Os Wean

Well, we made the goal of 0.6 LPM by Lincoln's Feb clinic appt. His appt is Thursday, and this morning I was able to turn down Lincoln's oxygen to 0.5 liters! He is breathing comfortably so far, and I don't suspect that he will have any trouble. (Although I do have a bit of a sore throat and am doing my best to keep Linc from getting it! I swear every time we go out for an appt, one of us catches something! That's the season though.) As long as Linc continues to keep his saturation above 97 (the occasional dip to 94 is ok), has the energy to drink his bottles, and he is breathing comfortably (not retracting or having rapid breathing, nostril flaring, etc.), I will turn down his Os by 1/10th every week. Hopefully he goes all the way! But it is hard this time of year. I'm excited by the thought of having Lincoln free from his tether! He is pulling his tape/line off of his face several times a day now, so I know he is excited, too! I'll keep you all updated!

Macaroni Means FUN

Lincoln's OT made a suggestion last week that I thought was great. She said to put various things in tubs for Lincoln to feel and get exposure to textures with his hands and feet. I always thought of doing this sort of thing for toddlers, but Lincoln had a blast. I put dry beans, elbow macaroni, rice, and broken spaghetti into separate containers. Elbow macaroni was Lincoln's favorite.

 Linc likes to bang the bowl, and the noddles fly!

 Beans are just ok.

Bye-Bye Baby Bath

Linc has been sitting pretty well and was getting too big for the baby bath. So, this week we said, "Bye-bye" and upgraded to the full-size tub. Lincoln really enjoyed his bath. He especially liked fishing for the blue octopus toy. My little boy is growing up!

8 Months Already?

Lincoln is getting SO big now. He's just amazing. I took a picture with his little frog rattle to compare to his one week photo on the side bar. Check it out. 

Here's little about Lincoln at 8 months old.

This morning Lincoln weighed 15 lbs 8 oz at the pediatrician (synagis shot visit). This past week, Lincoln has worn a few 9 month size shirts but is still usually in 6 month clothes. We are also on our last box of size 2 diapers and Linc will be in 3s soon!

After recovering from his mild cold, I was able to wean Lincon's Os a little! Wha-HOO! He is at 0.7LPM now and I plan to get him down to 0.6 by his next clinic appointment in Feb. Linc has been doing well despite having increased wheezing lately. Lincoln is almost off of his sildenafil. I am weaning the dose slowly and he should be completely off within a week or so!

Lincoln's feedings have been up and down this past month. After I posted about how great he was taking solids, he decided that he didn't want any (around the time of his cold) and he would cry as soon as he was in his highchair. He's back to taking a little, some days, and I try to just keep it really fun by singing songs and making faces and letting Lincoln play in the food. Mealtime is very messy sometimes!

Linc has had almost all the fruits and veggies and I'm be adding some meats and dairy in the next week or so. I'm still adding olive oil to his solids for some extra calories and Linc doesn't seem to notice. Lincoln has also started to enjoy snacks of fresh fruit in his mesh feeder! And he's finally tolerating the Bumbo seat!

Lincoln is enjoying more of his Christmas toys including Cookie Monster, his blow-up rattle and has started to enjoy his sea turtle that plays Mozart. Lincoln has also started to shake toys and tries to bang things together. Lincoln is very interested in shadows, sunlight and socked-feet (puppet-like items.) He also responds to his name now, when he wants to pay attention!

Oh, my! What big cheeks! Love it!

Lincoln is loving his exersaucer! He is still happiest when standing and the exersaucer puts him in the perfect position! There is one toy on it that sings a song that, for some reason, makes Lincoln cry immediately with big tears, so we just keep that one turned off. He has great fun with all the other toys. Lincoln is so much improved with his sensory issues, but he still has some weird things like that that are unexplained.

Physically, Lincoln is not that far behind. Actually he isn't really behind at all for gross motor skills! He is doing even better with sitting independently and doesn't need to prop himself at all. He has also begun to turn to the side for toys while sitting. He has rolled over completely a few more times on his own, but still isn't rolling down the hallway, which I'm kind of thankful for since he would be one big yo-yo with his oxygen line. (Which is what happens with his exersaucer by the way!)

Linc's teething seems to have slowed down. He is still drooling like crazy and chewing on everything but he is not waking at night in pain anymore. He has not gotten any more teeth since last month, but the two he has on bottom are fully in now. He still likes to babble and have small conversations but hasn't had any real words yet. He has started to mouth words when you talk to him, like he is trying to mimic your mouth movement, but he makes no noise. It's the funniest thing!

Look at those Chompers!

Chewing...

and chewing

This month, Lincoln has actually slept through the night twice! (Not consecutive nights.) Man, it was sooooo nice be able to stay in bed for more that 3 or 4 hours! (Even though I still woke through both nights out of habit!) This is not the norm, by any means. Lincoln usually still wakes about 4 times a night, with one feeding. I have been working with Lincoln this week on self soothing, now that he is able to keep his oxygen saturation above 90 while crying. (Which is so wonderful!) I've seen an improvement already. One good note about sleep is that he doesn't seem very dependent on his binky and he doesn't suck his thumb anymore either, so those are two habits we may be able to avoid!

As far as temperament goes... dare I say it...? I believe Linc's colic, or fussiness, or whatever you want to call it, has come to an END! After 8 months of endless crying, Lincoln is generally happy and cries for a reason now (hungry, sleepy, change position/room). Most babies have 3 month colic, and if not, then 6 month colic. Well, I guess Lincoln had 8 month colic. I have to say that his happy demeanor might only apply to situations where he is at home with Mom. Linc is showing a little stranger/separation anxiety and he can be very different when being watched by someone else. Regardless, it's still nice to say that it's over! And hopefully I have not just jinxed us!

He still has the glazed "Lincoln look." And, of course, drool.

  Don't let these pictures fool you. I put Lincoln up on the chair, but he's holding on!

 I just LOVE that little butt!

 Whoa!

Pushing the buttons on his mobile. 

And watching the characters spin 'round.

January trip to SLCH - No More PH!

Lincoln had a great visit yesterday to SLCH for his follow-up visits with Surgery and Newborn Medicine Clinics. He did great in the car on the way there and back and was in a good mood the whole 3 hours we were there!

Lincoln's surgeon said everything looks great with his inguinal repairs and Lincoln looks great too! She listened to his lungs and checked his spine for signs of scoliosis. Both of which were good. Due to his abdominal muscles being cut for his diaphragm repair surgery, his ab muscles are shorter on the right and he has a lot of scar tissue that could impede movement in his trunk. Lincoln has already begun to slouch to the right frequently. Physical therapy will help to maintain Lincoln's good posture, and his doctors will be keeping a close eye on his spine as he grows. Linc's surgeon doesn't need to see him back for three months. At that time she will have a repeat chest x-ray to check for reherniation of his diaphragm.

Linc's neonatologist was so pleased to see him. It has been a while since we had a visit and Lincoln was asleep in the recovery room when she came to see him after his surgery. I promptly placed Lincoln on the exam table when the doc entered the room to show off his sitting abilities and she was so excited. She was amazed at his good temperament too!

Lincoln's measurements put him on the chart again! 15 lbs 2 oz (3rd percentile), 25.5 in (10th percentile) and 44.9 cm (55th percentile). It's great that Lincoln's head is just growing and growing meaning he is getting smarter! The doctor said she would not change anything with Lincoln's diet right now since he is doing so great. She would like to see his weight be more like 10th or 25th percentile before she would recommend going back to a regular calorie formula. Since Linc's birthday is not too far off now (about 4 months!) I asked about the plan for weaning off of formula. His doctor said it will all depend on Linc's weight at the time, but that she would recommend a high calorie supplement instead of cows milk for Lincoln, but he shouldn't need to be on infant formula past 12 months.

After Newborn Medicine, Lincoln had a repeat echocardiogram to check on his pulmonary hypertension and it came back as NORMAL! Don't you just love that word? The doc said that over the next few weeks I can wean Lincoln from his Sildenafil. Lincoln has been taking Sildenafil four times a day for his hypertension for over 6 months. Yay, one less med! After the Sildenafil is stopped, Lincoln will only be on Prevacid (which we hope to stop in the next few months) and a multivitamin! And of course, Albuterol breathing treatments, but we are getting there!

Lincoln is on his way to being well from a mild cold he has had the past week or so. If he continues to feel good, some time next week I will wean his Os down to 0.7LPM. After a week of good saturations on 0.7, I will turn him down to 0.6. Linc returns to see his neonatologist in clinic on Feb 16th.

After his appointments were through, we went upstairs to the NICU to visit. It was great to see so many nurses come out to see Lincoln and they were all so excited and shocked at how big Lincoln is. Lincoln's old OT and SP were there, too. All but one hadn't seen Lincoln since discharge (2.5 months old). A few hadn't seem him since he was on ECMO or before so they were really in for a change! They all kept saying how he "wasn't a little skinny old man anymore." He as hair on top and big cheeks! They were so happy to see him looking so good and told me how nice it is to see success stories. Hopefully we can see them again next time!

Lincoln's next trip to SLCH will be on Feb 10th for his first appointment with Urology. I met with the Urologist while Linc was still in the NICU when she was called in to consult due to Linc's hypospadias, but this will be our first appointment with her. Hopefully Linc will only need one surgery (probably this spring) to fix up his boy bits. After that, I hope he never needs another surgery. He's had more than most already.

And just because, here's a pic of Lincoln's favorite teether. His oxygen line!

Happy Holidays

We had a great first Christmas with Lincoln. He wasn't super interested in opening gifts, but that's to be expected for his age. He had a great time anyway. Here are some pictures to highlight the day.

Of course Santa came. Lincoln has been such a good boy!

  

Linc knew just what to do!

Taking a snooze when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's

It looks like Grandpa is holding Linc back from jumping on the gifts!

Linc and G-G (great grandma)