The sweetest sound today

Today was a big day for Lincoln...his ventilator (breathing tube) was taken out!! We were told Sunday that they were going to remove it Monday morning between 9 and 10. I thought it would take awhile and they would just do without me there. I slept later then I meant to and I got a call at 8:30 from the NICU nurse asking if we were going to be there at 9:00. I told them we were running late so my MIL and I rushed around to get everything together ASAP. Apparently they were waiting on us because as soon as we got there, we got the ball rolling. The procedure took a whole 5 minutes but there were a lot of people of watching and the nurse said she was going to get the party favors passed out for this major celebration. As soon as the tube came out, Lincoln was a completely different baby. His eyes were wide open and looking around and he made the sweetest sound to my ears.....he cried! I know most new moms would be tired of hearing this but I have only heard him cry one other time (when he was first born) so this was a great sound to finally hear. His cry is quiet and very hoarse sounding because he is still very sore but it is so sweet to hear. He took to his pacifier right away and he can go to town with that thing once he figures out what it is. I asked the NICU doctor when I could hold him and he said if I was good then he would let me today! I was on my best behavior. Shane made it up after the tube came out and we waited and waited for the nurse to let us hold him but she was tied up with another baby, so we went to lunch. I was sad that Shane wouldn't get the chance to hold him but he reassured me that he was ok with it as long as one of us got to hold him. After lunch I finally got to hold my boy. This was a big deal to me since I can count on one hand the times I have held my 1 week old baby (as of tomorrow)...that makes me sad to think about. My MIL captured a few pictures of that precious time. I got to hold Lincoln for about an hour and it was wonderful! The nurse he can only be held once a day because they are trying to keep him calm for the most part because he is still being fed though an IV in his leg and they are afraid that the more he is stimulated then the more hungry and cranky he will get. I do not blame him one bit...I would be hungry too! The surgeon poked his head once today and quickly said everything looks great and they might try to feed him breast milk through his feeding tube tomorrow but the NICU nurse hadn't heard that and said they would need to chat first before anything is done. So that is about all we know now, but we are thrilled at where Lincoln is today. He is right on schedule and the next hurdle will be Thursday for the dye test (to check if the dye goes down the esophagus correctly). So pray that the dye test goes smoothly because the next time is eating and that will get him home in a couple of weeks!

Now onto what is most important....pictures!
Here is Lincoln moments after the ventilator was removed....doesn't he look happier? I think he does. His little cheeks were so red and chapped from the gauze.

Momma and Lincoln

He has to have socks on his hands because he tries to pull the feeding out. He looks like he has numbs for hands.

Shane didn't get to hold him but the nurse took the top of his bed (looks like a submarine) and let the side down so Shane could partly hold him tonight. (We had wonderful nurses both day shift and night shift today. None of this stimulation would be happening if we had grumpy nurses so we are very thankful for the nurses we had today!) You can tell in all the pictures of Shane and Lincoln who is the center of Shane's world now...I think I got bumped but that is ok!

So that it is for today....waiting to see what tomorrow holds!

Until next time-

Carrie