Micah's first month at home

Melissa's better qualified than I to talk about Micah's medical matters right now: work has been hectic for me, and I haven't been home as much as I'd like. I'll say just a few things about The Life of Micah in General and post a few pictures, though.

He's eating very well. He pulled his own nose-feeding tube two days after coming home. We'd been trained on how to reinstall it, but he hasn't needed it: he's bottle-fed like a champ. I think Melissa has enjoyed the flexibility and (relative) freedom that have come along with having a bottle-fed baby. She can run errands, go out of town for the day, and even sleep at night a little every now and then and (apologies to Greyhound) "leave the feeding to Dad."

His need for oxygen support seems to be tailing off a bit. We brought him home on a constant flow of 1/16th of a liter of oxygen per hour. As needed, we'd tweak him up to a 1/8th liter flow. Now, we can set him at 1/32nd and leave him there for the most part, jumping up to 1/16th only when he's mad or refluxing (or, as usually is the case, both at once).

His brothers love to hold him (see the pictures below).

I'd best get back to work. Melissa will write more later...

Ultrasound images

Yesterday, Melissa underwent a more comprehensive ultrasound than we've had in the last couple of weeks. The main (only) order of business during her daily ultrasound experience is to analyze the twins' umbellical cord bloodflow using doppler scanning. During yesterday's exam, the doctor also checked the kiddos for growth. Here's what we learned:

MICAH

Micah is growing ahead of schedule vs. the expected growth curve for kids at his gestational age. True to Johnson form, he has a bigger-than-expected head (2 weeks ahead of schedule) and chest (about a week ahead) and average legs. On average, he's measuring out at 27 weeks (vs. his actual age of 26w 4d). He weighs in at a healthy (estimated) 2 lbs. 3 oz. This is an estimate, naturally, based on length measurements. He's probably a little heavier because his head is so large.

SPENCER

Spencer is a little behind the curve (measured age of 25w 1d), but if you exclude his femur measurement (short, like all us Johnsons at 24w 0d) and count only chest and head measurements, he's right on where he ought to be (26w 4d). Spence weighs 1 lb. 10 oz. or so (estimated).

The good news: they haven't grown apart as much as some pairs of TTTS twins do. They're anatomically normal, and their hearts are ticking away as they ought. Bloodflow through both cords looks good. The prognosis: keep on waiting! Every extra day from this point on is a tremendous blessing.

Here are some ultrasound pictures from a week ago: headshots of both boys. First Micah...



...and now Spencer...