2 Brothers Layne

HAPPY DUE DATE JONAH! Today is the day Jonah was supposed to be born-- but of course he had other ideas! It has been a busy day today for our little boy. He has taken his feeds via a bottle three times thus far today. At 8 this morning he downed his whole bottle in ten minutes. The Doctors and nurses are quite impressed with how well the bottle is going. We were told today to expect a day in the near future when Jonah will refuse the bottle for the day. It will be his way of telling us that he is just too worn out! HOORAY, Jonah's eyes looked tonz better today! He will have another eye exam in two weeks and if things still look good he'll not need another eye exam until he is 6 months old! THANK YOU for all your prayers! They really pay off!

Can you say little sucker!?! What an awesome day. the proud moment was today when burping Jonah, he let one fly that would make a father proud!!! Yes you understood that right. Today we were able to feed Jonah from a bottle for the first time. It was amazing!!! Jonah was able to eat 37 mLs at the 2 pm feeding, which is 7 mLs over an ounce, and 35 mLs at the 8 pm feeding, which is 5 mLs over an ounce. It is fun to watch him eat, not only because it is a huge step in the right direction, but because sucking on a bottle is so exhausting for him. When Mom went to try and breast feed at 5 pm he was to tired and exhausted to wake up and eat. After feeding him it was fun to cuddle with him and give him the loves from every one who follows Jonahs progression. Also, Jonah was able to eat on only 38% Oxygen!!! On the down side of tomorrow Jonah has an eye exam, which he has not done very well in the past, and we are expecting a pretty rough day tomorrow. We will hope for the best and...

OH, HOW SWEET IT IS! We are loving having our son "Portable" again. Good-riddens to the ventilator. Isn't he sooooooo adorable in his big boy clothes?! It is so great being able to snuggle with Jonah, and oh, how he loves being snuggled. Our little boy is growing. Tonight he weighed 6 pounds even. They have started adding calories to mommy's milk to help him continue to grow. We have his weekly eye exam on Tuesday. Please join us in praying that his eyes have improved and will not need a follow-up surgery.

HURRAY!!!! Jonah is off the vent!!! He was extabated earlier today, and has been doing very well with his oxygen needs. The nurses said he has been a high maintenance baby today. As a result they held and loved on him for most of the day. During the night shift, the nurses had an ingenious idea when they grabbed a NICU swing and put Jonah in it. He LOVES, and I don't hesitate to say it again, LOVES the swing they brought in just for him. The nurse tonight said Jonah did not even make a, "Peep" for the time he was in it, probably 15 minutes; none-the-less he loved it. Mom and Dad both were able to hold him and what a joyous occasion it was. To hold Jonah close, give him squeezes and kisses, and all without worrying about the ventilation tube down his throat is such a sweet activity. It brings to mind how often we take for granted the smallest things in our lives, such as not being able to hug a child because of a tube. How SWEET it is!!! So, on with the prognosi...

Jonah had another stable day. His improvements are very small but they are a step in the right direction... home. Thank you all for your love and concern! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! What a nice day it has been for our family. It is definitely not how we pictured our Christmas would be but it has been nice none-the-less. We started our morning off with some presents. As you can see from picture 4 Jonah was figured we were doing this a bit to early in the day. One of the gifts Jonah received was a pair of John Deere boots (picture 3). They are far too big for him now but he'll grow into them eventually. He also got some animals. Dad set them up in a sort of "Nativity reenactment" (picture 2). A Work Horse, a Two-Humped Camel, A Jaguar, and a dog. We had a little scare after opening presents. Some water that had condensed inside his breathing tube slipped down into his lungs. This caused a bronchial spasm (Jonah's bronchial tubes clamped shut not allowing air in). He turned 8 shades of purple because he was not receiving any oxygen. He was quickly wisked from mommy's arms and placed back in his bed. The RT suctione...

Happy Christmas Eve from McKay-Dee NICU. It has been a wonderful day for the Layne family. Mom and Dad spent most of the day visiting family in Tremonton and delivering gifts. This evening we got to enjoy some R and R with our son. Jonah was very allert when we arrived this evening. It was fun to see him avidly taking in his surroundings. He continues to progress (very slowly) and to ween on the ventilator. Jonah had a wet diaper that weighed 80 grams! WOW, his plumbing is working very well. For Christmas, one of Jonah's cousins made him some "Flarp" (a gooey substance that makes fart like noises when you squish it in its container). Jonah didn't get to make it fart but he did get to feel it! Thanks Brecken!

So this is how things are looking for our little one... LOTS of tubes and wires. The RTs and nurses were able to ween Jonah down on his vent settings again today. He continues to do well with his feeds and he LOVES snuggle time with mom and dad. While being held his sats are Perfect and his oxygen saturation runs high. I'm trying to convince Jonah that the best Christmas would be to have him off the vent.

BABY STEPS... that is what Jonah has been up to today. Throughout the day they have been able to make small decreases in Jonah's vent settings. We are glad to have our son making progress again, even if it is only a little bit at a time. With the help of your prayers and some help from above we might even have Jonah off the vent for Christmas.

well today has been a pretty level day. Jonah hasn't made much improvement today but neither has he got any worse. Jonah is up to 30 ml every three hours on his feeds. The NNP told us today to make sure we get all the sleep we can while Jonah is in the hospital because he will come home with all sorts of monitors and oxygen and things that will leave us sleep deprived. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

It is never a good way to start your day at three AM with a voice mail from the hospital. When I got up at three to pump I realized that the hospital had called at 11 and I had slept right through it. I quickly called and found out that Jonah had had one of the worst nights ever. The biggest concern was that they were suctioning blood out of Jonah's lungs! Their immediate thought was heart failure... gratefully this was not the case. Instead, this was Jonah's body's way of telling the nurses and RTs that his lungs needed more support. They switched him to the oscellator vent. again and it helped to clear things up. When Dave and I arrived at the hospital around 11 am we found out that Jonah had settled down considerably. We chatted with the NNP and found out that he has pneumonia. He has been put on an antibiotic and he will be monitored closely. On a lighter note Jonah's nurse and RT made him a cute Chritmas gift... his first fishing pole!

Can you believe that Jonah is 102 days old!?! As of Jonah's eye surgery, the surgery itself went well, but Jonah is not doing well himself. We have found him with yet another infection. Mom said she could tell he was a little fussy a day or two before the surgery and thought he may not be feeling well. None-the-less, Jonah is ill. Our little trooper had a moment this morning where he didn't want a tube in his mouth any longer and pulled it out, that was at 4 am. He did ok breathing by himself for several hours, but by 11 am or round about, Jonah needed to be re-intabated. This evening speaking with Jonah's nurse, he is doing well on the vent and even breathing a bit for himself. The RT (respiratory therapist) mentioned he looked a little in pain and gave him something for it, after that Jonah seemed to be doing well. The nursing staff that works with Jonah is great!!! It is wonderful to have care givers that are able to read Jonah's signs, or know Jonah well eno...

THANK YOU all for your prayers! Johan's surgery went as smooth as silk! The Doctor was very pleased with how well everything went. His eyes are a little red today and they will probably by a little swollen by tomorrow. The surgery happened at 8 this morning and when I checked in on him at 2:30 he was becoming more alert. He is completely reliant on the ventilator currently... we're hoping that will change as he becomes more awake. Best case scenario Jonah could be off the vent by late tonight. But a more realistic view would be sometime Friday or Saturday.

What a day Jonah had today. He had a little episode early in the afternoon where he had to be bagged to get his oxygen levels back up to an acceptable level. On a good note we had some very special visitors today!!! Santa came for a little visit. Also a very special adopted Grandmother. We had a very enjoyable evening. Now on to the heavy stuff. Tomorrow is Jonah's surgery at 8 am. The procedure should be a quick and painless one to help his eyes. Jonah weighs 5lbs 12 oz. and is 16 inches long.

Greetings to all of the members of Jonah's fan club. After the news we received this morning we are again grateful for the support system that has developed through this blog. Jonah had his weekly eye exam this morning and his eyes are getting worse. They are bad enough now to warrant surgery. Jonah's eye condition is typical for preemies and we have expected it for a few weeks now. On Thursday morning the doctors will re-intibate, sedate, and perform laser surgery to correct the problem. This procedure has a 90% success rate, without it Jonah would eventually go blind. One side effect is that he will loose some of his peripheral vision, but that is an acceptable trade off! We would like to petition your help again. We would like to have a fast for Jonah on Wednesday or Thursday (what ever works for you). We are hoping that the procedure will be effective and that he will be extabated as quickly as possible following the surgery. We really appreciate your faith and ...

Today was more of the same. Jonah is stable and doing well with his head box. The doctors have increased Jonah's lasics (a diuretic) to help flush out extra fluids. Mommy tried to nurse him tonight to no avail. Jonah was far to fussy to make much of any progress. Hopefully he was just having an off night and he isn't getting sick.

Well what to say about today. It was a steady day for Jonah and the rest of the family. Not much change today. Jonah weighs 5lbs 5 oz. and is Happy as ever to see mom and dad today. G-ma and G-pa Selman came to visit Jonah at the hospital today. They stayed for about an hour before they had to leave.

Jonah was moved out of his solitude back into room 2. This is NOT a bad move, the NICU is running out of babies and as a result are using less rooms. Our little ray of sunshine is doing well. He is still learning how to nurse; this involves breathing while sucking and also swallowing. So in answering questions concerning when Jonah will be coming home. For a date we don't have one and probably will never have a date to look forward to. What we have learned is that Jonah will tell us when he is ready to go home. He will tell us when he is ready to go home. Here are the tests that he must pass: 1. He must eat a full feeding for 48 hours from a bottle or breast. 2. He must be on an oxygen flow of 1 or less. 3. He must pass a room air test. Which is where he must maintain his heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, 4. He must be able to maintain his sugar levels, body temp, consistent weight gain, bowel movements, etc. 5. Car seat check to see if he can keep his oxygen leve...

Today was another good day for our little boy. Jonah has continued to do well on the head-box (his bubble of oxygen). The doctors are pleased with his consistent weight gain. Tonight he weighed in at 5 pounds 5 ounces!!! All of his preemie clothes are fitting well but he will most likely outgrow them by the time he is ready to come home. It is so nice to have Jonah progressing again!

So, if it looks like Jonah is in his own little bubble, he is. They have taken the cannula tubes and the hi-flow oxygen tube away from Jonah to see how he would do (push him a little bit). So the next question is what happens to the oxygen as he nurses. He goes back onto the nasal cannula. The bubble is a great way to give Jonah's little nose a much needed break and to ween him a bit on the high flow. Tonight Jonah's feeding was a HUGE SUCCESS! He nursed for 11+ minutes! That is considered a full feeding. It is so nice to be moving ahead again! Thank you all for your love, concern, support, and prayers. We couldn't have made it this far without you!

We had a MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH today... Jonah successfully nursed for 4 whole minutes! By the end of 4 minutes he was pretty worn out and when mommy changed positions he went into a little bradi spell. For the first time ever the nurse had to decrease the amount of milk he was fed through his tube to compensate for the amount he got directly from Mom. Mommy has faithfully pumped 7-8 times a day for 13 weeks just waiting for a payoff like today! HOORAY for JONAH!

So, Isn't Jonah just a little cutie. He sure does take after his Daddy. Ha ha ha. Just kidding. The bottom picture Jonah is getting bath and I mentioned if Tanya remembered when we were little playing with our hair in the tub with shampoo in it. The nurse was there, and said she would put a mohawk in her hair. So this is a feeble attempt to put a mohawk, or as the popular hair style today is called a fo-hawk (people put this in there hair when they are not brave enough to sport the full mohawk and only want a small spike running down thier head). In Jonah's case this 1/32nd of an inch mohawk is all we could muster up. Daddy and Jonah had a heart-to-heart talk today about behaving himself. During an eye examination and shortly there after, Jonah had some problems remembering to breathe. I told him that breathing was an important part of living. He had another problem when Mommy was trying to feed him, again his oxygen levels dropped and they had to bag him for a third...

can you say 5 lbs? Jonah definitely can, yet he is retaining water, so that might help him. He has had some swelling in his little body so the doctors have reduced his feedings from 42 mLs to 40 mLs and have increased his calories.

This is Jonah's first Christmas Tree!!! Some surprise visitors popped by to set up a Christmas tree for Jonah. They also decorated Jonahs stocking. Jonah is still on his platue of not progressing in many situations other than his body weight. Jonah is up to 40 mLs for his feedings and is doing very well in the forced feeding, aka feeding tube. Another exciting tid bit is Jonah is officially out of the premie diapers and into a size 1.

Jonah is 4 lbs 12 oz today!!! Today has been a steady day for Jonah. As of late we have been on sort of a plateau, not really much improvement other than his weight. He is still on the high flow rate tube for his oxygen needs, and still practicing nursing. Although we are on Jonah's time table mom and dad are learning what patience really are.

Isn't he so cute in his polo shirt and khaki pants! Jonah had another good day. As one of our nurses said, "Jonah is on "Auto-pilot") He is pretty low maintainence kid now-a days.

Jonah has had another good day. There is nothing new to report except that his weight is up to 4 lbs 10 oz! At this rate he won't be in preemie clothes for very long. Nursing tonight was mediocre at best but snuggle time was heavenly! At one point Jonah relaxed enough that he had a Bradi spell (that is where he forgets to breath and his heart rate drops). Never fear, Mommy knew just what to do, and in no time at all he was again breathing regularly and his heart rate was back to normal. I'll sure be grateful when he grows out of this stage!

Grrrrr, David had this post completed an hour ago, I just had to upload the last video and publish it and some how I lost it all!!! So I'll attempt to recreate what was here. Today Jonah received a visit from the ENT (ears, nose, and throat) Doctor. He investigated why Jonah has such a quiet voice. He discovered that Jonah's left vocal cord is not vibrating. Back on day three of Jonah's life outside the womb he had surgery on his heart. At one point during the procedure the doctor had to move aside the nerve that controls the vocal cords. That movement has caused a temporary paralysis of the left vocal cord. The Dr. suspects that it will begin vibrating again in 6 months or so after his due date of December 30th. To update everyone on NICU lingo we are counting up to Jonah's due date i.e. week 36 is today. At week 40 Jonah will be at and adjusted age of 0 days. Jan 30, 1 month old, Dec. 30 1 year old. I know this is a bit different from what the rest of the wo...

Don't forget to look at the to post just before this one. It is the same day Mommies Issue # 84. It has some pics of our family

Jonah has settled in nicely in his new room. He seems to be enjoying the peace and quiet of a private room. Nursing tonight was somewhat unproductive due to Jonah's sleepiness. It has been a couple of days since Dad got to snuggle with Jonah so the time they spent together tonight was both needed and very much enjoyed by both parties.

Jonah had a nice relaxing day today. The x-ray that was taken early this morning shows that his lungs are cloudy again. They suspect that it's because he must have aspirated some time in the last day or two during one of Jonah's episodes. Now we have to keep out fingers crossed that his lungs re-absorb the fluid before it can turn into pneumonia. Mommy and Jonah had some quality snuggle time tonight! It was a little piece of heaven!