3 Weeks Old

Malachi is 3 weeks old today! Time is flying but I do feel like I am reliving the same day over and over  in some ways! Malachi weighs roughly 5lbs 3ozs. He still isn't a big cry-er and has been overall just very sleepy. We are still working on transitioning him to breastfeeding. Right now I am working on getting him to breastfeed twice a day an then giving him the bottle after to make sure he is getting enough to eat. Usually we do this around 11am and 5pm. During the day he is on a 3hr feeding schedule and at night I let him go two 4hr stretches. We are still trying to iron out what is best for him with the feeding/eating schedules. I might keep him on the current one which gives him 7 feedings a day or move him back to 3hrs round the clock to get the 8 back in. God is using Malachi to bring me to the end of myself each day. I thought I would be pretty comfortable having a baby but having a preemie is a whole other world. All and all things are good!

First Walk & Friend

Yesterday we took Malachi for his first walk outside. It was in the 70s here and I think we all needed a little time out of the house. He slept the whole time but it was nice to get some fresh air. It wasn't a long walk as Mommy is still recovering from the C-section. Chico enjoyed some time walking outside as well! Later last night our friends the Taylors, Gabe, Sarah & Baby Paul brought us some dinner and hung out and played cards. Gabe & Chris introduced their sons and baby Paul held Malachi! :-) 

Merry Christmas

2 Weeks Old & 1st Check Up

Yesterday Malachi turned 2 weeks old. Wow, time is flying. I gave him his first bath with the help of Tommi Sitton. He seemed to really enjoy it. We had a space heater in the bathroom to keep him nice and warm! I tried to take a few pictures to show Malachi's size and growth, not sure which of these will work better, maybe the bear?

Today we took Malachi to his first check up with his pediatrician. This was the first time we met the doctor but he is actually my midwife's husband. A friend of ours takes her son to him also and she really likes him. We were happy with him and the visit. He is a nice, calm older man-sort of old fashioned. Chris really liked his style of practice and advice. Malachi weighed in at 5lbs! I can't believe it but am very pleased with his growth. Other than that everything went fine with the visit!

We have had a good 3 nights and days here with our boy. He seems to be a very content and easy going baby. We haven't really heard him cry at all. I wake him every 3 hrs, day and night, to feed him. He eats and is usually pretty wide awake when I put him down and then he quietly goes back to sleep until I wake him again. The doctor said we can let him go a longer stretch at night (3hrs is what the hospital recommended) so we are going to give that a try tonight and see if he wakes us up with a cry!

Thanks for your prayers and love!

12.20.11

Today Malachi saw the eye doctor and had a hearing test. He passed both exams! After he successfully completed two feedings after his eye exam they said we could take him home! We left the hospital around 6pm and headed home. We are rejoicing in God's goodness towards us and Malachi over the past 12 days. He has been so good and done far abundantly more than we could ask or think! Thank you for praying with us and for us during this time. We are happy that God delighted to answer our prayer to bring our boy home for Christmas, and even more so, 5 days before that. We are all home and doing well and looking forward to spending some time resting together over the next few days...or weeks! :-) Last night Malachi weighed in at 4lbs 8.8oz. I will try to keep you posted as much as possible in the days to come but probably not daily any more. Malachi has a doctors appointment with his pediatrician on Friday. Thanks again for all your prayers and support. God is good!

12.19.11

Malachi is still doing well. He is keeping his temperature up and is up to his full amount of feedings which is a little over an ounce every 3hrs. They are no longer measuring his input and output. Today I was able to try to breast feed him for the first time, it was a difficult task. We both have some learning to do. He was very sleepy and was not really interested in working for his milk. I tried for a while and then we gave him a bottle and he sucked that down very quickly. When he comes home I will have to work with him a lot to get him used to nursing. Overall he seems to be doing good. The nurse told us today to have his things ready in case he comes home tomorrow. We will see what the doctor says after he seems him in the morning but we are expecting him to come home any day now. Hopefully it is sooner than later as Chris and I are both very tired and weary of the day to day schedule. We can't wait to have our little boy home. Last night Malachi weighed 4lbs 7.8oz. Chris is at the hospital now and he just got weighed tonight and he is up to 4lbs 8.8oz. 

12.18.11

Malachi is now in a regular crib! He held his body temperature well yesterday and got moved this morning into his new bed. As long as he keeps it up and continues to do well with his feedings he will probably come home on Wednesday. They discontinued his IV fluids today as well. He is no longer hooked up to anything except the monitors. He is eating a little over an ounce at each feeding and should reach his target feeding amount later tonight or tomorrow. The nurse said I can probably try to breast feed him tomorrow. It is so nice seeing him in his cute little clothes and blankets even though they are a bit big. The carters new born stuff seems to fit him ok but obviously a little big. Last night Malachi weighed in at 4lbs 6.9 ounces, a little over his birth weight!Thanks for praying and please continue to pray that he will maintain his body temperature and that he will be able to come home later on this week. 

12.17.11

Last night they changed Malachi to a new bed. He is now in an incubator working on keep his own body temperature. The nurse has been lower the temp. of the incubator all day and we are hopeful in the next day or two he will be in a regular crib. He seems to be keeping his body temperature well when we are holding him also. He loves snuggling with mom and dad. They discontinued one of his IV fluids, the one giving him extra fat and calories as he has been picking up more milk each feeding. He is still on regular IV fluids. His last feeding he was up to 23mLs. Please pray that Malachi learns to suck, swallow and breathe. He is doing well with his feedings but at times he guzzles the milk too quickly. He is learning how to pace himself. Also he seems a little too happy with the extra milk he has been getting and we are having a hard time waking him up enough for his feedings which makes it difficult to feed him. We did have a chance to talk with the doctor today and he said that if all continues to go well with Malachi that he can come home sometime between Wednesday and Friday! Praise God! Please continue to pray with us to this end. Praying we will have him home for Christmas! :-) Malachi's weight as of last night: 4lbs 5.9oz.

12.16.11

Today was a great day! Malachi was taken off all extra oxygen. He is breathing completely on his own. They removed the feeding tube and the arterial line. He will be bottle fed at every feeding now. Currently he is eating about 1/3 of an ounce each feeding, every 3 hours. They will increase each feeding by 1 mL as long as he keeps doing well. He is still on IV Fluids until he is receiving enough calories from bottle feeding with my milk. Today I was able to feed him for the first time and hold him for the first time. Chris and I were so excited to finally hold him and kiss him. It was amazing! They also changed him from the open bed under the heater to an incubator. This is the next step toward being in a regular crib. Hopefully he will be able to maintain his own body temperature soon and be moved into a regular crib. Malachi weighed in at 4lbs 5oz last night. Thank you for your prayers, God seems to be progressing this little boy pretty quickly and we are very grateful. Can't wait to get him home. Hoping he bulks up soon!

1 Week Old- First Bottle Feeding 12.15.11

Today Malachi is 1 week old! While we were visiting this morning they decided to give him his first bottle feeding. He seemed to really like it! They are giving him about 1/3 of an ounce every 3 hours. As he tolerates, they will now be increasing every 6hrs. He seems to be a hungry boy! They decreased his oxygen from 3 to 2L today and he is doing well with that. The nurse told me that they would probably remove his feeding tube this afternoon and that I could go feed him the next time. We plan to go up soon so I can give it a try. They weighed him again last night and he is now 4lbs 4oz! Please keep praying that he will be able to come off the oxygen soon and that he would do well with the feedings and gain weight. :-)

12.14.11

Today Malachi was changed from the CPAP to the regular Nasal Canuli. He is currently only on 21% oxygen (which is regular room air) at 3L. They will be testing his blood gas every 12 hours to see how he is tolerating this change and if all is well will slowly decrease the amount of Liters he is on. He seems to be doing very well with this change as he is keeping his oxygen saturation in the upper 90s. He is off all meds except IV fluids from which he receives his nutritional needs and a feeding tube which they use to fed my breast milk through to him. He is currently getting a small amount of milk every 3 hrs and is increased every 12 hrs as long as he tolerates it. They weighed him last night and he is 4lbs 2 oz.

Malachi Update 12/13

Thank you for praying for Malachi. He is doing well. He has been taken off his blood pressure medication and antibiotics. He received a blood transfusion yesterday because his blood was a little low from all the tests they have been doing. He is no longer intubated but on a pressured nasal canuli. He is breathing on his own on 21% oxygen, which is room air- no extra oxygen needed, just the pressure of the air being pushed into his lungs. They are hopeful that tomorrow he will be changed to a regular nasal canuli. He started being fed my breast milk through the feeding tube and seems to be tolerating that well. They are slowly increasing the amount each feeding. Right now he is receiving a little less than an ounce every 3 hours. He seems much more content since getting the milk. He is also still on IV fluids until he is able to tolerate enough milk for nutritional needs.

I, Michele, am also doing better. We have been monitoring my blood pressure and it was back in normal range tonight. I have a follow up doctor's appointment on Friday morning.

Welcome Malachi Owen Johnson

Grace and Peace!

God found it good for Malachi Owen Johnson to be born on December 8, 2011! He ended up coming 7 weeks early. He was 4 lbs 6 oz and 17.5 inches.

Michele was diagnosed with Preeclampsia with HELLP Syndrome and she had an emergency C-secion. Basically, her blood pressure was 179/110 and her blood was becoming toxic from the liver releasing it into the blood. We are thankful that she was quickly and correctly diagnosed and that both their lives were saved! Our God is so gracious and loving through these hard times!

Michele was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and is now at home. We will continue to travel up to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NBICU) each day to visit and see Malachi. Pray that Michele will rest and get better through this. I (chris) will be traveling up to see Malachi more right now. We may try to get a room at the Ronald McDonald house by the hospital.

Pray for Malachi. His is hooked up to a ventilator to help his breathing. Pray that his little lungs grow stronger each day and his blood oxygen levels grow and stay up each day! Pray overall that God gives him strength and he gets better soon! Michele and I are praying that God will grant him to join us at home before Christmas. It will be a very hard one without him if that happens.

Pray for us to keep our eyes on Jesus through this all, the one who holds little Malachi in the palm of His hand. Jesus created him and gives him life! Pray for strength for us and a faith that trusts in our Sovereign Lord and Savior!

We thank you all for your prayers and support! We are so excited to have Malachi join us!

For Gods Glory!

Chris & Michele Johnson

November 2011

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EZ Trip Oct'11

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"Q" Trip Update

Yesterday I received a phone call from Chris from the village. At first I was worried because I didn't expect to hear from him while he was there. In fact, I wasn't even sure if he had access to a phone. However, what I was anticipating to be bad news turned out to be really great news! Chris called to share how great the trip is going and how God is working in wonderful ways through this medical/dental clinic. The people in the village have received the team really well and it seems many friendships have been made. Yesterday morning the team was given a written invitation to come back and do another clinic! Praise God! The leaders seem to be open to us coming back there again and working in this village. Chris and I are very excited for the door that seems to be opening up for our future work there. We thought it would take a lot longer to gain their trust and acceptance but it seems that God chose to do this in just a few short days. Please continue to pray for a team to go with us!

Chris and the team are packing up their stuff today and will head back to Oaxaca City to spend the night. I hope to hear more details from Chris tonight. They have a three day drive back to the states and we expect them to arrive home on Saturday. Please pray for safe travels.

Blessings,
Michele

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.-Ephesians 3:20-21