Learning To Eat

Lincoln is doing better now that he is eating more....he is now almost a 6 pounder! While Lincoln is eating, he gets tired easily. He still does not finish what they give him and is having a little trouble with the "suck-swallow-breathe" thing. He is now getting 45 cc's but can only nipple about 25-35 cc's. Because of this, Lincoln is now working with an Occupational Therapist to teach him better technique while eating....and he is picking it up slowly. While drawing his daily labs yesterday, the Dr informed us that his "Bands" and "White Blood Count" were slightly elevated. This is an indication that Lincoln might have a "foreign invader" in his blood and might need to be put on an antibiotic. The preliminary culture test taken this morning turned out negative but they need to wait 3 days for the total confirmation. This is probably due to how many open wound sites he has from the chest tubes and the IV's. Pray that no infection grows in the next couple of days or we will have to put things on hold while he battles that! We talked to the cardiologist today...he said that Lincoln should be able to handle things (his high sats. and a little pulmonary edema) with his heart for now or at least until the next surgery. Today they will wean him completely off his final heart medication that is given by IV and switch over to the oral version of it. This is the final IV drip that Lincoln is attached to...YEAH! So until the next update...pray that Lincoln gets stronger, feeds well, his heart & lungs continue to perform well, no infection, the transition from IV meds to oral meds, chest tube removal today or tomorrow goes smooth. TTYL...we love you all! J&K