What a precious baby we have!

Hey Dad! I love you!

Awww it feels like nappy time... all tucked in with my favorite doggy book!

YO YO YO what's up! says big brother Cole!

Sooo comfy... on my daddy!

Stop laughing! I am comfy and this is my happy place!!

Check out my britches!

Hahahaa... my mommy has on ORANGE shoes!!!!!!!!

Yep, I'm on my daddy!

How cute is this boy??? SOOOO perfect!

Our little Dink is doing great! No new changes to report... we should be making the big move soon to the G-Unit (LOVE the name!!)... still on no oxygen and 5mls of formula per hour... he is getting to be a very spoiled demanding little guy and wants attention alllll the time... we love it! When he gets moved to a private room we will pretty much move in.. can't wait for some quiet time with the little guy... too bad south Columbus is sooo far from home and work but we will find a way to be there with him just as we have for the last 178 days! He is soo sweet and adorable and just like any other precious little baby, just that he has to live at Children's for another year or so... we've gotten past the point of desperation/depression/denial and have come to realize that this is the reality we are living in and we can and will make the most if it! If this means us living in a tiny hospital room on one chair/bed for another year then that is what we will do... sooo many people take for granted and even resent being woken up by a screaming baby needing a diaper or bottle or someone to kill the monster in the closet.. but we would give anything in the world to have those issues! We pray for the day that Lincoln wakes us up and NEEDS us... as we have said before.... please appreciate and value the babies you have..... not everyone is blessed in such a way... we thank God every day for our little Lincoln.. just can't wait to bring him home....

Finally googled enough to figure out how to get the old version back so I could add videos... haha.. now we can get back to updating the blog much more often!

Lincoln day 171

Lincoln is doing well... up to 5ml's per hour of Elecare... still on no oxygen and growing!  Unfortunately blogspot changed the blog site and now I cannot figure out how to add videos and also cannot add more than one picture at a time so it takes me hours to update the blog.. grrr... I need help figuring this out I guess!  He is about 8lbs 13 oz or so... he is also totally appropriate with his development so that is wonderful!!

No more oxygen!!

What's missing from this picture??? His NASAL CANNULA!!! Yay... no more oxygen!!   What a big boy!!!  He is doing ok on the feeds and is off all oxygen support for now... he is doing great!

King Lincoln

I'm all ready for the big game... grab me a cold root beer and some wings!!

You want a piece of me?? HUH??

Taking my bottle like a big boy!!

Tooo much root beer!

Voted "Best dressed boy in the NICU" by Meeker Magazine!

Just blowin' bubbles...

What's goin' on over there?? What's the score??

Wow, we LOST???????????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

In case you can't read it, my shirt says "I might be little but I'm tough!" (Thanks Jennifer!)

Little Lincoln is doing well... he is up to 3ml's of Elecare per hour and that is being increased to 4 tomorrow! He did have a new eye exam for ROP today and it was unchanged from last week... not good but not bad... means it is still stage 3 zone 3... we would've been very happy to see it improving but at least it isn't any worse either.... so he was NOT happy today... that exam is painful and uncomfortable and unfortunately he will have them weekly until this improves or surgery is required... pray it improves!! He is on the lowest oxygen setting on his cannula at .1 liter and they are planning on removing the cannula this week... hoping he stays off it for good!! He had a male nurse teamed up with his lady nurse and it was hilarious... apparently the male nurse "Adam" was the unlucky one to have to hold Linc down while he had his eye exam... so while I was holding him anytime Adam came around he got very angry... cracked us up!!!!! Poor Adam was just trying to change his tubing (not painful or anything) and Linc was punching him and screaming at him the entire time... sooooooo funny... what a feisty little man he is already!!! But poor Adam...lol! I think he holds grudges so that should be a warning to any male nurses he may encounter in the future..haha.. or is it just that he is sooo spoiled by his lady nurses...hmmmm??? Kayla and I had sooo much fun dressing him up in his new little Adidas track suit I got at Macy's... complete with Tennis shoes and Nike OSU onesies... I bought a few adorable track suits there so now he has an entire collection of awesome clothes hanging on his crib... we may have to rent a 'Pod' to store in the parking garage for all of Linc's toys/swings/strollers/shoes/clothing/blankets/movies/etc.... lol... they just better hope we get moved to the G-unit before Christmas because there WILL be a decorated tree with lights in his area...haha!!!

So, Greg turned 30 yesterday!!!!! We spent the day with Lincoln and had a nice dinner at home... life is as hectic as ever now... thanks to nonstop junior high/high school sports taking over!! The car a.k.a Christine is still running as of today (knocking on wood, fingers crossed, backflip over a caterpillar) yet she cost $104.99 for a BASIC oil change... seriously JIFFY LUBE!!!!!!!!! Of course I declined the additional $40.00 for the transmission fluid change they said she needed... I'm sure she will retaliate (again knocking on wood, fingers crossed, backflip over a caterpillar).. but maybe she will have mercy...haha!

Our perfect baby boy!

So we've calmed down... thank God for great nurses... Kim (one of Linc's primary nurses) was on today and consoled/counseled me, I feel sooo much better... This new visitor restriction is only for the Nicu's so when Linc gets moved to the G-unit he will be able to have visitors again... October! His therapists all chart that he is right on track with all developmental/behavioral criteria so we are sooo happy.. and I must say he IS the cutest baby ever.... he is 8lbs 10 oz and 20 inches long... and perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PISSED OFF PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, my evening started off fairly happily.. baking cookies with Cole like the 'old' days.. (if that is possbile in our situation) but... that quickly changed when I found out that Lincoln can no longer have any visitors until 'flu' season is over.... he can only have grandparents/parents visiting him.. til Spring or whenever.. even his own brother can't come see him.. this really really makes me mad.. I get the whole 'flu' panic thing or whatever but SERIOUSLY!!!! So when is it and HOW is it that Children's hospital gained full custody of our son?? It's like he is their personal property!!! Maybe we should tag him with a 'property of Nationwide Children's Hospital sticker" Bullshit! I'm done with all of their rules/regulations/stipulations/fairytales.... so I guess they will just move him into his little new 'closet' room and leave him there to be alone.. what the hell???? NOOOOOOOO.... he needs to be at home where we can love him and give him the attention he needs.... I understand that he needs to be in this place for now but I will NOT force him into complete isolation... NOPE!!!!!!!! I do not consider myself to be a fighter/person with a backbone but I MUST say this whole hellacious experience has changed me... ARE we the ONLY people in America that have been victims of this situation??????????????????? If you are out there please email us.... WOW!!!!!!!!!

G-Unit!

I am the cutest baby ever, even if my outfit is SUPER DORKY!!!! lol...

Little Dinky is doing ok... he is up to 3ml on his feeds and still loves getting those 2 precious bottles each day! We met our new doctor and he seems nice and very educated which is always a positive factor! After our little 'episode' with the NNP the other night we had a nice thorough meeting and voiced our concerns... he was very receptive and now emails us after rounds each day just to give us updates.. that is sooo nice to have!

One big huge shocking setback is that Lincoln's ROP (preemie eye issue) progressed and is now stage 3 zone 3. This is not good.. what is most shocking is that this is almost unheard of in a baby of his age... he is 47 weeks gestation and should not be facing this issue... but that's our luck! They cannot do anything at this time other than perform weekly eye exams to see if it worsens or goes away.. the odds are that it will go away but you KNOW how crappy our ODDS are!!!!!! What I understand is that even if it does worsen that they can perform laser surgery or other forms of intervention to repair the damage. He will likely have vision issues such as needing glasses etc.... but that is typical for all preemies.

We also learned that they are planning on transferring Lincoln to a permanent room in the "G-Unit' in October. This unit specializes in babies with short gut syndrome such as Lincoln. They will be able to focus more on Lincoln's feeding issues and nutrition so that is a good thing. The feeding issues are the major concern for Lincoln at this time... I know there are children in that hospital that are 4 years old and have NEVER left the hospital... I asked if that could be Lincoln's fate and they said they 'sure hope not'.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot possibly imagine having a child in that hospital for years... sooo unfair and sad. Having said this, once Lincoln is moved to this room he will be in a room all alone and will have a nurse that will also be caring for several other kids so he will be seriously lacking in attention and stimulation. For all my friends and family that would like to spend time with him, you are more than welcome. It kills us to imagine that precious sweet boy lying in a little room alone all day... it makes us sick... if we can somehow work it out financially I will quit working and be with him all day each day, instead of just evenings and weekends, but that is not a very likely scenario at this time.

He is cooing now and grabbing his toys... soooo adorable!!!! I promised him I would buy him more cd's, I'm pretty sure the 2 he has are getting pretty old!

Greg is sooo busy with athletic events that he is busy handling volleyball games or football games and can't be there to see Linc as much as he wants to be... this is sooo hard on him and on me as I make the long drive down there alone... but we are doing the best we can in this situation... it's awful and heartbreaking but unfortunately it is our reality...

Kiss and hug your healthy, happy families and thank God for them each day... Every smile Lincoln gives us and every time we see him renews our faith that he will be home with us someday a happy, giggling, mischevious little boy!

Oh nooooo... gang symbols already??

Mom, seriously!

Dad! Mom is sooo annoying!

Lincoln is still 2 ml's of Elecare per hour but doing well otherwise!

Lincoln day 154!

Lincoln's feeds were up to 4ml's per hour but are back down to 2ml's now... apparently his little butt is too sore so they backed off on the feeds... On another note... he is soo perfect developmentally that we are very excited for him! He is doing sooo well in all aspects (other than the feeds)... he has an awesome personality... what a sweetheart! His night nurse Susan took out his cannula and left him in 'room air' all night and he did sooo great! Unfortunately his day nurse put it back in since he was working a little too hard to breathe the next day with all his activity.. but it's a step in the right direction! He is 8lbs 3.5 ounces now! We also promise to be more diligent with the blog updates.. we have just been soo busy with everything that we haven't had time to get on here and update lately.. We promise to update daily from now on!! We appreciate everyone that reads our blog and thinks of our beautiful son...