*The Johnson Family*: Will Garrett Johnson

Now that I am back to work I can blog! Two kids at home is no joke… hard work! I am getting better at being a mom of two though. Things are actually pretty great. My little sweet Will is a sleeper! I prayed my whole pregnancy that God would give me a healthy baby and pleeeeease let him sleep LOL!

So back up two months ago. May 29^th 2014 at 1:43 p.m. – Will Garrett Johnson arrived. He was 9.2 lbs and 20” long. He had a head full of black hair. He looked just like his big brother. Big beautiful eyes. His due date was the 26^th but I knew he wasn’t coming on his own, just like Jake wouldn’t. I also knew this baby was going to be bigger than Jake, so I told the doctor to induce. Glad we did. Not sure I could have pushed out a 10lb’er! My epidural didn’t take on one side this go round’ and so I felt most of the contractions up until I was 8-9 cm. They gave me another one and at that point, Will was headed out! I couldn’t even lift my legs. I was beyond numb! Everything went smoothly and we had a perfectly healthy baby boy. Thank you Lord!

The night before we went home, one of the nurses was checking Will’s vitals and told me she wanted someone else to listen to his heart rate because it was pretty low, lowest she’s ever heard. Ummmm WHAT? Instantly bawling and wondering what is wrong with my precious baby. Most babies heart rates are like 140ish – Will’s was anywhere from 80 and dropping to 65. However; this was when he was asleep. When we startled him, it would bounce back to 110-130. He stayed in the NICU for 16 hours – while Josh and I never left his side. Anytime his heart rate would drop to 69 or below, the alarms would go off. This happened often. It was stressful and scary. We prayed harder than we ever have. The doctors ran tests and everything came back perfect. So why is his heart rate dropping?!?! They said “he just has a low resting heart rate” and that was that. Nothing to worry about because when he wakes, it goes back up. We saw 3 different doctors when we came home. We wanted different opinions and to hear them tell us Will was ok. For the first week and half, we didn’t sleep. We took turns staying up and watching him breathe, making sure his heart didn’t drop THAT low. To the point of SIDS. We didn’t know what else to do. Josh even tried to buy one of those monitors from the hospital but they said no. Over the next few weeks, we started feeling better about everything. He just has a low rest heart rate, and it could be genetic and it’s nothing to be worried about. Everyone said “he’s going to be an awesome athlete” … “Lance Armstrong has a low resting heart rate” … so we are sleeping now. HA! I prayed for a sleeping baby and that’s what God gave me – a chill, sleepy, laid back baby.

He sleeps most of the night. I had to wake him up at first to eat. Now I just get up and pump and go back to bed. He will wake up anywhere from 4-6 am then back to sleep for a few more hours. He is almost two months old. I can NOT believe it. He is the smiliest, sweetest, kissable, most precious boy! He loves to talk, loves his brother and daddy, and loves mommy for her milk lol! We go to the doctor tomorrow for shots =(

Jake is IN LOVE with his little brother. He always wants to “pet” him LOL! I’m so thankful for my two boys. Love love love them.