Picture Post

Here are some more pictures from the past month. Enjoy!

Lincoln - 2 days old. He was so small!

When Linc was put on ECMO, the surgery was performed right in his room at his bedside. The section of the NICU was closed to outsiders and the hallway was blocked off. Nurses, doctors and students were crammed into Lincoln's room as Dan and I waited in a conference room down the hall.

This is what the ECMO machine looked like. The red tubes on the far left are what connected Lincoln to the machine and carried his blood. 

 As Linc became more active as his body rested on ECMO, he began to grab his ET tube frequently. 

He soon found his mouth after discovering his ET tube. I would find him sleeping like this.

Linc the day of his hernia repair surgery - before (Sorry the picture is so dark. The lights were off to minimize stimulation for Lincoln.)

The glowing lights on Linc's wrist and foot are pulse oximeters to measure his oxygen levels. The glowing monitor on his chest is for CO2. He also has ear muffs to keep things quiet for him. His left foot has an IV line, so it is taped to a padded board.

And after...

After being on ECMO for 12 days and waiting 4 additional days before repair surgery, Lincoln's head was finally moved to his other side. He had a huge flat spot that has since gone away. He also made painful faces when the nurses rotated his head for the next few days. Poor baby!

 

Lincoln's first "toy." After surgery, Lincoln was paralyzed, so the nurse made this for Lincoln to hold to keep his hand in a natural position.

Lincoln's equipment - (Left to right) Nitric oxide, Tcom (reads CO2 levels), ventilator monitor (by his bed), monitor for vitals (mounted high on the wall), open top bed with radiant heater, tower of pumps with various IV medications and fluids

The entourage of nurses and doctors that took Lincoln to the OR for his repair surgery, including all of his equipment in the above photo.

 Lincoln's first swaddling. (The nurses always make sure his froggy is sleeping with him! Thank you cousin Layla!) 

Sleeping with his oak tree blanket.

Loving that binky! The nurses say that not many babies can keep a pacifier in along with an ET tube! Lincoln is so tallented.

Mommy holding Lincoln on his 1 month birthday