A week has passed and our "normal" routine is developing. Alivia and Avery are in school all morning. They love their new classes and come home with lots of stories about their day. Some days they come straight home after school and other days they spend time with Stacey.

Aleah spends most of her days sleeping and eating. When she is awake she is very alert and responds to faces she knows with smiles, cooing and with her eyes. She is very precious. Her sisters have their own names for her -- Alivia calls her "lee-lee" and Avery calls her "so precious" and "Baby Aleah." Aleah had her second doctor's appointment on Tuesday and had gained 7 oz. since last Thursday. She was 8 lbs, 4 oz; just 1 oz below her birth weight.

We have all enjoyed having Daddy at home with us since the birth. His "vacation" is almost over. He will return to work on Monday. We all wish he could stay home longer. He has helped with lots of things around the house, but most importantly has handled the morning routine of getting the girls ready for school, lunches packed, breakfast and the carpool to school. This has given Mommy some much needed rest in the mornings. On Monday we will really be back to normal with Mommy in charge of all things in the morning, and all day.

This week we have enjoyed dinners from lots of friends and family members, celebrated Meme and Granddaddy's birthdays, had a family dinner out with the Mercer side of the family and all made it to Sunday School and church on Sunday. Mommy even ventured out last Friday with a trip to Lake Benson park with all three Sweet Peas. All went well until Aleah decided she had had enough fun and was ready to go home. The big sisters really enjoyed the slides and playing in the sunshine. Aleah also enjoyed her first photography session this week with Ms. Geri. We can't wait to see her 'Mommy and Me' and 'Daddy and Me' photos.

This weekend we will embark on our first family road trip. Our friends Ben and Christy are getting married in Asheville and we are all attending! We are also going to spend some time with our friends Lori and Trent. It should be a fun, full weekend. Let's hope that Aleah travels as well as her big sisters!

What a Blessing!

What a wonderful treat to have a normal day! Yesterday, the girls went to school, we took Aleah to her first doctor's appointment, introduced her to Grandma Polly, Grandma Mercer, Aunt Etta and Grandma's friends Aldine and Betty -- and Meme was here, too -- enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by members of our Sunday School class and Aleah took her first bath. Mark took the girls to dance class and Aleah and Kristen took a nice long nap. All in all the day was very normal! What a blessing to be spending our time enjoying one another rather than consumed with medical terms, beeping machines and the hustle and bustle of the intensive care nursery.

Aleah is doing great. She loves her big sisters, being snuggled and loves attention. Yes, she is a Johnson girl! She hates having her diaper changed and did not like her first bath at all. She is doing well sleeping in her bassinet, although she much prefers the naps on Mommy and Daddy's bed. It amazes me how little ones can tell the difference. (Alivia and Avery were the same way.) Aleah will sleep longer and more soundly when she is placed in the middle of our comfy bed or her snugly baby papazan chair rather than in her bassinet or her crib.

Alivia and Avery are transitioning well. They both love to help with the baby and hold her. Alivia is enjoying her new pre-K class. It is hard to believe that she is in her last year at The Growing Place. The girls started their new school year on August 31, the same day Kristen went into labor and Aleah's journey began. They both have done very well with so many changes, crazy schedules, hospital visits, Mommy and Daddy being focused on other things and in general our world being turned upside down. They are great little girls. Today is Avery's special day at school. She gets to be the helper, took one of her babies to school for show-and-tell and she chose cupcakes with sprinkles for her special snack.

Now that life is getting back to normal our posts will most likely be less frequent -- our goal is to update at least once a week -- and will change focus to highlight the lives of all three of the Johnson Sweet Peas!

What a blessing!

And Baby Makes Five!

We are home at last! Our house is full of love, laughter and little feet...finally! Alivia, Avery and Aleah spent the evening getting to know each other with lots of snuggles and kisses. The big sisters love Aleah so much! They were so excited to meet their little sister. Aleah is very content being held by both of her big sisters. Avery's first comment was, "She is so tiny!" and Alivia was full of smiles and wonder. It is finally real. We feel complete and so very grateful for the gift of our family.

For nine days, 11 hours and 1 minute we longed for grace and a full recovery for Aleah. It seems like a year has past and nothing else has mattered. Walking out of the hospital with our little miracle was an incredible feeling. We've prayed, cried and been touched by the outpouring of support from our family and friends.

We have been through a lot of medical scares in our almost 8 years of marriage and nothing comes close to comparing to this experience. It has been humbling and amazing for us to watch the events unfold and be able to look back and realize that, although we don't understand why, we know that this was part of God's plan for us. We have been able to see how He has been preparing us for this battle and how He has carried us through.

As we have mentioned before, the doctors and nursing staff too realize that Aleah's journey was not typical, nor was her quick recovery. One of her nurses told us yesterday that she has never seen a baby as sick as Aleah make such a quick turn around and that it was certainly a testament to the power of prayer. (Did I mention that she has been a nurse practitioner in the NICU for more than 30 years?) Yes, we acknowledge that Aleah received a very high level of wonderful medical care, but medical science can only go so far. We believe faith and trust in the Lord has healed our little girl.

We were also told yesterday that the chances of an infection such as this developing in Aleah's lungs prior to birth were less than 0.1%, meaning that there was a 99.9% chance that this would never happen. Aleah is our miracle. We count ourselves blessed to have seen a glimpse of God's glory through this trial. We know that God has a mighty plan for Aleah's life and we can't wait to see that unfold. To God Be the Glory for Great Things He Hath Done!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A Busy Day, Indeed!

Mark went to sleep pretty early Monday night while Kristen was still at the hospital, so at 3am this morning he was awake and feeling the tug at his heart to go to the hospital. He got to the hospital around 4am and spent the next two hours rocking Aleah. To his surprise, Aleah's nurse had removed the nasal cannula around 3am, and she was now breathing on her own for the first time since birth! It was a moment that he will never forget!!!

Kristen was back soon after 8am and spent the day with Aleah. Dr. Dunn returned from her labor day vacation to find Aleah a different little girl. She and others who have watched the progression were amazed. Just as there is no clear reason why or how Aleah got sick, there is also no logical reason why she was able to completely turn around in mere days. Everyone who has met Aleah has been touched by her story and her quick recovery.

One by one all the remaining wires and tubes, pumps, IVs, central lines, the feeding tube and monitors were removed. Aleah is finally free of all medical interventions! After having dinner together, we returned to the hospital to find Aleah in a regular baby bassinet with no monitors, no medications and waiting for Kristen to dress her in baby clothes for the first time. Up until now, she simply has had too many wires and tubes attached to allow clothing. What a great feeling -- and something most take for granted -- to see your newborn looking like a newborn in tiny little clothes.

The checklist to go home has almost been completed. Our friend Shawn, who is the pediatric audiologist at WakeMed, completed Aleah's hearing test and she passed with flying colors. (We have been amazed how many people who we know and trust have been a part of the great care Aleah has received.) Aleah's final milestone will be to successfully be off extra oxygen for 24 hours. That should be accomplished at 3am on Wednesday.

Aleah enjoyed being rocked today by Meme, Grandma and Granddaddy. It was rare for her not to be in some one's arms today. She is sure to be spoiled by the time she finally gets home! We are excited that the rest of our family and friends will soon be able to meet Aleah, too.

Today has required us to divide and conquer, not something we do well. We prefer to do everything together as a family. We are hopeful to have all the Johnson Sweet Peas at home tucked snugly in our arms very soon.

A Step Closer to Home

Our hearts are heavy as we write tonight. Our church family lost a three month old baby boy last night. Please pray for the Farmer family as they grieve this incredible loss. We would also like to ask for prayer for Marshall and his family. He is in the NICU right beside Aleah! His extended family goes to church with us. His Daddy is fighting for us all in Iraq. I can't imagine how hard that must be for his Mommy.

Aleah Kathryn is doing great. She continues to make strides toward a full recovery--such a different story than what we were experiencing last week. In just a few hours she will be one week old. It is hard to believe that it has only been a week, for so much has happened in the past seven days. Thank you for those following our story and for the continued prayers. We firmly believe that you all have been a part of making her first week possible.

Today Aleah began nursing, decreased her need for oxygen and spent most of the day in Mommy or Daddy's arms. She is becoming quite accustomed to being held. We are trying to make up for the lost time from her first few days of life when we were not able to hold her. Meme and Papa also got to hold her today.

She is showing her "spirit" more and more. She reminds us so much of Avery (well, and her Mommy, too.) She is fiesty and determined to have things her way. While nursing, she decided she no longer needed her feeding tube and she pulled it out and then proceeded to try hard to get rid of the oxygen cannula. She must have tried 25 times to pull that out, too. When her nurse tried to replace the feeding tube, Aleah pulled it out at least 4 more times while the nurse tried to get it taped in place, until finally Daddy had to hold her hands down. After many trys and through her crys of protest, they successfully got all her tubes back in place! Did we mention it is great to hear her cry! Today was the first time we have heard her cry since just after she was born.

Thank you Dory for helping Alivia and Avery have a great day. We heard stories of playing hide and seek, making cards for Aleah, playing babies and dress up, and on and on.

After dinner tonight, Kristen and her Dad went back to the hospital and were thrilled to find that Aleah had been moved to the intermediate stepdown unit. This is still technically the ICN, but is one step closer to home. And, since Aleah spent some of the day without her extra oxygen (while she was trying to pull it off her face), her nurse tonight was going to try an "air" test to see if she would tolerate breathing without any extra oxygen! (Determination ultimately gets you where you want to be.)

Thank you Christa for helping out tonight. Alivia had fun having big girl time with you painting finger nails and doing "girl stuff."

We finished the night with a trip to Krispy Kreme for hot doughnuts to celebrate. Papa was the hero when he walked in with hot doughnuts and of course a couple of chocolate covered sprinkle covered versions for Alivia and Avery. This was a middle of the night tradition that my Daddy started when I was little. Anytime he was out late at night after a rescue call or other trip to Raleigh, he would return with hot doughnuts. I carried this tradition with me through my college days introducing it to many close friends and now Mark helps the cause on occasion when we need a sweet treat late at night. Our girls love it, too! It was another full day and we are all exhausted. Happy Labor Day!

Another Great Day!

Our family went to church this morning - Kristen is doing so well that she even felt like going! It was nice to see people who have been praying for us. We have had so many offers from our church family to help. Our Sunday School class is organizing meals for us as soon as Aleah comes home, and other offers of support and help have included such things as grocery shopping, cutting our grass, babysitting Alivia and Avery while we go to the hospital - the offers are plenty. For now, we are okay, but certainly appreciate the generosity that our family and friends have shown.

After church, we went to Kristen's Grandma's for lunch (a Sunday tradition), and enjoyed a delicious lasagna made by Kristen's Aunt Patty. We are trying desperately to keep some level of normalcy for Alivia and Avery. You will notice in the pictures above that Avery is insisting that "her baby" be in pictures until "our baby" comes home. Avery's baby even rides in Aleah's car seat in the car! (It certainly warrants a double take when walking beside the parked car--it looks like we left a real baby in the car.) Our hearts sank this afternoon when while playing with her baby Avery asked Alivia, "Livi, is your baby sick. Does she need to go to the hospital?" She then continued, "Mine is." It was precious, but filled us with sadness that our little girls, too, are going through so much.

After our visit at Grandma Polly's, it was back to the hospital. We stayed with Aleah for a few hours. When we got there we were amazed at her progress since last night. Her nurse had removed the ventilator completely and replaced it with a nasal cannula - a definite step in the right direction. Her IV in her hand and one IV in her naval had been removed as well. She had been completely weaned off of her medication that has been keeping her sedated, so she was a bit more alert than any other day thus far. We were able to hold Aleah for the very first time - what an emotional experience for us - it was simply great!!!

Aleah's nurse explained to us that Kristen can start nursing Aleah tomorrow (Monday). Her nurse is not scheduled to work again until Thursday, so she actually said her goodbyes to us since she felt that we will be able to go home before Thursday. Again, it was a great afternoon at the hospital.

We came home, had dinner and took naps. Mark got up around 10pm and decided to go back to WakeMed to visit Aleah again. Kristen wanted to go so badly, but realizing that her energy was all gone for the day (and considering that we had two sleeping girls at home), she decided to stay home so that she could get more rest.

We'll be back at the hospital Monday morning. Dory Johnson, a precious teenage in our church, is going to keep the girls for us on Monday so that we can go to the hospital and visit with Aleah. We will update everyone after that visit.

Thanks again for your prayers.

A Day of Firsts

Today was a day of firsts for Aleah. After packing up our things, we wanted to visit Aleah once more before leaving the hospital. To our surprise, she had continued to drastically improve during the short time since our earlier visit. Kristen had the chance to change Aleah's first diaper, watch as she was given milk for the first time through her feeding tube and, the highlight of the day, Kristen got to hold Aleah while her bed linens were changed! What an exciting moment to see our little girl in her Mommy's arms for the first time. It was priceless and made leaving the hospital without her much easier.

Alivia and Avery were so very excited to have Mommy and Daddy home. Meme brought us lunch from McDonald's -- an extra special treat for the girls! We then began the process to transition back into our normal world. After lots of snuggling, naps and unpacking we were soon back on our way to visit Aleah.

Tonight Aleah had continued to make progress. Her ventilator oxygen level was down to 25%. Yes, for those keeping up, that means she only has to come down 4 % before being taken off the ventilator and breathing on her own. We are hopeful that will happen tomorrow! The level of her sedation was also lowered today and our little girl was much more alert tonight. We are thrilled with her progress!

Thank you Lord for giving us such a wonderful gift today. We are getting glimpses of our Aleah being able to come home, happy and healthy.