Snapshots {week 18}...

This was another weird week for us... healing from surgery, school wrapping up, and more time at home than we are used to. 

I pack toys and snacks, but when we are in the nursing moms' room, he plays with the straps on the diaper bag.

Claire and Isaac reading one of our favorite stories - "Amos and Boris."

A messy dude just after a meal.

Little signs of summer are all around us.

Isaac got lots of naps in his own bed this week. He sleeps so well when we are home.

Grace brought home a funny book from her school library... and it came with a roller skate on a leash. 

Lunch at Veggie Grill after our fire station tour.

Swinging in the sunshine is kind of the best thing ever. 

Just one of the many random pictures that appear on my phone - Claire's legs, feet and my keys.

Claire really should nap almost daily, but that just never happens. On the occasional day that we are in the car around 3 pm, she will succumb to sweet slumber...until the car stops at least.

Wet, sloppy kisses.

Grace can be so helpful from time to time.

Back in November we promised that we would take Claire to see Fancy Nancy the musical. Then, Grace's teacher announced that her class would be going to the musical as a field trip. Rather than taking Grace twice, we let Claire pick a friend to bring. She and Serena had such a fun time on their mini-date this afternoon.

In the mean time, Merrick and the other two kiddos played downtown for a few hours. 

And stopped at Guero (one of our favorite food carts in Portland) for a quick snack.

I don't understand how this baby produces so much drool.

And this... Claire is really in to packing right now. I don't really understand the need to put a binky and a small Woody figurine into a Tupperware and the pack it all into a small ziplock bag. She must have had Isaac in mind when she was packing.

Surgery update...

From Sunday: After a really relaxing day on Saturday, Isaac woke up happy and energized. He was doing so well all morning that we decided to head to church together. I sat with Little Brother in the nursing moms room, but it was nice to get out and be somewhat "normal" for a day. After church we stopped by my mom and dads house for lunch... ribs! Isaac took a great nap in the crib there and seemed to be doing great. 

From Monday: Today was much the same, though he seemed a little more restless. We didn't go anywhere and just let him sleep and eat when he wanted. We spent a little time getting ready for another week of the whole school/work routine.

From Tuesday: Monday night was a totally different story. Isaac slept restlessly from about 10-midnight, but the minute my head hit the pillow (12:02 am) he was awake and mad. The rest of the night he was up every 6-20 minutes (Yes. I did check the clock. Every. Single. Time.) Needless to say, it was a LONG night for him and me. Merrick got up and got Grace ready for school. At 7 am Isaac was able to take another does of his pain meds and bladder drugs. He settled down pretty quickly and by 8 the two of us were back in bed. I slept for about 30 minutes before Claire woke up, but Turkey was able to get another solid hour before he woke up. This time he was hungry. Thankfully he was fairly happy throughout the day - until bedtime at least. 

From Wednesday: Last night was so much better. I fed Isaac around 9, and then headed to bed. He slept pretty soundly all night. I woke up this morning feeling like a different person... amazing what 7 hours of sleep can do. We spent today hanging out with Mandy, and then resting at home, and he was happy with everything we did. 

From Thursday: Wednesday night wan't as good, but we all did get some sleep. Today we had a fun adventure with friends, and then after lunch we headed downtown to visit Dr. Hirselj. Sadly, he wasn't ready to remove the catheter, but the doctor was able to take off his bandages and gave us clearance to let Isaac soak in warm, soapy baths a few times each day. Everything looks like it is healing well, and other than the awful rash, there is nothing we are worried about. We have one more follow up appointment on Monday - 10 days post surgery - and barring any unforeseen complications, the catheter will come out then. I imagine that once the cath is gone and he can stop the antibiotics, the rash will clear up on its own... that's my hope at least.

So, he is hanging in there and doing really well. He is sleeping pretty soundly and doesn't seem to be bothered too much by the catheter (or the rash for that matter). We are so thankful that he has been so easy going and laid back throughout this process. He had maintained his sweet personality and has remained happy - even when we know he doesn't feel good. He's a good boy.

TBT {week 10}...

I snapped this picture this morning, and it reminded me of how many pictures I have of these two together.

So here's a throw-back Thursday collage from the day Isaac was born until now. Two peas... and I hope they always will be.

Typing...

All three of the kids have loved to type at this age. By "type" I mean "pounding on the keyboard gleefully while squealing and smiling at everyone around them."

Here's what Isaac had to say:

 nNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN,N,,NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNrrr][
io89yuj}
"'[
[JKLNHJKLZ   Am  n  nhmhjhjbbvm<K NHJ7NHJHY,KJK[J , KJKKLM,MB BBHNMJJBVGNNG
M NMNM,  ,JKKLIJUJKHJN

VM MKLVXCF CX                           ZZZZZZVBG

Dear grandma...

The other day Claire wrote, signed, stuffed and stamped a letter to grandma. I decided to let her go ahead and send it (98% never make it to the mail box). Today, when we were at my parents house for lunch, my dad showed me the postage due envelope. Evidently, Claire had added a little plastic fish to the envelope after I had approved the sending. The damage, an additional $1.38 owed to the USPS. Oops.

Snapshots {week 17}...

A quieter-than-normal-week around here = not many pictures to share. 

May storms can be quite a sight in Portland.

Testing Grace's ears to make sure everything is healing correctly. 

Many missed school days results in lots of make-up work. 

Lunch with friends at one of our favorite haunts in SE Portland. 

 Every once in a while I swing through the McDonalds drive through for an iced tea. On very very rare occasions this lucky girl will get a vanilla cone.

We were early for carpool and Grace's class came out for a bonus recess. She didn't know I would be there, but spotted me, and ran all the way across the field to find her sister. They then ran together back to the play ground and played for 15 minutes before Grace had to go back inside with her class.

A fun afternoon at the park resulted in a few bumps and bruises for Paigie.

 Crazy.

Dutch Bros while we waited for our oil to get changed. 

 On our at-home days this little guy sleeps so well. Today? A nearly four-hour long nap.

The school park with the Fausto girls.

An evening in Newberg with cousins.

Lonely boy in the back of the car without his sisters (or their seats) on the way to the hospital. He rarely rides alone back there, and is not a fan.

Saturday shenanigans. 

Big sisters serinading little brother.

Squeezing the final drops of sun out of another beautiful May day. 

Isaac's cocktail of mediation... a pain killer, antibiotics, anti-bladder spasm, advil, and benedryl. Thankful for these medications that have kept Little Brother safe, healthy and comfortable for the past few days.

The road to recovery...

From Friday, May 23rd:

This morning we took Isaac in to the Gerry Frank Center (aka pediatric wing) at St. Vincent hospital. We checked in at 6 am and were greeted by a very friendly staff who were extra sweet to our special boy. For the next hour the nurses asked lots of questions about Isaac, our family health history, his allergies, and the procedure he was having done. He just sort of took it all in.

 

Once all of his pre-op stuff was done we had about 15 minutes to wait. He was such a good boy - even though he hadn't eaten all morning.

At 7 am, the nurses came back in and gave him his first round of pain medicine, so that there would be something in his system after his surgery. He took it like a champ, and then started getting pretty sleepy. We laid him down and he fell right to sleep.

In the next few minutes the anesthesiologist (Dr. Pham) and the surgeon (Dr. Hirselj) came in to chat with us and have us sign the necessary papers. At 7:30 on the dot Nurse Jim came, picked Isaac up, and headed back to the operating room. It would be three hours before we would see him again.

In the recovery room he woke up slowly, but once he was awake, he was ready to eat. He nursed a little, but then was too curious about the people and the noises around his room to continue. He tugged on his IV tube, played with the oxygen mask, and "talked" to his nurse. He was acting totally normal, so we decided to just take him home. 

For the rest of the morning he seemed really normal... happy even. At about 1 pm his caudal block (think epidural for babies) started wearing off and he was much more uncomfortable. The pain meds didn't really seem to help and for the remainder of the day we took turns holding him in various positions that would keep him most comfortable and not upset him at all. He was grumpy and sore and very agitated. He slept off and on, but was restless - never really settling in to a deep sleep.

I was sort of dreading the night, but after his last round of pain meds, a banana snack, and nursing one last time, he crashed and for the first time all day we could tell he was in a deep sleep. He slept soundly until 1 am when he needed another round of meds, and then went right back to sleep for the rest of the night. He woke up to eat around 7, and then slept again until 10 am.

**Update, from Saturday, May 24th

Today Isaac has seemed pretty normal. He is eating and sleeping and playing just like always. He gets loopy with his medicine, but it seems like he is pretty free from pain and not nearly as miserable as he was all day yesterday. I know there are still many days of healing ahead, but he is well on his way down the road to recovery.