2 Brothers Layne

Two things are official as of today: Dave joined the Navy Reserves today, and Jonah is coming home TOMORROW!!!!! Hurray for Jonah!!!! We are so very excited. More than the last time; however, we are more collected around Jonah so as not to let him on to too much excitement and cause him to have more stress than needed. As a general announce, to all of those who are wondering, we will try and keep the blog updated, try to everyday, but at least 3 times a week, at first and then once we get a routine we should be able to keep every one updated on Jonah and his trek to catch up to the "Norm." A very exciting time! As for Dave in the Navy. He will be in the Corps, medical, and will ship out to basic training on July 15, 2010. We were pushing for the next couple of months, but with the advice of a Major that has had the preemie experience he strongly suggested that I take the opportunity to experience the "Preemie" first year and not leave until my actual ship d...

Well Jonah's half liter was short lived... But don't worry he is still on one liter which is still on target for coming home. The nurse from yesterday said that after a few hours on half liter he started to sink below the level the Doctors had set and since the flow meter Jonah is on has no options between 1 liter and 1/2 he will remain on 1 liter for a while. When we get him home it will be possible to put him on 3/4 of a liter. Other than that he had a great walk and lots of play time. It will be so great to get to play with him throughout the course of the day rather than just for a few hours at a time.

Today was another good day for Jonah. Actually I would call it INCREDIBLE. Why, you might ask... Well when we took him up to 100% Oxygen (which is what he will be on at home) he no longer needed 1 liter. We were able to turn him down to half a liter! WOW! HOORAY for JONAH! We were given a go home date today but so as not to Jinx it I will just tell you to say tuned and keep a close eye on the blog for the next little while. Wink Wink!

Today Mommy and Jonah had a little photo shoot. Mom obviously has not done a thing with her hair since December when she got highlights and a trim. I guess that is proof that Jonah comes first! Mommy thinks that Jonah got her lips but that is were the similarities stop. That's good... that means he looks like DADDY! Mom now has two handsome boys! Jonah has a great day. He enjoyed his walk and his oxygen is at 1 liter and 70%. The plan is to put him on 100% tomorrow and hopefully he'll only need .5 to .75 liters... That would be AWESOME! Below is further evidence of Jonah coming home soon. The bottles and syringes pictured below (although they are currently empty) will hold one 24 hour period worth of Medications.

Today was a pretty good day all around. Mom and Dad had a great time with Jonah. Jonah had a great time with mom and dad. In the video below you can see Jonah playing with some bells on a Velcro strap. It is fun to watch. He even switches hands!!! Go baby boy go!!! So hopefully by the end of the week we will have Jonah home. These are exciting times!!! Jonah is down on 1 liter and only at 60% O2. No more changes will be made to Jonah unless it is necessary. We will bring Jonah home as is. He just has to show that he can manage on the settings he is at for a couple days. I am more excited to bring Jonah home this time than last time. YIPPEE!!!

We LOVE Sundays! It is a great day to relax and just enjoy being a family. Jonah is still on 1.5 liters today but he will be going down to 1 liter tomorrow morning. He is soooo CUTE! He loves to play and interact with just about anyone who will pay him some attention. He has everyone, doctors, NNPs, nurses, and clerks wrapped around his little finger. When he has an audience he just turns on the charm and adds another victim to the Jonah fan club.

Jonah thanks Aunt Heidi and Uncle Michael for his blue Pooh Bear SILKY!!! Today was another good day for our little boy! He is still doing well on 1.5 liters. The plan is to possibly turn him down to 1 liter tomorrow. If not tomorrow then Monday for sure! Then Jonah has to prove himself stable and it HOME! We are getting close. We are sooooooo ready for him to come home.

Jonah down to 1.5 liters today!!!! Go baby Jonah GO!!! Hurray for progress. We did not go to see our little boy today. We spent most of the day working at the house to finish cleaning. We now only have to vacuum the front room and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Then we will pay for a professional to come and clean the 3 carpeted rooms. As for Jonah, He is doing great!!! Thanks to the bold nurses they were able to convince the doc's to try Jonah on 1.5 liters to see how he does. Thanks for all the prayers!!!

Jonah loves snuggle time This is just a fun picture Mom is interrupting the boys time by snapping pics We are practicing weight bearing on Jonah's legs and arms. This pic is of Jonah putting wieght on his hand and up his arm through his shoulder. This is why we are so very excited because Jonah is doing this with his feet and legs. What an exciting day!!! As per the comment on yesterday's post, we had quite the experience in the Riverdale's Sam's Club. We were standing in the check out line when a lady comes back to her party, looks at us and says, "Are you Baby Jonah's parents?" We were struck with wonder in how she came to that conclusion. When we replied yes and asked how she knew us she said, "I am a blog stalker." We had a good laugh with each other. What was most impressive is that when her friend/mother/person with her asked what was that she was able to relate Jonah's entire life history. She said she found Jonah's blog from...

Yet another chapter in the Life of Jonah began today entitled... the joys and challenges of TEETHING! We suspect that our son is trying to grow some teeth in that cute little mouth of his. With any luck it will be a speedy process but to this point in Jonah's life few things have ever been easy. It will be good to see our boy with a toothy grin!

Today has been a bit on the rocky side for Jonah. When Grandma Raine and I go to the NICU this morning we noticed that he was retching more than normal. So we got him through the episode and continued to play. Later on in the day we loaded him up for his daily parade through the unit and all through his ride he was retching on and off. So his walk was cut short and we returned to his room where we brought up our concern with the nurse. She said that she'd been thinking about it and thought it might be a sign of withdrawal from the Morphine ween yesterday. After that I realized that he had other signs too, his stool was very loose and he was sneezing a lot. I related these symptoms to the nurse and she called the NNP. It was quickly agreed that Jonah felt that the doctors were weening his Morphine to fast. He was given a slightly larger dose to help with the symptoms and then his dose was readjusted. The rest of the afternoon went much better. Pictured above is Jonah playi...

This is Grandpa Selman, Gaga, learning how to hold Jonah with enough support so he can hold and play with him at the same time. One thing that Tanya and I have learned is that our parenting skills/style is a bit morbid due to Jonah's needs. Since he can't really do stuff "normal" babies do we have to support him a lot. Hand positioning is important to allow Jonah enough support to do stuff on his own but not to much to keep him from doing stuff, like sitting up and head control, on his own. This tires him out quickly, but it is good for him. In all truth, it is a little uncomfortable holding Jonah for the first time one; because babies his size can usually help support themselves, and two the thought of, "What if I am doing it wrong?" is constantly crossing your mind. For me the first time I held Jonah with nurses standing a safe distance away but knowing they were watching your every move is kind of nerve racking. Don't worry this too shall pass....

Jonah wasn't to sure about the sun at first; yet in a few minutes he was loving the warmth. In fact, he was waving his hand in the air because he could feel the warmth. A very proud moment for Mommy!!! Jonah in his stylin' ride. It was the talk of the NICU today. A prescribed walk each day as tolerated. No changes today, other than we are able to take Jonah on walks, which we all loved!!! Jonah wasn't quite sure about it at first. But then he met all of the nurses and doctors on the way and chippered right up. By the end of the walk, we were out maybe 30 minutes walking, playing by the big windows to soak up some sun, and stopping for all the nurses and docs, Jonah was wore out. Hope you enjoy the videos. on is of Jonah waving, you really have to watch his left hand to see it. He did it naturally, all by himself, no prompting. Another of Jonah jabbering with Mom. And the last one of the NNPs and Docs in the hall waving at Jonah as he parades down the hall. Sorry ...

Man what a day. We did not make it down to see Jonah today. We started to finish up with the house when I received a call from one of my dear friends telling me that their son came early. 35 weeks early. Scary for any one! We were fortunate enough to be able to help our friends out with our experience. Experience that I hope no one else I know should have to have. Baby is doing good, Mom and Dad are tired, but happy; so far. The baby's name is Levi William Potter. Please keep the Potter family in your prayers if it is not too much to ask. Thanks!!! Jonah is doing great!! Down to 2 liters, which means--- drum roll --- He gets to go on a walk tomorrow down the long hall in the NICU at PCMC. Tanya and I are very excited!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!!! No med changes, and he is on about 45% 02 with 2 liters. Exciting times!!! Our house is coming a long. We are about ready to paint. I have a small section where I need to replace some sheet rock, put on casing around the door we hun...

Jonah loves his "silky" it is a small blanket that grandma rain bought for him, and instead of leaving a nurses gown in the bed with him he has a soft on one side, silky on the other little blanky. A lot of good things happened today. The video is of Jonah vocalizing a little, it is a cross between a sigh and a humm. Make sure your sound is on and hopefully on our part the video is not too big so we can upload it for all to see. The ENT, ear nose and throat doctor, said that Jonah should start being able to use his voice between 6-10 months of adjusted age. So we are just over six months!!! It was fun to listen to mom and Jonah talk back and forth. Jonah is still on 3 liters of flow around 41%-50%, the NNP didn't feel comfortable enough in dropping Jonah down to 1 liter, or maybe 2 today. The good news is, that When Jonah gets down to 2 liters we can take him for walks in the long hall way in NICU. We were hoping to be able to go outside; yet, as the valley ha...

Today was another good day. Jonah is down to 3 liters and 45% Oxygen. We are so glad to see continued improvement. We are hoping to get permission tomorrow to take Jonah on short walks outside the NICU to help expose him to life outside his 4 white walls. It will enable us to return him to his comfortable environment should he become overwhelmed. This video is just a little taste of Jonah's daily therapy. In this session he is working on muscle control while playing on the ball.

These are Mommy's FAVORITE boys and you can see why by this video! Oh how blessed I am to have both of my boys. Jonah had a great day. He has been providing the staff of the NICU with nonstop laughs and smiles. When I called the NICU this morning his nurse was giggling. She said that he was pulling off his leads (the wires stuck to his chest) then when the monitor started to alarm and the nurse walked over to his bedside and there was Jonah one wire in each of his hands with a grin the size of Texas. After a good laugh she'd replace the leads and a few minutes later he did it again. There was not really any change with his Oxygen or Meds. We so appreciate the love and support that we feel from all of Jonah's Blogg Family!

Last night Jonah went down to 4 liters! Hooray! Now, the plan is to keep him there for a couple of days then try to go down to 3. We'll see if Jonah is willing to follow the plan or if he has other ideas. Jonah has had a good day. The packing went very well tonight and we had a bunch of help! Thanks everyone! We'll probably need one more night of packing and cleaning before we are ready to paint and clean carpets.

Today the doctors weened a bit on a couple of his meds. Jonah is still not ready to ween any on his Oxygen liter flow. He has been on 5 liters for 4 days now. At this rate he will be there for weeks. Lets hope and pray that things fall into place for our little boy and he is able to ween on his Oxygen a bit faster. Until then Mom and Dad continue to pack one box at a time. We are hopeful that after tomorrow we will have all the boxing done.

After learning that Jonah loves silky things. Grandma Rain found a silky at Wal-mart. It is silky on the bottom and a very soft material on the top with different textures on the triangles. Jonah LOVES IT!!! More of the same today. No changes were made on his meds. Mom and Dad were able to love on him for a long time today. Smiles and giggles and sometimes a sad cry that was quickly put out by mommy or daddy. Once again, we find ourselves at a road block in the path to coming home with Jonah.

No change today. He is still on 5 liters and 50-60 percent oxygen. There were a few minor med changes. All in all a very nice, stable day!

Mommy was very happy to see Jonah do well today and sleeping on his tummy. Tummy time today was a huge step in the right direction. Sleeping on his tummy!!!!! HURRAY FOR JONAH!!! Today when mom picked Jonah up out of bed she suddenly smelled a surprise. Well it was a surprise. Out the top of his diaper, down both legs, and soaked her pants and into her underwear!!!! GO JONAH GO!!! The medical staff went to get Tanya some scrubs, but because they did not have any small enough she now is the proud owner of a brand new pair of sweats courtesy of PCMC. Jonah is doing very well today. Although he is back up to 6 liters during his sleep, He seems to be very happy. We learned today the Dr. Null will be following Jonah very closely during the first couple of years and possibly even longer. Dr. Null is very concerned about the steroids Jonah will need to be on and will be monitoring him very closely. We are grateful for this, at least we will not have to introduce a doctor and have...

Ok, so this photo is a couple of days old. Sorry, but we just had to share it because it is one of our favorites. As we can see, Jonah is off the c-pap and doing well. He is fast asleep after therapy today. He worked very hard in head control, tummy time, practicing to roll over, and played on a giant ball. He didn't like most of it because he had to work to do it, but stayed patient and did it. Tanya and I have developed a bad use of language. We just noticed it. When Jonah is asleep in our arms and want to put him into his bed we say, "lets put him away" like he is a toy or an animal going to a kennel. I think this is funny because having a baby in the hospital is like playing dolls. You play with them when you want to, let other people take care of them the majority of the time, and really there is no responsibility attached between the parents and the child. Don't get me wrong... It's just how I feel right now because there is not a lot of things I ca...

Today has been a very good day for Jonah. As you can see he is all smiles for his night nurse. The medical staff is talking about turning his flow down to 5 liters and putting him back on the high flow nasal canula. HURRAY FOR JONAH!!! We continue to pray for our little ray of hope and sunshine in hoping that he will come home to us very soon. It amazes me of all the people praying for our little one. Humbling actually. We have been so close to losing him so many times, and I know that it is only because of the prayers of the unknown number of people praying for him that he has survived and fought through his many challenges so far in life. We look forward to working through the many challenges to come with our happy little boy!!! We are anticipating a little back sliding with the therapy, but Jonah is quick to recover. We hope you enjoy the picture of Jonah. A great big smile for all of us to see. Jonah's room has been successfully moved to Elwood. G-ma Rain commented,...

We asked if anything special was done for every hundred day mark, the response was no. So one of our nurses went to the social workers to see if there was anything they could do? They learned that they were behind some other NICU parent support group, and quickly made this sign for Jonah. It says, "Jonah 300 days. Just swimming!!" Jonah is a much happier person. He has clearly gotten over this flu. A viral panel was taken on Jonahs snot. NEGATIVE for the parainfluenza. Just one more test and he can come out of isolation. As for preparations at the tremonton house. The two rooms are complete. After working Friday night, saturday, monday, and a few hours on tuesday night, they are ready for us to move in. Tomorrow we will work on packing up Jonah's room, and move. Then all we have to do is box up our house and take the stuff to the storage shed. Paint and clean the carpets and That is all, with some cleaning also.

So our little boy may be over the worst of the flu. When I visited with him this morning his eyes looked like he was feeling better. He also acted like he was on the mend. His flow went from 10 to 9 first thing this morning and then tonight he went down to 8. As soon as he hits 5 he can go back to his high flow canula and off goes the cpap. At this rate he'll be back to the canula by Wednesday morning. No results yet on the respiratory virus panel so hopefully no news is good news. Today they switched his hydrocortizone to dexamethazone. That should help decrease the swelling in his lungs and help his flow decrease faster.

Well we have surpassed the 300 day mark, yesterday. Today is more of the same. At least we are maintaining. Today they turned the flow down to 10 on his c-pap, and are planning on coming down 1 liter each day, until we reach 5 liters and then going back to a nasal canula. Tomorrow they will get some more snot, to do another viral panel on Jonah, to see if the virus has ran its course. We have to have 2 negative tests before we can leave isolation. As for our transition plans, we have one room completed and the second room tomorrow.

Today was more of the same. Jonah's Doctor was concerned that he was needing 100% oxygen so to try to decrease it they went from 8 to 11 on his c-pap. BUMMER! He still is acting sick but he is in good spirits. Dave and I spent the day working on our rooms in Tremonton. We are getting very close to having both rooms done.

These are my little boy's Baby Blues! Jonah has the most beautiful eyes. He does love to play with his hands. He has had a pretty good day. His c-pap settings were turned down from 9 to 8. So he is going in the right direction! Mommy spent most of the day at the hospital and Jonah seemed to enjoy some mommy time.

More of the same today. Jonah is receiving antibiotics via IM (intramuscular) shots. This will be a 48 hour course unless the blood work shows that he needs a longer treatment. He is still on c-pap, he has been on this before as well as bi-pap also, and doing well. When we were with him today his sats were 99-100% oxygenated. Hopefully we can overcome this little episode quickly, maybe long enough to get the move accomplished. Although the blood work shows Jonah is fighting a bug, he is a happy baby!!! During his brief awake moments, he enjoys smiling at mommy and daddy and blowing raspberries. We felt bad for the little guy today. the Flebotomist came by to get some blood through an IV, she had to poke him three times and still couldn't get it. After the IV team came up, they were able to get it in with one poke. Our little brave boy only cried for a minute, until he became overstressed and closed his eyes to cope with it all. He attempts to mentally escape. What an a...

today was an unfortunate day for Jonah. He was put on c-pap because Jonah needed so much support, oxygen wise. Other than this everything is steady. The day nurse reported that Jonah really did have a good day, it wasn't until about 6 pm that Jonah started to struggle a little bit. Dang flu!!!