The Hanna Family

First Week Birthday

Jonah and Noah are one week old today! It is hard to believe as this past week has felt like an eternity.

Both are fairly stable today, they did notice a change in Noah's white blood cell count this morning so they started him on the three antibiotics that Jonah is taking to treat any type of infection that might be developing. Noah's distended tummy is getting a bit better but they are keeping a close eye on his stats and x-rays to make sure no perforations occur in his bowels. If this were to happen then it would mean surgery and a transfer out. Right now we are praying hard to keep the boys together, even though surgery is very possible at one point for one if not both of them.

They were changing both beds this morning so we got to do a bit of touching today as they had the boys out in the open (also because both are feeling well enough). It scared me to death though when they moved Noah's bed over to make room for another incubator because they unhooked his various oxygen tubes and the process was horribly noisy and loud. I couldn't believe that all the moving, touching, rearranging didn't even affect Noah's blood pressure, etc. I know it affected mine!!

Noah seems to be our relaxed baby, he doesn't mind being moved and all the touching when any kind of adjustments are being made. Jonah on the other hand is very sensitive to changes. His nurse did say today though that she has noticed he likes being touched, I just think we've seen him so unhappy because he had such a difficult week. I did get to cradle his head today and he really did respond and seemed to enjoy being touched. He must be feeling better! Jonah's color looks a bit better today which is great. They think the antibiotics are really helping him and he looked much more comfortable today. He was stretching his tiny chest over the past 48 hours and looked really unhappy but this morning he looked much more peaceful and at rest with things so I think the meds are really making a difference.

Tomorrow both have their heart ultrasounds, hopefully the Indocin they had Noah on will have closed his PDA valve. They both will also get head ultrasounds. We are praying fervently that Jonah's bleed will not have worsened any more, maybe we'll even be lucky enough to already see it subsiding. Noah has been fine up until now so we pray, pray that tomorrow's x-ray will not show any changes.

I got some cute video clips of both the boys as well as some sweet photos. I will also upload a few from a week ago as there is the sweetest photo of Jonah grabbing onto Shane's finger....he is such a determined spirit.

I know they will make it through this challenging time. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers. I really think there are people praying throughout the entire nation for us. We just heard today of our old singles ward from McLean, VA sending out an email and that several of our old friends where praying for the boys. We have family throughout the south, east, near Chicago and all over the west coast so the entire nation is covered!

With so much prayer we are bound to see miracles happen, so thank you all for praying for us and believing that God can make the difference.

We know he can.

Love, Shane and Michelle