Author: Elizabeth Johnson

• Michael has been off of the oxygen for over 24 hours
• The bili-lites have been turned off. His jaundice went way down.
• The IV was taken out of his head this morning. He is getting plenty of fluids from his regular feedings.
• He is able to rest better between feedings and continues to gain strength.
• He has started opening his eyes to look around when it is time to check his vitals and eat.
• It is so nice to see what he looks like without having his head covered in tubes, wires, and gauze.

I am doing well and enjoying each day; being with Michael during the day, spending time with Peter, Sydney and Isaac in the evenings and early mornings.

Unfortunately, Isaac has been pretty sick this morning (Peter and Sydney also have mild colds) so I have to wear a face mask at home and keep my hands washed; also, I have to kind of stay away from him. If I get sick I can’t go to the NICU, so here’s hoping that I stay well during the next few days.

Michael has been completely off the oxygen for 18 hours; he is breathing on his own! He has completely stunned the nurses and doctors. Of course we have been reminded it is important to not be surprised if he does need to go back on it but we’ll take any success we can.

I’ll update some more later today after spending some time at the hospital.

Michael continues to improve steadily; his breathing is continuing to stabilize and he is requiring smaller amounts of oxygen to do well. He has been rather feisty and has yanked out his gavage tube a couple of times and is always grabbing at the various tubes and pieces of tape stuck to him. But this is actually good news because it means that his body has some energy for activities other than breathing.

Feeding has been going well and he is tolerating milk; while he takes his food through a tube I put his binky in his mouth so he can suck on it and associate a full belly with the motion of sucking. This afternoon we are going to try nursing and see how it goes.

Right now I can still only hold him about once a day but if he does fine with nursing and his breathing continues to improve he will be able to come out of the incubator more often. Sydney and Isaac will get to see him for the first time today; albeit through the NICU window, but they are pretty excited to see their baby brother!

Jaundice has crept in so he is laying under the bili-lites with some sunglasses on his face; just chillin’ in a tanning booth.

Mom and dad are doing well. Sydney and Isaac were spoiled by our friends that watched them for a couple of days. We have a wave of meals coming in this next week and several friends and neighbors wanting to know how they can help. Right now we feel very blessed to know that others are keeping us in their prayers and to know that we have many friends that we can call in a pinch.

For those of you privileged to have access to this page we thought we’d share more detail and pictures.

He came out five weeks ahead of schedule weighing 5lbs, 8.1oz.

Because he was early, they started an I.V. to run fluids and prophylactic antibiotics. His lungs were poorly enough developed that he was having to work really hard just to fill them with air (you can see how his chest sinks in the picture… it was like that every time he tried to take a breath). To help keep his lungs open, they put him on a CPAP to keep positive pressure in his lungs. Through the course of the night he was gradually having a harder and harder time breathing, so about the time I crashed for an hour nap (I’d been up for about 36 hrs by then) the pediatrician ordered a surfactant treatment. (The lungs naturally produce surfactant to keep them from collapsing fully with every breath. Premature babies don’t always have enough of it, which can lead to acute respiratory trouble). The treatment went well, and by the time I came back 2 hrs later he was already doing visibly better. He’s been steadily improving ever since.

They took him off of the CPAP early this morning, and moved him to an incubator (A good thing because it means he’s stable enough they aren’t worried about having to get rapid access to him). He’s still on a slow flow of oxygen, but they plan on tapering that off over the next day or so as long has he continues to improve.

We had our baby boy very early this morning. Here are the stats:

Michael Arnold Johnson
Feb. 17, 2011
12:14 AM
5 lbs 6 oz
18 3/4 in.

Just like our other kids, he showed up five weeks early and is staying at the local NICU for an undetermined length of time. Right now they are helping him with his lungs and making sure all the basic functions are working.

We’ll post some pictures when we feel like it!

Thursday afternoon this little baby in my tummy started moving around real funny. By the end of the day I realized I was breathing much easier and I thought my belly looked lower – like I might have dropped. Thankfully I knew Peter was coming home Friday and I wanted his second opinion. By Friday afternoon, however, I did not need a second opinion after looking in the mirror. I had dropped considerably (Peter noticed right away when he came in the door). This is exactly what has happened during week 34 before delivering my other 35-week gestation babies. I hope this little guy waits a couple of weeks or longer.

Dropping or “lightening” does not mean labor is imminent – but it is one of those things that happens before or during labor. In most cases it happens about two weeks or less (sometimes just hours) before real labor contractions kick in. Anyway, we’re on baby alert at our house and I am constantly packing my hospital bag any time I have to leave the base.

Peter just arrived home last night and the poor guy has a sore throat and feels pretty miserable. Thankfully his sprained ankle has healed amazingly well; I don’t even notice him limping anymore. He is taking a couple of days over the weekend to recover before having to go to work on Monday (or head to the hospital in the middle of the night with me).

Sydney – She has been experimenting with nail polish after getting some books at the library on finger and toe painting. A couple of Saturdays ago she spent about three hours taking care of her nails (reading a book while waiting for nails to dry). Now she is asking about trying out the curling iron on her own. My little girl is growing up!

Isaac – What a little devil this adorable son of mine has been the last few days. He is testing the far-reaching corners of disrespect with me and bullying with Sydney. On Tuesday he did not get to participate in TaeKwon-Do because of an altercation with his sister that happened as we were getting ready to go. Instead, he took some toys to play with but spent much of the class time brooding inside while watching Sydney have fun in class.

He has also been freaking out when I remind him he has 10 or 15 minutes (or another amount of time) to finish a task that he is working on. Instead of getting to work he spends a great deal of time whining that he won’t possibly get the task-at-hand done in time. But, when assigned with a follow on assignment because of whining or not finishing in time, he always pulls through. I just need to keep up my spirits, my wits, my strength, and some old-fashioned grit to pull through this phase.

Isaac has been asked to give the First Article of Faith in primary tomorrow. He has been practicing saying it slowly, clearly, and loud enough to be heard. He currently can recite numbers one and two by memory.

The Scriptures Teach of Heavenly Father’s Plan

Many people don’t know where they came from, why they’re here now, and where they will go after they die. Members of the church, however, know that God has a plan for them. Moses 1:39 says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Before we came to earth we lived in the pre-mortal life. We learned as much as we could. One day God called a meeting in heaven. He said that to be like him, we had to get a body. Abraham 3:22 talks about the meeting in heaven. It reads, “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was.”

Everyone here made the choice to come to earth, while others followed Satan and were cast out. We came to earth through birth and will leave by death.

After death we go to the spirit world until it’s time to be resurrected. Alma 40:11 says, “Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection – Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.”

After we are resurrected through the blood of the lamb, we will be brought unto God for the judgment day. Those who are found righteous and guiltless will go to the Celestial Kingdom, receive the gift of eternal life, and live with their families forever.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

(This was a fabulous school assignment. Sydney took notes from a Friend magazine article and the scriptures, organized her notes into an outline, wrote a first draft, and then edited and prepared her final draft. And it is so wonderful when you realize that the things your kids are learning at home and at primary are sinking in!)

I never experienced (or at least never felt) braxton hicks contractions in my previous pregnancies. This one is different. Wow – they can be quite painful and inconvenient; not that there is anything particularly convenient about being pregnant in the first place.

Apparently since the severe pain in my right leg caused by an old injury is feeling so much better due to my belly belt and some physical therapy I am in need of some pain somewhere else. Win one – lose one. But if I had to choose myself I would take the braxton hicks.

Since I don’t want to freak my mom out who lives a couple of thousand miles away I won’t write about last Sunday night when my tummy area tightened up pretty hard for about an hour (not good when you’re not quite 33 weeks along). Peter made me sit down (seriously he had to make me sit – I wanted to do dishes) and they went away. The labor and delivery nurse said that if this ever happens for more than an hour to get my behind in to get checked out (this is how my labor started with Isaac). Thankfully this has not been repeated. I told the baby he was out of line and grounded him for at least three more weeks before he could come out of his “room.”

Really this baby just needs to wait until at least two weekends from now. It would be really nice to have a husband in town when I go into labor. If anything funky happens between now and Saturday morning then Peter will be sending a replacement to the conference in Florida. If something happens while he is out of town he will be finding the soonest flight back home. My plan is to cross my fingers and cross my legs until he gets back from the conference… (I have wonderful friends who will be helping me out if anything happens while Peter is gone – including a friend who is willing to be a medical escort with me if I get flown down to Anchorage).

After all this freaking out about Peter’s trip the baby will probably not show up until I’m at full term..