...sigh...

I'm so excited!!! I know I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but it's too tempting! Lincoln is on his third day with no ventilators. He is breathing well on his own with a little assistance from the high flow nasal canulla!
You can actually see his face :) Now all we need to aim for is a little meat on his bones. This should be possible since how they're increasing his feedings everyday...knock on wood....and unless anything goes wrong he should be up to full feedings by the 29th.

I could just eat him up!!

Kanga and Roo

Well, he got just plain exhausted!! He tried the CPAP for almost a good 24 hours, but didn't last any longer. They felt his carbon dioxide off-put and oxygen in-take levels weren't where they needed to be. At this time they felt it in the best interest to put Lincoln back on the VIP ventilator. I'm okay with that. I feel like they need to do whatever is BEST for Lincoln. Their strategy is to make sure he makes progress, but to be safe while doing it. Their plan of action is to try it again in a few days.
NOW on to better news:

I FINALLY got to hold my baby boy!!! This is what they call the Kangaroo hold. It is so very important for these little fragile preemies to feel the skin to skin contact with their Mommy. Touch...and a positive touch.... helps him to remember me. Holding him helps him to hear my heartbeat as he once did while in my womb. They say, especially once you start feeding them their mommy's milk, they will recognize their mommy's smell. I've chosen one place I touch him every time I go in and that gives him another chance to recognize me, I hold his hand. My voice is something that is familiar to him and I make sure he hears it when I go in twice a day. When I was pregnant with him, I often sang the same song while in the shower. I make sure to sing or hum that song to him while I visit.

LOOK AT ALL HIS HAIR!!

Magical

With all the crazy events that have taken place over these last two weeks, I haven't got around to posting the wonderful 8th birthday party that Scottie had on the 7th of November.

Scottie's Uncle Shawn has always had a love for magic. We came up with a great idea to have a magic show party for Scottie's 8th birthday. Of course, that automatically meant Uncle Shawn would have to be our magician. He was AWESOME!! Thanks Shawn!
The kids LOVED it. One of my nephews even said, "This is the best birthday party ever! Can I have my birthday at Aunt Megan's house?"

Happy Birthday Scottie.....we love you!!

had to make capes for our magician's in training

can't have capes without wands....

good eatin'

good company

and last but not least...good entertainment

My lil' Elephant

Lincoln was put on an oscillator ventilator right after birth. They tried to get him on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) ventilation, but weren't so successful. His vitals went crazy and he wasn't a happy boy.

What Is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)? Nasal CPAP delivers air into your airway through a specially designed nasal mask or pillows. The mask does not breathe for you; the flow of air creates enough pressure when you inhale to keep your airway open.

They then decided to put him back on the oscillator. After giving him a break for a day, they decided to try another ventilation system called the VIP on the 19th of November. It is very similar to the oscillator, but it allows him to breath more freely on his own. When I walked in for his morning visit on the 20th, I noticed he had finally graduated to the CPAP and he was doing excellent!! They informed me they changed to the CPAP at 1 am and everything looks great.

There's always a chance he won't stay on the CPAP for very long and may regress to one of the other ventilation systems. He may also do increasingly well each day and not have to wear it for very long and breath completely on his own. Either way, I just want him to be content and safe. And for now.....I'll just call him my lil' Elephant!!

It might look a little different....but this is a good HUGE step, especially considering he didn't have amniotic fluid for TEN WEEKS including the major weeks when his lungs should have been developing.

One Week Old

Lincoln actually turned one week old yesterday evening at 6:o5, but I wanted to give an update of how he's been doing lately.

Please forgive the quality of the pictures :) The nurses actually took them, bless their hearts, but for some reason when I try to scan them in color they become EXTRA grainy.

So, the first picture is of him next to a dollar bill. Poor child, look at him hooked up to all that stuff! The second is obviously just a close up....look at those lips!!

Now, for his condition. He's made LOTS of progress in the last couple of days. He no longer has an infection and is off his antibiotics. He has had two full good days along with two full good nights (this is big for little Linc). They are getting ready to take him off the ventilator and possibly put him on the C-PAP...also another big step. They found out that his brain bleed is considered a grade 1 instead of a grade 3...HUGE news. Today they fed him my milk for the first time and his body is tolerating it very well!

Thanks again to everyone for all your prayers!! He has come a long way this last week. We hope to see many more improvements from here on out. There's bound to be bumps in the road and we're expecting them....I don't know how prepared we can ever be.

I have created a blog solely for Lincoln to keep everyone updated on his progress. I will continue to put the same posts on my personal blog as well.


Lincoln's Crusade

LOVE

We can feel the love that has been offered to us on all levels. Not only have our family and friends been persistant in showing their concern, taking care of us, and knowing the very fragile state of our precious little baby, but so has the medical staff in the NICU. They have also been wonderful in recognizing how fragile our family has been. A few of the NICU nurses have showered us with words of encouragement, a gift basket, scrapbooked pictures of little Lincoln, and three little scrapbooks with pictures of Lincoln for Scottie, Savana and Luke to carry around. AND last but not LEAST knowing exactly what kind of care is needed for Lincoln in his fragile little state.


I can't say it enough:

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I only wish you could see the true size of his little hands and feet. These have been

enlarged just for the blog, they're not true to size.