Moving right along

Sorry to neglect the blog for a few days but I guess no news was good news! Lincoln has been doing great with his bottle feedings. They started him out on 4 bottle feedings a day and wanted to increase slowly depending on how he acted. Yesterday, he seemed very eager to eat so each time it was feeding time they tried and bottle and watched to see if he would take it. Lincoln took 7 out of 8 feedings yesterday, great news!!! They gave him a break at his 3 am feeding since he was sleeping but I bet he would have done it if they tried. He has been an eating champ and showing us all that he is ready to come home. Today at noon, I was getting his bottle ready (which takes awhile since I still learning how to mix everything without spilling) and I was apparently too slow because he was so frustrated! He worked himself up so much we had to swaddle him to get him off the edge then he ate the whole bottle in about 15 minutes! He as a hungry boy! The OT wants him to get to 8 feedings and prove he can do for about 2 days straight then he is good to go! We will see what he can do over the weekend!

Lincoln also started his vitalstem (sp?) yesterday. Basically (in non-medical jargon) an OT/ speech pathologist comes in and attaches 2 electrodes to his throat (with lots of tape, looks sad) and slowly increases the intesity of contractions that are being applied to the sucking muscles int his neck. They start at 0 and increase by .5 depending on the baby's reactions. They highest she will go is 25 but normally with baby's first time she will only go to 7 or 8. Lincoln did great for his first time. It took about 30 minutes and she was able to increase it to a 15 on the first time. He handled it great and actually fell asleep the last half of the session. Today she was able to go all the way to 25 and again he did great. Lincoln will have this therapy 3 times a week and it will continue as outpatient when he goes home. This therapy is still pretty new and the OT was so excited to finally to get to use in the NICU at this hospital so both sessions he has had there are MANY observers coming in and out to check it out...Lincoln is becoming a celebrity! We are hoping to see some improvement in his sucking and swallowing so I will update when I find out anything new!

Also on Thursday, he got his broviac line (IV in the leg that was in for antibiotics) was removed! So happy that thing is out!

See the last few posts have not included pictures, I decided everyone needed to see his sweet face. He is not looking like a newborn anymore but more like a baby. His cheeks are filling out and he is very curious of the world around him!

This is look I get EVERY time I get the camera out. I am hoping it gets better because he just looks concerned!
He is constantly playing with his ear or his hair. These pictures were taken right after his bath Tuesday so his hands were free for a moment but he is still sporting the sock hand look normally.

Since Lincoln is getting older they want him to be more stimulated throughout the day. This mirror is his favorite thing. He look and talk to his "friend" for a LONG time except when the mirror falls on him then he wants nothing to do with that.

This week has been encouraging and the nursing staff is telling us if everything keeps going as it is then we might be bringing him home sometime next week! They are watching his weight (he loses a little then gains it back and so forth) and want it to be more stable or increasing so they are now adding some powder formula with the milk for more calories. He has to show that he can eat all 8 feedings for a couple of consistent days and keep his weight up then he can come home! Pray that it will be early next week!