ECMO Wean Attempt

Lincoln responded well to the changes the doctors made yesterday. They were able to wean him every hour from 8am until 3 pm, when he hit a plateau. He was still doing well, but his stats had begun to drift down, so the docs decided to just hold steady through the night. By morning, Linc had brought his numbers back up. His morning x ray looked great. He even has breath sounds on the right side too now. So the plan for today is to continue the wean as long as Lincoln can tolerate it. Undersandably, he has been pretty sleepy yesterday and today, but that is a-okay. He is doing a great job!

Happy Friday

Lincoln had a good night last night. His x ray this morning looks about the same as yesterday afternoon ( still the best since being put on ECMO), but his breath sounds are improved from yesterday meaning his lung is opening more. The doctors want to challenge him this morning by making changes to push him toward getting off of ECMO. They are going to turn down the flow on the machine slowly and increase his ventilator settings to see if he will he able to oxygenate himself more using his lung, instead of the machine. They are also going to bring back the nitric oxide he was on before ECMO, which helps him to absorb the oxygen they are giving him. He will also go on a med to help his heart work better as they make his body work harder. It is great news that Lincoln is doing better and the docs feel comfortable making changes. Of course, it is a little scary too since he has been so stable the past few days on the same settings, but he has to work towards coming off if he is ever going to come home! Hopefully Linc will remain strong and be accepting of the changes this morning. We are cheering for him with everything in us!

ECMO Day 9

Linc has been very stable the past few days on ECMO. The doctors have not needed to adjust any settings in order to get the good vital numbers they watch for. Lincoln's morning x-ray today showed a small portion of this left lung had begun to "open up" and the docs could hear breath sounds in Linc's left lung, which is great news. We saw similar results Monday, only to find a closed lung again on Tuesday. Since Linc is coming up on the 2 week mark for his time on ECMO, the doctors decided during rounds that they would make a small change on his ventilator settings and change his diuretic meds to try to open his lung a little faster. They gave him a few hours to adjust to the changes, during which he slept mostly. Around 3 pm, they repeated the xray and saw even more improvement in his left lung compared to earlier in the day! The changes had worked and Lincoln did a great job resting to allow his lung to open up! The doctors are all very pleased with the x ray and plan to leave his settings as is and get another xray in the morning. Hopefully his lung will be even more clear in the morning!

2 Weeks Old

Today, Lincoln is two weeks old. We are so proud of him. He is such a strong fighter. The nurses surprised me with a gift to mark the occasion today. They had a book for me and ink stamped Linc's foot prints on the back. I helped by holding his heels. He did a great job. (practically slept through it!)

The nurse also put Linc's foot prints on a 3x5 index card for Dan to carry in his wallet. (His feet were almost too long!)

 A few more pics of the "birthday" boy! He has really lost a lot of the fluid retention. He is looking skinny again!

 One of Lincoln's favorite things the past few days is to stretch his legs out and hold them for a minute or so. He is so cute!

ECMO day 8

Lincoln's morning x-ray showed no improvement from yesterday. We are still waiting for his lungs to clear. The repeat echocardiogram done yesterday showed that Linc has some fluid accumulation around his heart. The surgeon said that it was expected since he is accumulation fluid all over. He said it will be something to watch, but no intervention needs to be done now. Too much fluid around the heart can make it difficult to beat, but since Linc is on ECMO, his heart doesn't need to work that hard anyway. Once they start to wean him, they will reevaluate it then. Lincoln also got an ultrasound of his head to check for bleeding. Linc has to be on blood thinners while on ECMO, so he is at an increased risk of bleeding. The results showed no signs of bleeding. So for now, "stay the course" as the docs say. "An uneventful day on ECMO is a good day."

Nursery Update/ Lincoln Update

Treasure Rooms finally got in the extra crib parts and came to the house to assemble the crib. Kathi was kind enough to be there for me so that I could stay at the hospital with Linc. So now Linc has a bed at home! As soon as I get everything in place in the nursery, I will post pictures. We still need to get a matress and wash all of his bedding and put up his valances. Now, Linc just needs to get well so he can see his room too!

As for an update on Lincoln himself, no changes today. His morning x ray showed no improvement, so no changes are planned for the day as far as his machine or ventilator. The NICU and surgery teams requested cardiology come take a look at Lincoln again sometime today. (He had an echocardiogram done last week that yielded normal results.) The docs are looking for some explanation for some anomalies seen with Lincoln's numbers. He is still doing well on ECMO, but they would just like to get cardiology involved to help better understand Linc. Every one keeps saying that every baby is different and Linc has his own quirks that the docs have to figure out.