lives far away. However, we have been so incredibly blessed with all of the help we received when Isaac was born.

When I had Kayla, I didn't think I wanted help at the beginning. I wanted us to be alone, let us figure out our child, let us learn how to parent and not have other people give us advice... we wanted to learn for ourselves. However, I did receive a lot of help last time, and it was SO BENEFICIAL. This time around, I knew I wanted help. Not so much help with the baby, but help with Kayla. So... we lined up visits from both of our parents!!

My parents planned to drive out to Michigan for Easter weekend and my mom was staying for 2 weeks. That meant she'd be here a week before and a week after my due date. Of course, the baby would come whenever he/she was ready... but we thought it would be most likely to come during that time. Of course, Isaac came 11 days early! But my mom bought a plane ticket and was here the next day! She was able to stay with Kayla our 2nd night in the hospital, and was then in town for almost 3 weeks to help out. She went grocery shopping, she made meals, she took care of Kayla, she helped me out with household chores, etc. It was an incredible blessing to have her here to help.

My dad came in town for Easter and then was back in town to drive her home, and then I had my first 4 days home alone with the 2 kids. It went much better than I'd expected. Then, my in-laws came in town for a long weekend and my mother-in-law stayed for 2 weeks. So by the time Isaac was 6 weeks old, I'd spent only 4 days alone with the 2! What an incredible blessing! My MIL did shopping, cooking, playing with Kayla, making her dresses, helping with household chores, etc! With both mom's, I was able to truly focus all of my attention on Isaac, bond with him, learn about him and enjoy him.... and I was able to let them take over most of the "parenting" of Kayla. Of course I still spent time with her, still played with her, etc.... but I was able to do that when Isaac was sleeping instead of trying to juggle nursing/cuddling him and dealing with her. I realized that at some point that would be necessary, however, it was nice to postpone reality for 6 weeks! By that time, Kayla understood that I would spend time nursing Isaac and taking care of his needs, but that I also had time to take care of her and her needs. It made our transition SO MUCH EASIER than I'd expected. I can't thank my mom and my MIL enough for their sacrifices they made to help us out.

Times like these make me sad that we don't have family in town. I suppose if they were in town, they wouldn't have spent a few weeks at a time helping us out! But it was so nice to have family support. And even though they live far away, they made huge efforts to help us out in our time of transition, and I will be forever grateful to them for making the first 6 weeks of having 2 children so enjoyable and so stress-free, and for helping make the transition of me being alone with the 2 so easy. That time I was able to spend bonding with Isaac was precious and I am so thankful that I had help so that I was able to do that.

Posted by Lisa at 02:58 PM | Permalink

Well, David completed his first full week back to work last week after being home since his knee sugery on June 3. It has been an interesting journey for both of us.

Since this was his second ACL surgery, we had an idea of what to expect. But this time was very different than last time. The medication they gave him last time was Vicodin and it really didn't do anything for the pain. I have never seen him in so much pain and it was very hard for me to watch and of course very hard for him to deal with. This time, he told his surgeon that he wanted something different and they gave him Percocet. This was MUCH more effective with pain management. In fact, for the first 48 hours after surgery he kept saying that he was feeling great - nothing at all like the last time. Honestly, that intense pain never came back - a huge answer to prayer.

But that does not mean that things were easy! Thankfully, David's mom was able to come in town for the first week. She came the night before his surgery so that she could watch Kayla while I was at the hospital. We were gone for about 8 hours and I was very thankful I didn't have to entertain 2 kids in the hospital during that time! It was also really nice to have her help around the house. Since David was drugged and sleepy and not able to stand/walk/do stairs even if he was awake, that meant all of his meals needed to be brought up to him in our bed, we needed go upstairs to fill his cryo-cuff every few hours, and we needed to bring drinks/snacks and anything else he needed up to him. That meant a lot of trips up and down the stairs! Add to that the normal needs of having 2 kids (one an infant and the other a high energy toddler) and also things that need to be done to run a household (cooking, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping) and add that to the fact that David (who is normally a very involved partner and parent) wasn't able to help in any of that, it made for a long recovery. My MIL was a huge help in doing all of those things, I can’t thank her enough for coming out to help. But she left after a week and David's needs were still very high. So I was taking care of the 2 kids, mostly taking care of him, and receiving no help at all. It was exhausting. Absolutely exhausting. The first 3 weeks were the worst. After that, he started coming downstairs after he woke up, which meant at least less trips up and down the stairs to bring him food/water/ice, and he was also downstairs to hold Isaac while sitting on the couch, or to watch them to make sure Kayla didn't do anything too destructive while I was in the other room, etc. He started his Physical Therapy after 2.5 weeks. However, he needed to be driven to these appointments since he could not drive while on medication. That meant a bit of stress for me to have to arrange my whole day and the kids schedule to accommodate that. But it was a good excuse for me to get out of the house and do things (Children's Museum, YMCA, zoo, Meijer Garden) so all in all it wasn't that bad.

After about 4 weeks he was able to walk without a limp and therefore was able to be done with crutches. He still remained on the couch the majority of the day, icing and elevating. But the last 2 weeks he was home he was able to be a helpful parent once again and that was awesome.

Having him go back to work has been quite an adjustment for us all. Kayla does not like it at all. She keeps telling me things like, "We'll wait until daddy comes downstairs". When I explain to her that he isn't upstairs sleeping he's at work, one day she said, "Well, he is going to come home soon and I'm going to take this rope (aka string) and tie him up so he can't leave again!" It is also an adjustment for me. While the first part of him being home was much harder than normal, it was much easier than normal for the second half. Isaac is 3.5 months old and with all the family in town those first 5 weeks and his mom coming out for David's surgery, and then David home, I really haven't been home alone with the 2 kiddos all that much. We've had some good days and some bad days, but overall we are doing pretty well. David saw his surgeon again last week and he is really pleased with his progress. He is able to bike and use the elliptical and lift weights as of now. He will not be allowed to run until after 12 weeks, and even then it will only be on a treadmill or track. Eventually, he'll be able to run outside and be able to cut, but that will come later.

So, we are all slowly adjusting back to our normal routines and are thankful that David’s recovery is going so well.

Posted by Lisa at 09:25 AM | Permalink

My parents came out for a long weekend over the 4th of July. We had a blast with them out here.

One day we went to Millennium Park. It's only the 2nd time we'd been there and the first time we paid to go inside (parks outside are free). We started off playing in the park and flying a kite and then had a picnic.

Then we went inside and played a little bit in the splash pad (but Kayla thought it was too cold) and then played on the beach. She absolutely loved it there; we'll have to go back again soon!

The next day we went to Meijer Gardens. They have a Chihuly Glass Exhibit there and we took a walk around the outside loop to see some of it.

On the 4th of July we went to the East Grand Rapids parade. Kayla really enjoyed seeing all the people/cars/horses come by but enjoyed it even more when she got candy from them!

Then we headed to Reed's Lake for a picnic lunch and watched a water skiing show. They also had music playing and some bounce houses!

We headed home for a late nap for Kayla, dinner on the deck and Kayla played in her pool.

Then we went back to Reed's Lake for the fireworks show! Kayla got SO EXCITED each time one went off. It was a very late night for her, but we were happy we went because it was really fun to see her enjoyment.

It was a quick trip in for my parents, but it was really great to see them. The last time they'd seen Isaac he was 3 weeks old and barely had his eyes open! This time he was awake and showed them his personality and his smiles and they were really able to bond with him! Kayla was a bit challenging during their trip; she was going through a particularly defiant stage in her behavior. But we did our best to keep her busy and keep her happy and overall it was a really wonderful time!!

Posted by Lisa at 02:57 PM | Permalink

This last month has been a little bizarre for our family. David had knee surgery on June 3, and has been at home since then. He will return to work on July 15th. While there are many drawbacks to his surgery (the pain he is in, the inability to walk/chase Kayla/drive/carry Isaac/climb stairs, etc), it has in some ways been really nice. Prior to his surgery, in the evenings he would take on the majority of parenting Kayla and I would focus on Isaac. Now, he is just not able to meet her needs, so he is left at home with Isaac while we go on walks, go to parks, take baths, etc. So he and Isaac have really been bonding, and it is neat to see.

Isaac's sleeping patterns haven't changed much. He is still sleeping in the bassinette in our room. Previously I'd been pulling him in bed with me after his first feeding, but now he'll go back in the bassinette all night long. He is still up typically one time in the middle of the night, and then has his next feeding somewhere between 6-8. I will go downstairs with him at that point and he'll often fall back asleep in the swing and I'll fall back asleep on the couch until Kayla gets up. He has 7 nursings a day, which usually take 20 mins or less (what a change from my experience with Kayla!). We are still swaddling him at nights and he loves to stretch and arch his whole body when we release his arms in the morning!

He is smiling all the time, cooing and "chatting" all the time, and is starting to try to laugh! He has learned how to make the raspberry sound, although he doesn't do it often.

When he cries, sometimes he has real tears streaming down his cheeks (which Kayla did not for awhile due to her plugged tear ducts). It's so pathetic when he is that sad it breaks my heart!

His neck muscles are getting better each day and he can raise his head up nicely during tummy time and also can hold his head stable when we are holding him up.

He continues to spit up like nothing I have ever seen before. It doesn't seem to bother him one bit - he's smiling before, during and after.... although sometimes he chokes himself on all the liquid coming up - yuck!

He is tracking objects (me and Kayla specifically!). He is intentionally grabbing at toys and putting them in his mouth. Even more than toys, he LOVES putting his fingers and his bibs in his mouth!

I took him to the Dr for a weight check and he was 13lbs 5 oz (at 3 months and 1 week).

He is still very mellow and easy going and it’s fun to watch his personality come out! We just love him to pieces!

Posted by Lisa at 07:08 PM | Permalink