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. … Read the rest

• 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 … Read the rest

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 … Read the rest

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

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 … Read the rest