Updates on the kids...

Things are starting to calm down a bit in our home, at least for now. Isaiah is keeping to his schedule of 3-4 hours between feedings, which makes it nice for us to get a decent stretch of sleep. It appears that his jaundice has been regulated to a point where it's no longer a factor, although you can still see a hint of yellow in the whites of his eyes. For Makenna, it took a while before that went away, so we're not worried about it with Isaiah. He continues to grow like a weed, and those who have seen him recently have noticed a considerable amount of growth, especially with his weight! That seems to be the norm with these Camero kids!



Makenna's tantrums have calmed down considerably, in fact, she hasn't had a big outburst since the beginning of the week. We're still keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that it was just a passing phase. We realize that she'll have more of these outbursts in the near future, bur for now, we've had our share! We also forgot that she's been teething, so that discomfort probably added to her irritation. Aside from all that, Makenna is still trying to perfect the whole walking thing. On occasion, she'll get brave enough to take a few steps on her own without holding onto anything. You can still see that she's not 100% steady on her legs yet, and we were figuring she'd be walking by herself by her first birthday. She's still got a week to go, and we don't want to pressure her. We'll just have to wait and see...

Fun comparisons...

It's been an interesting three weeks so far having two young kids in the house. And while we're still trying to get used to getting up every 3-4 hours for Isaiah, Makenna has added a new dynamic to her personality that has really begun to try our patience. She's started to throw little tantrums every now and then, but we haven't figured out why. I don't think we hold her back from much of anything, and it's still a little too early to determine if it's jealousy, although we don't think that's it. Who knows?

Anyway, little Isaiah is growing like a weed. He's doing a lot of the things that Makenna did when she was under a month old, and that's how we're gauging his development. Isaiah is fairly alert of his surroundings, especially after he's been fed. He loves staring at things, especially if they're red. He enjoys falling asleep on mommy's or daddy's chest, and like any other baby, will scream when he's hungry. He's beginning to smile a lot more, and just started to show that he enjoys the kisses that his sister showers him with. Physically, we can tell he's grown because he's starting to feel more solid. Even his head size is catching up to that of his sister's!

Just for fun, I was able to find some pics that we took of Isaiah that resemble those we took of Makenna. Hope you enjoy the comparisons of our babies!

Sleeping Beauty #1

Sleeping Beauty #2

Makenna's Italian pose

Isaiah's Italian pose

Makenna's first bath

Isaiah's first bath

Two weeks old...

Yesterday was the little guy's two-week birthday, can you believe it? For us, the time has gone extremely quickly, especially since the days kind of blend together. Sometimes it's hard for us to tell what day it is unless we stop to think about it. I think we're doing okay though, as Isaiah is starting to develop his sleeping & eating schedule. We've been fortunate that he's pulling 3 & 4 hour stretches, but there are still times when he goes only 1- 2 hours before he's hungry!

So with his two-week birthday came his two-week doctor visit. After all the visits to the doctor to test his jaundice, it was actually a nice change to go in without having to leave with a crying baby from the heel-prick blood test. Our little one is really on the up-swing of things. After his immediate weight loss in the hospital, he's been on the positive side, gaining more and more weight with each visit. Here are his current stats: Isaiah now weighs 8 pounds and 10 ounces, he's 20.25 inches long, and his head circumference is 37.5 cm. The doctor isn't worried about this little guy, as he has proven that he's going through one of his many growth spurts! Although it's hard to tell, Isaiah weighs more now at two weeks than Makenna did at birth. It's like Kenna was fuller where Isaiah is more lanky. I'm sure he'll get some mass fairly soon, especially the way he's been eating!

Things are looking up for Isaiah

Isaiah had another follow up appointment yesterday morning. Even though we saw the on-call doctor, she was able to determine that his jaundice level was probably on it's way down, just by looking at him. After another blood test, and then waiting for a few hours for the results, we received a call from the doctor. She was very pleased to tell us that Isaiah's bilirubin had dropped down to a safe and tolerable level, and that we wouldn't have to continue the phototherapy. Woo-hoo, finally! I think Isaiah's jaundice went down faster than Makenna's, but either way, it appears that we're out of the woods. Whew! At his 12 day old mark, and after the initial weight loss from the hospital, Isaiah has gotten past the 8 pound mark into a healthy 8 pounds, 4 ounces! He has his two-week appointment this week, so we'll see how it goes then. For now, we can all breathe a sigh of relief!

Makenna has been her usual entertaining self lately. With all the visitors we've had, she's been able to hold their attention just as much as Isaiah has. And with that, she has no shortage of love for her little brother as she demonstrates to everyone that she loves to give her brother kisses. For those who have come to visit, I'm sure they've all noticed just how much of a chatterbox little Kenna has become. She loves to "chat" as if she knows how to say full sentences, and will even answer when talked to. It's fun to watch, and those that have young children have probably gone through the same stage at one point. There are times where it almost sounds as if she repeats what was said, but you really have to pay attention. Looks like she'll be the one who gets her name on the board for excessive talking!!

Happy Friday! Isaiah's 10 days old!

Little Isaiah had yet another appointment this morning, to follow up on his jaundice. We've pretty much been very aggressive with his phototherapy at home, in hopes that the exposure to the light will help decrease his bilirubin level. And the times when he's not on the light, we have him sleeping in the sun. Like I said before, deja vu.

Well we got the call from Isaiah's doctor, and this time he had very good news for us. All of our efforts are finally beginning to pay off. Isaiah's bilirubin level had dropped 3 points, and it's now pretty close to being at the "normal" range for a newborn child. We've been instructed to continue the phototherapy for the next day or so, and then they can determine if he'll be done with that light. Frankly we're really tired of having to subject the little one to that equipment, but if it means that it'll make him get to a manageable state, then we're all for it. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we've seen the worst of his jaundice, and that it's on the down swing.

Happy Friday! Happy Friday indeed! Have a great weekend!

**check out Isaiah's mohawk (faux-hawk)!!!**

Updates on the kids...

We took Isaiah to his follow up appointment this morning, and they needed to do more lab work to determine the level of his jaundice. We were hoping that it would start it's decline, but we got a call from the doctor and he told us that the level remained the same. He also mentioned that it's not a cause for worry just yet, and that we should continue to do what we're doing.

Our poor little guy is going through the same stuff that his big sister went through. I guess it wasn't a big surprise to the doctor that Isaiah had the same complications as Makenna. We're just taking it in stride for now, because we've been here before.



At home, Makenna is really getting into her role as big sister. She's grown very fond of her baby brother, and will kiss him on the head any chance she gets! She always points to him, and it almost sounds as if she's making attempts at saying his name. In the mornings, she looks for him before she goes off and plays with her toys. We haven't seen any jealousy to speak of, but it's still too early to tell. Not that we're hoping for it, but it's just something that we may have to deal with sooner or later. For now, we can tell that she loves having the little guy around!

Getting Settled In...

So now Mommy and Isaiah are at home, and have rejoined the world of Daddy and Makenna. Even though we visited them every day, it still seemed like an eternity before we were able to bring them home. To be honest, bringing Isaiah home was like deja vu. It was almost the same time of year when we brought Makenna home, Enz was laid up in the hospital for five days, and the weather was beautiful. It was pretty much the same exact setting for both kids. Life works in very strange ways.
Of course Isaiah's trip home was the same short ride Makenna went through only months earlier. He got to ride in Makenna's carrier, since she "graduated" into her bigger car seat (still facing rearward for another few weeks, of course). When we brought him home, it was all about getting re-acquainted with the house for Enza. Everything was pretty much the way she left it five days earlier, especially since Kenna & I were really only there to sleep. We showed Isaiah around his new home, and introduced him to Marino. The dog didn't pay him any mind, really. I guess he figured that he's just going to get bumped down another rung of the priority ladder. It's true though that the dog always gets the short end of the stick, but either way, we love ALL our kids just the same!

Another parallel we encountered with both kids happened while Enz & Isaiah were still at the hospital. The doctor discussed with Enza that Isaiah's bilirubin level was elevated resulting in his jaundice. He had lost 10% of his birth weight, bringing him down to an even 7 pounds. We went through the same thing with Makenna, go figure! Isaiah, on the other hand, didn't need to stay at the hospital for an extra day like Kenna did. We were able to bring him home on Saturday as planned. The doctor requested that we bring him to the clinic on Sunday, just to follow up on his jaundice. At that appointment, they tested his blood again, and found that the bilirubin level increased. She recommended that we start phototherapy for Isaiah, much like we had done with Kenna. It sucks to see our kids, or any kid for that matter, have to be stuck under those lights for hours at a time. Although the light isn't harmful to them, I can't help but think that this is what hamburgers feel like under those heat lamps! Brutal to say, I know, but it's just a thought.

We did the phototherapy at home on Sunday, and had yet another appointment with the doctor yesterday. Miraculously, Isaiah's bilirubin level decreased by a little more than a point, which was great news. Even better news was the fact that Isaiah was back to his original birth weight, so we know that everything's working properly. We're continuing the therapy as well as the appointments this week, so hopefully we've seen the peak of the jaundice. It took Kenna a little while before hers went away, so we're remaining positive through this whole experience. Again, it's like deja vu! We're still not out of the woods yet, so I'll keep everyone posted with Isaiah's condition as the days progress.

The Newest Camero

Welcome ISAIAH DAELEN CAMERO!

Today we had the honor of bringing the newest member of the Camero Family into the world. Isaiah Daelen Camero was born on February 5, 2008 at 8:21am. He weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces, and was 19 inches long.

The surgery went well for Enza this time, especially since she didn't have to go through nearly a full day's worth of labor first. We were admitted into the hospital early this morning, and just a few short hours later, we had baby Isaiah in our arms! At the time of this post, Enza has successfully gotten up to take a walk to aid in getting the blood flowing normally in her legs. Being numb for many hours can take its toll on the body, but this time around, Enz took it in stride!

We couldn't wait to introduce Makenna to her little brother, and at first, she didn't know how to react. Once she got in close enough, she was happy and even reached over to give her little bro a kiss. Then again, she might have just been excited to see another baby, but who knows? It'll be interesting to see how things pan out between the kids these next few weeks. But, it still might be too early to notice a difference just yet.

We couldn't be any happier with how things turned out today. The doctors were great and the nursing staff proved to be very helpful to Enza, much like the time when Makenna was born. It took no time at all to have Isaiah out with us, and thus far, Enz has been fairly comfortable. Only a few short days until they release the two from the hospital, and when we're all home, that's when the fun begins. Wish us luck!

The time has come...

So we've made it this far and the anxiety has really set in pretty hard. In less than 24 hours we'll be in the hospital for that familiar scenario, the one we went through approximately 11 months ago. Of course this time Enz won't be going through 21 hours of labor with literally nothing to show for all her efforts. And this time we won't be having our family waiting and waiting and waiting. This time we've got the operation scheduled in the books, and we know that our second little one will be born tomorrow morning, sometime after 7:30am.

These last few days have been fairly hectic at home, with both of us trying to get the last bit of preparation completed, all the while having little Kenna to look after. She's been keeping us entertained, to say the least, and her little antics have managed to keep us smiling in an otherwise chaotic time. It'll be very interesting to see how she adapts to this enormous change in our lives. I've said it before that we think she may be too young to fall into that whole jealousy thing, but you never know. Her personality has developed so quickly that she just might get the urge to lash out wondering "what about me" as we do our best to accommodate two children. I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it.

As we did when Makenna was still in Enza's belly, we had a little fun with some paint. We just wanted to give Coconut an option at a possible college choice for the future =)

And of course, little Kenna is literally not so little anymore! She's been on this steady growth spurt as of late and we can never really tell when she's done eating. We finally busted out her second stage car seat, and even though she meets the weight requirement to allow for forward facing installation, she's still 1 month shy of the age requirement. That being said, she's stuck facing rearward in the new seat for just one more month. You can see her reaction to the news in this picture!

For the readers of this blog, don't worry if you don't see an update over the next few days. I'm sure you can understand why! We'll resume the updates once things settle down, whenever that is, and finish out Makenna's first year. Not quite sure how the blog will change, but stay tuned!

And now the 1972 Miami Dolphins can pop another bottle of champagne in celebration of a record still intact, the only perfect season in the Super Bowl era.