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Yesterday the realization hit that Michael could be in the NICU quite a while longer; maybe as long as 2-3 weeks. The major hurdles have been met, but now he just needs more time to bake in the incubator while he develops his strength; a job that would have been much easier had he just decided to stay put a couple of weeks more before making his grand entrance.

Although he knows how to nurse, his little body is by no means ready to do it around the clock so today the doctor suggested giving him a break and only trying nursing twice today. So be it. We are going to start doing some feedings by bottle in a couple of days; not my ideal solution, but he needs to be able to feed himself by bottle or breast for 72 hours around the clock before he can go home (among a few other milestones that need to be met). I will have to wean him off the bottle one feeding at a time once we get home; this should prove easier than it did with Sydney because Michael has been a better nurser than she ever was.

Michael is doing an OK job keeping his body temperature at an even keel. When he gets to an open crib he needs to be able to regulate his own body temp for 24 hours before being discharged.

Overall, this process is going to take longer than we originally thought, but I am thankful for the great communication we have with the doctors and nurses. They have been very helpful letting us know exactly what progress has been met, and what needs to happen still.

We are thankful for wonderful friends and neighbors who are helping out our family in the meantime. Peter is going to take ten days off of work to spend time with the kids (he does have to go in a couple of times for meetings), and my mom is coming next week for a few days.

Life is hard, but life is good.

Not exactly the Ritz Carlton, but the hospital stay has been going just fine. Thankfully I did have two sets of underwear so I could hand wash one pair at night time and wear the others during the day. Scrubs make ultra comfy pajamas and are so stylish. And I think stringy, greasy hair that hasn’t been washed in five days is making a come back; just consider me a trend-setter. But just to keep me humble and not too comfortable with my established routine, I have a neighbor bringing me a bag packed with all of the important modern-day toiletries and changes of clothing (I am interested to see the outfits that Peter packed for me). So by the end of the day I will be showered, blow-dried, plucked, and dressed in a different outfit than the one I have worn for three straight days. No more modern day pioneer woman for me!

Michael has been doing really well yesterday and today. He has figured out how to nurse and can do it effectively but it tires him out a LOT. Right now we are nursing three times a day – 8:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 8:00 PM, and feeding through a gavage tube during all the other feeding times (which come every three hours). His little body needs some time to get strong enough to nurse around the clock before he can come home. There is no way of knowing how long this may take for his little body but he is making steady progress.

The poor little guy pulled out his gavage tube two times in five minutes this morning; he must love having it re-inserted…either that or he’s just being a little muscle man show off. He’s very sneaky.

Right now I am missing my husband and kids that are at home still recovering from colds. Michael’s cute and all, but I want to spend time with Sydney and Isaac; reading to them, giving them hugs, and ordering them around the house with chores. If they are feeling well by tomorrow evening they may come and see Michael through the NICU window.

OK… The bigger kids are both sick (Isaac with a fever and an overly hefty dose of high drama), Michael is in the NICU about 30 miles away, I’m still fighting a cold that is taking its time going away, Liz is at the hospital with Michael, and now we’ve got almost 18″ of fresh snow on top of the 2 feet we already had. I can barely get the back door open far enough to let the dog out, and then he has trouble finding a place to go… he’s an 80lb dog… I’m glad he’s not an ankle-biter. He’d get lost in a drift and never resurface. As is, he’s standing on about 1ft of packed snow, and the porch didn’t get as much snow as the rest of the yard. Our 5ft fence looks 2ft tall.

Thanks to the weather and the sick kids, the folks at the hospital asked Liz to spend the night there in one of the extra rooms. Now it’s looking like she’s going to end up there for another night with a high probability she’ll be there until Michael comes home. When she went there yesterday, it was just supposed to be for the day, so she didn’t pack clothes or toiletries. Now I’m in a position where I can’t get those items to her because the roads are impassible. She’s going to have to rough it for another night.

• 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!