WELCOME HOME JACOB!!

Yes, he is here. Jacob got to come home today and everyone is glad to have him here. He now weights about 6 lbs 13 oz. He is looking really good and it'll be fun to have him here and figure out how things really are with 4 kids. Right now, he just seems so small compared to everyone. Charlie was our smallest at 7 lbs 8 oz. So, Jacob beat him by a bit.

Here are some pictures from right after he got home. Hope you enjoy them...

Coming Home?

After spending the night in the Hospital with Jacob he was looking really good to come home. The nurse weighed him and he had gained weight and she suspected that he would come home today. With that in mind we started preparing mentally for his arrival. There was plenty to do at home, but it was going to take some time to get that done. There were also a few things that we needed to do still in order to come home.

After awhile we found out that they were going to weigh him again after 2:00 and if he had gained again, we could go. If not, he would stay the night and get weighed again in the morning. If he gains in the morning he should be coming home tomarrow around 10:00 or so.

Thank you all so much for the prayers and support that you have given to us. The Relief Society has been great. They have been providing dinners as well as someone to watch the kids as we have been making nightly runs to the hospital. We appreciate it all very much.

Thank you!

No more tube pictures:


This is good.

Not so happy.

They took a picture at the hospital today. If you want to check it out go to www.hospitalportraits.com and do a search for Jacob J. birthdate 15Feb09 and you can see him.

Rooming In

Another big milestone today. Jacob is now off all assistance. The last thing to come out was his feeding tube. Jacob is now getting all of his nutrition himself through either bottle or breast (the nurses call it "All Nipple"). The final qualification for Jacob to come home is that he gain weight for 2 consecutive days. To help with this Becky is staying at the Hospital all night with him. She was given a recovery room and will share this room with Jacob tonight. After he is weighed tomorrow we will know better what the weekend will hold in store for us.

Better still

I'm sorry that I didn't get this out last night, but I guess it's better late than never. Yesterday turned out to be a very busy day. On Monday night I was told that I could come in and feed once/shift. So, I showed up at 10:30 for his feeding and he ended up eating really well. While I was there, they then told me that I could come up and feed him or have him bottle fed every other feeding. So, I could go back at 4:30 and feed him again. Mike was able to get home at 4:00 so I could go. He didn't eat as well as he had earlier, but not terribly either. When we went back later, we found out that we would be moving into the Special Care Unit. They needed the space for other babies. While there, Mike got to hold Jacob for his 7:30 feeding through the tube).



We then hung around while he finished his meds. and got the IV out of his head. They also changed his bed and we moved to the SCU. After we got there, I was able to feed him and he did pretty well.

We're not exactly sure what will happen next (it's all based on him and we just never know until it happens). We are anticiapting him being off his feeding tube completely by tomarrow. Here again, it could happen sooner, it could happen later. We are trying to work out details as to how we will do that when the time comes.

Here are some pictures of him with the $60,000 bed and the "tupperware" bed. Also, all he has left is his feeding tube, so he's looking really good!! YEAH!!

Not much change

Today things look good. He is completely breathing on his own and I got to try feeding him myself. I think it's going to take us a minute to get things going there, so we'll see what happens as the days go on.

Tomarrow, he should be done with his IV, so that will be fun and it'll be easier to hold him without a million cords.

Breathing on his Own?

Tonight we had a great achievement. Jacob was taken off of all breathing assistance. This is only a trial so we are prepared for him to go back on if things do not work out as well as we hope. There are a couple of things that we are looking forward to tomorrow and the day after. First Jacob will be off all medications on Tuesday, and possibly tomorrow Becky will be able to begin feeding him herself. Soon he will also be moved from the $60,000 bed he has been sleeping in to the "tupperware" crib (the traditional newborn bed). Once all of this is done, we are looking at Jacob coming home after 2 consecutive days of weight gain while eating on his own. Hopefully by the end of the week! Here are some pictures of tonights visit.

Photo Tag

I got a tag and decided that I would do it because it would be something different for a minute...

I was to take the fourth picture in my fourth folder. This one is it. It is a picture of Ben taken in 2007 after he had a hair cut. Really fun times. Looking at the picture, it's hard to believe how big he is now. They sure do grow really fast. He is almost 5 and excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. He is a great #1 child. He and the other two have been handling our current situation really well.

Last night for the kids at home we decided to have a little party. We got pizza and ate it downstairs and watched a movie with them. It was nice to do something for them as mom and dad just seem to come and go so much lately. We'll update with more of that later....

Anyone who wants the tag can take it.

YEAH!!

This morning when we went to the hospital to see Jacob we were told that tonight we would be able to hold him for 20 min. total. It's amazing what you will do for 20 min of holding time.

It was definitely the highlight of our day/night!! He is looking good and is now on the high flow (I'm not exactly sure what it's called, but it's just a little tube that has a flow into his nose.). He is looking good and his biliruben levels are a lot better and will probably be off the lights tomarrow.

Better?

After yesterday things seem to be looking up and Jacob really appears to be doing better. So we here are cautiously optimistic that the worst is over. Jacob continues on the CPAP to help him breath and the pressure and percentage is nearing normal. If this continues he may be able to make the next step down tomorrow or Sunday. Unfortunately we also found out today that his billiruben levels are up and he has a little bit of jaundice. (Which is why he has those cool shades.) So he is now on lights to help him with that. Nothing major and we have already dealt with this situation when Charlie was born. Here is the newest picture of Jacob. To me he looks like a fighter pilot.

Thursday Update...

Well, today has been a fun and crazy day for Jacob and the family. Mike decided to try and get to work for a little bit this morning and so my mother and I got the kids taken care of and we headed up to the hospital. We walked in and they said that they had taken out the tube in his chest!! We were so excited about that. This means that his lung is repaired and things are looking good.

Later this afternoon we got a phone call from his nurse that said that he had pulled the respirator out of his mouth and that they just decided to put him on the CPAP and see how he does. This was something very unexpected, but definitely a major step forward!!

Mike and I went back tonight to see him and we got pictures of his new tubing. He is looking good and is improving. He is now off of all pain medication (he was on morphine while he had the tube in his side and the respirator) and is really starting to wake up. With him waking up he's wanting to be cuddled, but he can't be bundled really yet, so they have put these bean bag type things on him to help keep him still and also to help comfort him.





We acutally heard him cry a little bit too!! It's a little easier to get in and hold his hand now, so I got to do that while he was crying. Mike said that it also looked like he was trying to open his eyes.



Good things are coming. We'll see how he continues to improve.

Thank you for all of your love and support at this time. We appreciate you all!!

Jacob Update....

I'm sure many of you are wondering how little Jacob is doing. I will try and help you all understand a little more about what is going on. If I get too detailed, I'm sorry, but I think my mind is a little fuzzy and I'm not sure what's too detailed and what's not... :)

I got released from the hospital yesterday morning and we then went straight up to Timp. to visit Jacob and see how things are going. To be honest, I'm not sure what happened other than the fact that I was given a lot of info. We then came home to see the other kids that have been here with Grandma Hansen (thank you so much mom). They were very excited to see both Mom and Dad and asked where Jacob was. Ben has been paying closer attention than we thought, so he knows quite a bit for an almost 5 yr old. :)

We then got kids to bed and Mike and I went back again to the hospital. I then met the PA that is working with Jacob and she talked to us a little bit. While we were there they had a cardiologist come check out his little heart. From blood tests they had found that he seems to be stressed out. (I think I would be too.) They found that his heart isn't pumping quite as good as it could be and that it's typically and usually corrects itself within a few days. Jacob has plenty to work on, so they are giving him something to help him out a little. The cardiologist will come back again on Thursday and see how things are going.

Today, we got up there before the Dr. made his rounds and so we were there when he came through and he spoke with us for a little while. He talked to us about how they were going to do a temp. block on the tube in his chest to see how his little lungs are doing. If he does well for 12 hrs then tonight they would do a more permanent block and then at about 11:00 tomarrow if all goes well they will then be able to take the tube out and then they will continue to work on getting him off the ventilator.

We will continue to just take things one day at a time. We never know what the next moment might bring. We have to remember that this will all work out to Jacob's time table. We wish it was as fast as ours, but I think he knows what he needs better than I do at this point.

I am very greatful for modern technology and those that know how to use it. Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts. They really do help. Thank you!!

Jacob deBruyn Johnson

I did want to update everyone on the most recent events. Shortly after the previous post, the nurses at the hospital found some disparity in the ability of Jacob's lungs. An x-ray revealed that there was a tear in his left lung and that the chest cavity was filling with air and his lung could not inflate properly. This probably occurred because of his strenuous breathing after birth.

Jacob has now been treated and transported to the NICU at Timponogas Regional Medical Center in Orem. A tube was inserted in his chest to relieve the air that was escaping his lung and he is also on a ventilator to help keep his lungs inflated properly so that healing can take place.

Before Jacob was transported, I was able to go into the Nursery with a friend and bless the baby. At that point I knew we had to decide on a name and we picked Jacob deBruyn Johnson.

We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and desperately hope that things will only get better from here.

An Exciting Sunday

As many of you may have already heard we had a very interesting time Sunday afternoon. We had a wonderful weekend going to the Draper Temple open house and then spending time with family in Ogden and Layton and we got home lat Saturday night. Becky really felt like she had to be back for Nursery since they were going to call some one new to work with her in Nursery in anticipation of her missing several weeks when the baby is born. Well, we finally get ready and make it to Church even a little early.

After the first speaker is finished Becky tells me that she is going to go to the bathroom, so I make sure that the children are properly entertained as the rest hymn starts. By the time the Hymn is over Becky is back and tells me that we need to go to the hospital NOW. I have been feeling that I would need to be ready for anything but I was so taken aback I couldn't even think. Becky repeated "we have to go now" and I started explaining to Ben that we needed to leave. Ben was really upset that he wasn't going to be able to go to Primary and I had to carry him out screaming while Charlie followed in tears as well. Luckily a couple of Sisters in the ward took notice of us and kindly grabbed our children and told us to get out of there..

We left in a hurry and stopped by the house briefly to grab a few emergency supplies and we were off to the hospital. As we were driving Becky began to feel better and was wondering if there was even going to be a problem.

When we got to the hospital we went straight to Labor and Delivery and Becky was hooked up to everything as if she were going to deliver right then. They checked the Baby and he was fine but Becky was contracting lightly. so they wanted to keep her for observation. After a couple of hours her Doctor cam in and checked her and explained that there may have been a tear in the placenta and he thought that it would be safest for the baby to deliver right then.

After the Doctor left the nurses began making preparations for to get Becky started and Becky's contraction began to get worse. She was still given the Pitosin to hurry things along and by 8 o'clock that evening she was ready to deliver. After one push it became obvious that the umbilical cord was wrapped pretty tightly around his neck. The Doctor got it off quickly and then the Baby just kind of fell out. For the most part a pretty easy delivery however recovery has been something more stressful.

Because of a combination of issues, 3 weeks early, a tear in the placenta and the umbilical cord, the newborn has been under a little extra care. He was placed on Oxygen to help him maintain appropriate levels which he could not do on his own. He has extra fluid in his lungs that had not completely drained and he was not breathing as deeply as he should. However everyone is hopeful that by tonight he will be on his own.

Becky also had some additional bleeding that caused some concern but she was able to get it taken care of fairly quickly, but that left her worn out. So unfortunately she has not had much chance to see the baby. Maybe an hour all together since he was born. So we have not exactly decided on a name yet. The other stats are as follows; 6lbs 5oz, 20.5 in.

An additional post will follow with pictures and a final decision on the name.

Big Bed Update...

I have had people asking me about how things are going with the big bed. Brigit has been doing really well actually. Nights have by far been the easiest. At first I ended up just putting her in her crib for naps because she would actually take them. Now, she is doing much better with naps. With both her naps today, she went down without a problem.

The hardest part is that she's figured out how to "play" before going to sleep. She will empty her drawers of clothes or knock on the doors/walls. Other than that, it's not too bad. We still have a little while until she will actually share the room, so it'll work out ok.