Knee Replacement Surgery, Having a Baby… The Nesting was the Same

I felt like a mother in her third trimester those two weeks before knee replacement surgery. I was cleaning out the refrigerator, organizing each closet, nesting was in full swing. I wasn’t preparing for a beautiful new baby, though. I was preparing for a partial knee replacement at the “young” age of 34. Yes, I know 34 is so young for such an intensive surgery like a knee replacement, but every knee has a story, right? 

My Strange 2 Weeks of Nesting

This part of my knee replacement journey was just after all the fun 4th of July celebrations. I figured one last hoorah for the summer would be fun before the stress and chaos of surgery. I had no idea just how much nesting would be involved. I warned my husband that my anxiety would probably begin to raise and progressively get worse the closer we got to surgery day.

I also mentioned I wanted to get a few things done around the house as well. Most importantly, I want to have an amazingly fun week with the kids. I didn’t want my anxiety, and “nesting” to interfere with my last week of the summer I would have with my kids before surgery and recovery.

A Break from Nesting for Fun with the Kids

The days leading up to Friday had been filled with yard work, decluttering, and cleaning. I donated more bags of stuff that week than I did when we moved into this house. This nesting was killing my knee, but I figured heck it was already broke and getting fixed soon, what more could I do to it.

Bay City Tall Ships Celebration Friday night came along; the kids were back from their other parents. The house is once again filled with giggles, running feet, and that atmosphere the kids brought with them, the one I always missed when they are away.

“Gather around the table. We have a fun week to plan.” I’II spare you the nitty-gritty details, but after 2 hours, a couple of arguments, and 4 handshakes later, we had our plan. A couple of the highlighted activities from the week were the trampoline park, pottery painting, swimming, and the Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City, Michigan

Taking in Every Moment Before Knee Replacement Surgery

The week of fun with my family before partial knee replacement went by so incredibly fast. It was challenging to take in every smile, laugh, hug, and conversation, but I wanted to. It had been a long time since I focused this much time and effort solely on them. I was able to forget about the day to day mom and wife jobs like cleaning, cooking, grocery lists, and the other endless lists of duties.

My husband took on extra this week, along with me making an extra effort to stay off all my electronics. Man, I yell at my kids for being addicted, but going one week with limiting myself, made me see how attached I had gotten to all my devices as well!Nesting before knee replacement surgery

The week started out being something special to do for the kids, but it ended up being so much more. It became my favorite week so far this year, and it also taught me that I need to, every once in a while through the chaos of mom life, set aside some time with my family to soak in the memory-making moments.

The kids went back to their other parents, and those “good-byes” were extra bittersweet. I knew in the back of my mind I would be fine, but my anxiety was telling me, “what if this is the last time you’ll see them?” I know, morbid but it was one of the thoughts going through my head. It was major surgery after all. These thoughts were all going through my head, on the outside, I was calm, collected, and telling the kiddos to be extra good. Lastly, telling them how much I love them and will talk to them after surgery. 

3 Days Left Till Surgery, More Nesting, or Netflix?

Nesting before Knee surgery, dont forget to pack your bag in all the cleaning! Three days remained before knee replacement surgery. My initial thought was to go out and have a fantastic time with my husband and a few friends. Shoot even a 3-day binge of Netflix sounded awesome.

My husband and I rarely had time to do that together. I knew I would have a lot of time after surgery to do that, but would it be comfortable to cuddle? Would I sleep a lot? Oh boy, here is that anxiety creeping in again. When stress strikes and the nesting starts again in full force.

I found myself do more “nesting” than ever before. Packing my hospital bag, re-organizing my closet for the second time, and just really making sure the house was left in the best state possible for me to come home to after surgery.

Finally, at 2 am on the morning of my surgery, I closed my eyes to try and get at least a couple of hours of sleep. I had to get up and take my last pre-surgery shower and wipe down in 4 hours at that point. Side note, aren’t those wipes fun, and sticky?? Yuck! Anyway, everything is going to be different when I wake up. So many things are going to change. It’s all going to be worth it though I tell myself. Right?

Continue reading the next part of the story by clicking, The Journey Officially Starts Here, Surgery Day Pre-op

Alicia Louise Signature for the alicia louise lifestyle blog


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Nesting... before surgery? My 2 weeks leading up to partial knee replacement surgery.  The nesting was like getting ready to have a baby! This was not how I thought preparing for surgery would go.
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