Thanks to medical science

Lincoln started out his life like this.....
Here is the day after surgery....

And now 6 months later, we have this smiley, eating machine, skinny boy. Whew that time flew by!

If it had not been for the nurse in the surgery room with us, Lincoln might not have been were he is today. We were told by his surgeon that many nurses (and some doctors) would not have caught on his early signs of his defect. Lincoln received immediate care and attention to get him on his way to recovery.

Not all babies are born healthy and get to home a few days after birth and it is heartbreaking to see the journey that they must face. In 16 days we will be walking with March of Dimes in honor of the rough start that Lincoln and so many other babies have birth. I am writing again to ask for donations for the March of Dimes. If you have had a baby in the NICU then you know how grateful you are for the medical attention and experience your baby received in the NICU. Years ago, these babies would not have had the chance to live a "normal" live that they do now. The families might have to readjust their views of normal but they get the chance to watch their babies grow and thrive the best way they can. March of Dimes gives the donations to the research of premature and birth defect which could prevent it in the future.

Please donate to give all these babies (and future babies) a fighting chance at life like all babies deserve!

6 month picture preview

Lincoln is officially half a year old! Pretty exciting stuff! WE took his pictures at JCP on Sunday and here is a couple to show off. I will post the official monthly update with his monkey pictures soon but we are dealing with a sick baby boy and two tired parents!

The cutest pic out of the whole bunch!
And yes we got a few like this again! (These were taken on Sunday when he was first showing signs of getting sick.)

I know you are all on your edge of your seat for the next post!

Spring Break 2010 Post (AKA a whole bunch of cute cousin pics!)

Lincoln and I spent this Spring Break with my sister, her kiddos, and my parents. We had a few days of doing nothing much and a day at the zoo. All in all it was a great week with great weather! Lincoln seemed to enjoy having his cousins around (at least to just watch as he does!)

An afternoon at the park....great times with Nena!
Tummy time with cousin Phoebe

All 3 cousins....Eli was a little "under the weather" on Tuesday and now that has passed through almost everyone in the family (not me so I am keeping my fingers crossed!)

Wednesday we went to Northpark so Phoebe (and Eli) could make a bear at Build a Bear. The Paci Fairy came and left Phoebe a note to put her paci in the bear. The idea seems to be working so far (but the fairy forgot one paci at home in the bed, Ooops!)

Thursday we ventured to the Dallas Zoo. I love going to the zoo and I am very happy that we bought a membership so there will be many summer days spent there.

A mid-morning snack

All of our elephants!

Phoebe really was happy in this picture

We always end the zoo trip on the endangered animals carousel. Phoebe wanted to ride the zebra but it was taken so she settled for this animal.

And Eli! Lincoln enjoyed watching the ride

He needed a hat to protect his bald head

Not sure we will ever get a good picture of all three (and Ben and Sarah having a baby so our chances of ever getting a good cousin picture is slim!)

It was a great day at the zoo except for a small part of losing Phoebe. It was about 15 minutes of panic for all of us (including Phoebe!) pretty sure she never let go of any of us after that!

We took a weekend trip to KS for a wedding reception to end our break but I haven't downloaded those pictures yet. We came back on Sunday with Lincoln having a stomachbug that was passed to Shane and my dad. Praying I don't get it!

It was a great Spring Break and now I can't wait until summer! 10 more weeks!

One tough cookie

Yes Lincoln you are one tough cookie!

Procedure is done

We woke up very early this morning and headed out for Lincoln's EGD, or in medical terms Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (sure did just copy and paste that word!) Lincoln could not eat after midnight last night so he was very well-mannered for a boy who did not get his 6 am bottle. I think the hospital was too interesting to think about eating. We checked in (the procedure was to start at 7:30) and then was told it would be at 8:15. We were told to walk around to kill time, not so easy with a boy who wants to eat and sleep. We walked around the hospital, came back at 8:00 and were told we had to wait for the doctor to come out of the OR. Lincoln's procedure did not start until 8:45!

We started the anesthesia and Shane and I were told to wait. The EDG lasted about 20 minutes. When the doctor came out he explained to us (with pictures of Lincoln's insides) that the scar tissue from Lincoln's surgery was not stretching like the rest of his esophagus so they had to dilate it, or put a long balloon (like the ones used to make balloon animals) down and stretch the area. The food was getting stuck or slowed down because of the narrow opening. We were told to watch and we might have to repeat the EDG again in 3 weeks or we may never have to do it again. We are hoping never again!

Shane and I got to go back and see Lincoln in recovery. That was the worst part of the whole thing. Lincoln did not do well at all! He was crying, screaming, thrashing around, choking, and pulling out whoever had him. It was very hard to see. We had to wait a little bit make sure he was able to swallow and his vital signs were ok. We finally got to feed Lincoln and he ate about 4 oz then he was done. The nurses said he might eat smaller amounts of milk all day because his throat is still sore.

Once we got Lincoln home, we put his jammies on and rocked him to sleep. I am hoping he sleeps all day so he will spend this rainy, gloomy day in jammies being cuddled with his daddy. Sounds great to me!

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!

The not so glamorous part of mommyhood

Since Lincoln's last swallow test, we have been slowly weaning him off thickening. Due to less thickener in his formula, he has been spitting up a lot more (that is putting it nicely!) About a week and a half ago he has been drinking straight formula so it is the thinnest and his spit up has gotten more. Pretty frustrating (since his clothes have to changed frequently) but the spit never seemed to bother him. We asked the pediatrician last week if we should be concerned with the spit up (I will try to not be too graphic but it was A LOT and very gross) but the doctor said that as long as Lincoln was going weight (which he did) and wasn't getting fussy when he spit up then we shouldn't worry. So we didn't until this weekend.....

Saturday I went to lunch with two of my college girl besties, Keely and Ashley. We ate in Southlake then shopped around a bit. About an hour after he had his bottle we were shopping around a little boutique (Keely was holding Lincoln) and it happened for the first time ever....formula shooting from his nose! Not just a little dribble, it was projectile from the nose and it happened about 3 times! It was the nastiest thing I had ever seen and to make it even better, Lincoln was screaming and crying (I was on the inside). I think it was the best birth control for Keely and Ashley but I do have to give them both props for taking it so calmly (thanks for remaining calm for me girls!) I thought maybe this was a once in a lifetime situation but no it happened again on the way home and again that evening (this time with Shane). He didn't do it Sunday but did it twice on Monday at the sitter's. I think someday it will be cool to Lincoln to shot milk from his nose, but for now it seems to be a little alarming. Also when he spits up (from the mouth or nose) he gets pretty fussy and this is new and not fun.

So I called his GI doctor (who is supposed to be the acid reflux expert) and his pediatrician. They both agreed that a scope and a dilation is probably the best thing to do. They will go in and check to make sure that the esophagus is growing like it should and not staying the same size from birth. I was told early on that the surgery site might stay tight while the rest of the esophagus grows which would lead to food getting stuck at that spot so they would have to go in and "balloon" it back to normal size. This may not be the case but they will not know until they do the scope. So Wednesday morning we will be headed up to do that procedure. Lincoln will be "out" so no food after midnight tonight (and if you ever had the privilege to watch Lincoln eat then you know that he will not be happy Wednesday morning when he can't eat). The procedure will be at 7:30 and it should take about 30 minutes then he will be in recovery for about 45 minutes to wake up. We should know something by 9:30. I am not nervous about the procedure part, I am nervous about the anesthesia. I am hoping he is his normal self the rest of the day but if not Shane has already taken the afternoon off to stay home with him. I am praying that this scope will help find the issue of the spitting up so Lincoln will not have to deal with it anymore.

Here is how Lincoln feels about the whole situation....
I feel the same way!

Exhausted!

This has been Lincoln every night this week since he started at a home daycare on Monday.
He took no naps on Monday (when he "scheduled" to take 3 a day) and he could not even hold his head up during this last bottle.

I guess watching all the older kids can be pretty exhausting!

We still get to see that precious smile!