Grandma & Grandpa Carter came for a visit and it was a real treat for Great Grandma Maine to come since she had not seen him until this week.

Lincoln had a bunch of visitors this week. George & Linda Posthumus, Danielle Bohr, Jaime Angel & Chris Espedal all came to see the little man.

No Drainage Yet

Well it's been 24 hours since they started feeding Lincoln his low fat formula...and there hasn't been any drainage yet from his chest tubes. Depending on the Dr. you talk to...the drainage would either show its self within 24 hrs of feeding OR take time to build up because they are feeding him such small amounts every 3 hours. If the 2nd was the case...it could be another day or two. We are just glad that the first 24 hours have gone by without any evidence of the chylo leaking into the chest cavity. It as also driving Lincoln crazy because they are going sooooo slow. He only gets 3 cc's (about 1-2 tablespoons) of formula and then he has to wait for three hours until the next batch. It is a major tease to him and he cries because he is like..."That's mean guys...I'm still hungry". Well, if we go another day without seeing any drainage, they will consider taking the chest tubes out and we will be one step closer to going back to Fresno. We will keep you informed as we hear! We love you all! J&K

Over the weekend Nana & Papa York, Uncle Keith, Auntie Tina, cousin Kyler & cousin Sydney came to visit and hang out with Lincoln.

Matt & Kim Souder and the kiddos also came to visit and got to see the little dude.

Happy independence Day!

Yesterday was a great day for feeding. They decided instead of giving him low fat formula to see if the chylothorax is healed, they would first stimulate his gut by giving him some Pedialyte. This does not have any fat in it so it wouldn't leak from the lymphatic system. There is 3 reasons they did this: 1 - Simulate his gut and get it ready for food. 2 - Give him one more day of healing before introducing fat into the lyphatic system. 3 - they were thinking they would have to give his formula by NG (nasogasteric) tube through the nose down into the stomach....but maybe if he could drink the Pedialyte by bottle and swallow it he would be able to do the same with the formula and not have to have the NG tube. Well, when the nurses gave Kristen the bottle with a few cc's of Pedialyte...Lincoln took it into his mouth, sucked on the bottle and guzzled it down! No Prob! So that was a huge success for being 3 weeks old yesterday and never have had any thing to eat. So the plan today is to give him the formula and watch and wait to see if any thing comes out of his chest tubes. So pray for another big miracle today...no drainage! He also had a lot of family come to visit him so he was exhausted....these are some pics we took after everybody had left..."I'm tired now...I think I'll sleep".

BIg Feeding Trial Run...Pray!

Lincoln is doing good. Today they are going to attempt to feed him a little bit of formula. We watch and wait if any fluid leaks into his chest cavity during the digestion process. If it leaks, we will see drainage through his chest tubes and we will have to wait another week or two. If not, they will build up the feeding slowly and will be able to remove the chest tubes. Please pray today for a successful trail run! Here are a few pics we took yesterday...his nurse wanted to be a little patriotic and lay some red and blue blankets under him since he cannot wear any clothes. We will post a bunch more pics tonight! We will let you know how it goes asap! Love you all! J&K

Hey everybody....
Sorry for the no post today....It's been a very busy day. A lot of family came down for the weekend to visit so its hard to get to the computer. Also no pics today....sorry, I know that's the best part. Tomorrow I will post a bunch! Lincoln is doing good! We are still just waiting to see if this chylothorax will heal and he can begin his feeds. They have decided to wait only 5 days instead of 7-14 days to let the duct heal before they to a trial run with his feeds. Today was day 3 of the 5. So Monday they will stop the medication (Octreotide) used to help it heal and then begin with small amounts of a nonfat special formula through NG tube. If it has healed there shouldn't be any drainage from his chest tubes. If it hasn't healed, we stop feeds, wait another week, try again and the chest tubes stay in until the problem is fixed. Pray that the chylo is healed by Monday and he can tolerate getting food! The presence of the chest tubes are so painful and such a huge risk for infection...plus he needs the calories to put on a few pounds which will just help the all around nutrition aspect too. Today Lincoln's chest x-ray was a little cloudy. This means he is getting a little fluid on his lungs. This is caused by high pulmonary flow to his lungs. He seems to be handling it ok since his vital signs and chest sound are good. Pleas pray that his lungs become & remain clear! Other than those two things, Lincoln is doing great! Well, that's it until tomorrow...we will talk to you then. We love you all! J&K

I Love My Binki!

Yesterday Lincoln got his bandage taken off of his chest. Now you can see his "war wound" scar he will be proud to show as a boy. They even spiked his hair when he got his bath. His nurse did a trial run with a pacifier. Infants who often go into surgery right after they are born loose their "suck & swallow" technique because they are not eating right away and have to be taught again. Lincoln obviously knows what he is doing since he grabbed a hold of it and went to town! Well, the plan today is the same...keep him comfortable, stable, watch his heart, keep his lungs dry, no pain from his chest tubes, no infections, good blood gases, and WAIT for the chylothorax to heal. Please pray for those things and for us! Also pray for one specific bill as our insurance has threatened to not cover it. Thanks again for you faithfulness and love! We will talk to you soon. J&K

The Waiting Game

Well, things are going well. Lincoln is handling breathing pretty good. We finally get to see his whole face. Since he is not going to eat for two weeks they pulled out the NG tube out of his nose. Now that he is extubated we are told we can hold him although not quite yet. His breathing is still quite fast (60-85 breaths per min)...so when he gets excited or agitated the breathing rate goes even higher and his "saturations" (oxygen in the blood) goes down and his blood pressure goes up. So when those things get better we will be able to hold him. Oh...and by the way the oxygen level in his blood is now down to 75-85% and holding...praise God! They are not quite sure why he is breathing this fast. They are still speculating that the band might not be tight enough around his pulmonary artery. But as long as his blood gases, vital signs, saturations & no sounds of water on his lungs are o.k. then they are fine with his high rate of breathing. Lincoln's chest tube drainage has slowed down a lot. As long as they are not draining it means that the duct can now begin to heal and there should be no presence of extra water near his lungs for them to soak up. We just have to wait & wait & wait. This will be very hard considering Lincoln is trying to make forward progress, and having the threat of fluid near the lungs & infection because of his chest tubes only makes the waiting harder. Not to mention his tubes are so painful and now they want to start weaning his pain medication because of withdrawal. So continue to pray that the pulmonary band is sufficient, the chylothorax heals and he continues to make forward progress with out infection. Last night before we left the hospital, we saw Lincoln making the funniest face expressions while he was sleeping. He must have been having a good dream because we caught a picture of him smiling. Kristen and I are doing o.k. The hospital routine is so exhausting! We forget sometimes that there is a world out there happening around us but time seams to stand still when you never leave the hospital...plus there is only so much cafeteria food one can eat! But we are doing good. Continue to pray for our emotional, physical & spiritual strength as those tanks sometimes run low. Thank you for all your support and prayers. During the nurses shift change (from 7-8 pm), we go to the hospital library and read the blog. The messages are so encouraging to us! Cant wait for you all to see this little peanut you have been praying for. We love you all! J&K