We're Home!!

Aunt Kelsey holding her nephew

Grandma and Grandpa Rempel

Okay so we've been home as a family of 3 now for over a week and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Hmmm.....for some reason my time is not my own anymore! :) That's a good problem to have I'd say! Tyler took off all of last week to help me out and for all of us to get adjusted to having Lincoln home and then went back to work this week. I thought it would be a lot harder than it has been being by myself with Lincoln. It's been a long week 1/2 though, getting used to NOT sleeping much at all! Lincoln still eats every 3 hours so after his 9pm feeding we all start thinking about going to bed and hopefully get in an hour before we (or I) get up at midnight again to feed him. Then lay Lincoln down and I get to pump for another 20 minutes! yay! Usually Lincoln is so good about going right back to sleep. It was only the first few nights that he was a little fussy and just wanted to be held all night. After I'm done pumping, I head back to bed and get about 2 more hours of sleep and wake up at 3am to feed and pump again. Then the next part is my favorite part of the night because since Tyler is getting up around 6am anyway he has offered to get up and feed Lincoln so I can get some more sleep! I then get to sleep (most of the time) until Lincoln wakes up for his 9am feeding! That is the one good thing about bottle feeding (Daddy can do it too!) . We're still working on breastfeeding and Lincoln is slowly getting the hang of it, I think it's going to take a few more weeks though.

Last Saturday Grandpa and Grandma Rempel and Aunt Kelsey came down to see and hold Lincoln. He was so happy to see them! Grandma Rempel also came down these past two days to help me out a little and get some more time with lil Lincoln. We loved having her here!

So far things are going really well. My heart is just overflowing with joy right now as I look at Lincoln everyday and think about all the God has done for us over these past 3 months! Lincoln is a constant reminder of trusting God in ALL situations.

Lincoln's First Graduation!

The nurses gave him a graduation cap! It was so cute!

This is where we "roomed in" with Lincoln

Going home! (okay so this picture was taken after we got home because I forgot to take one when we were leaving!) He did so well on the car ride home.

Daddy and Lincoln hanging out on the couch.

Lincoln graduated......from the NICU!!! We roomed in with him Monday night, which entails taking full care of him without any monitors or anything the whole night. We started around 5:30pm and Lincoln was officially discharged around 4pm on Tuesday. The first night with him went pretty good. We didn't really run into any problems. We did need to go borrow the NICU's swing for a bit though to calm him down during the night but that was it.

When we were discharged it's hospital policy to get "wheeled" out by one of the hospitality workers and it happened to be that we got to be wheeled out by Yang, the lady that I got to know when I was on bedrest and she wheeled me out when I was first discharged. It was fun for her and some of the other nurses who took care of me to get to meet Lincoln before we left.

It's so fun to finally have my baby home! I can cuddle with him all day long! Now we get to actually be a family. It's so good to finally be on this side of everything. We were at the hospital from May 14 until August 18. Just over 3 months, wow. God has done so much for us in these three months. Lincoln is truly a miracle and to have him home with us is almost surreal. I feel so lucky to be able to be his mommy. I know that if God can walk us through a storm like the one we just endured he will walk us through raising Lincoln and anything else that He allows us to walk through.

I just want to thank everyone who has followed our blog through this and prayed for us. Feel free to keep following along as Lincoln grows up!

Sisters Through Family, Friends By Choice

Tyler and I were lucky enough to have my amazing sister stay with us this summer. She was here last summer as well and didn't know what she was getting herself into this summer with all that has happened. I felt so bad that she had to put up with such an unusual summer with us but everytime I apologized she would always tell me how glad she was to be here and be apart of it all. She helped us so much throughout the summer and it was so fun to have her here. I'm so grateful to have a sister like her who I can also call my best friend. I just wanted to say thanks for all you did for us this summer; cleaning, organizing, laundry, and for being such a great sister. Love you!

Pictures of Hope

Last Saturday we were lucky enough to have Unruh Photography come and take some pictures of Lincoln in the NICU. Here are a couple pictures but click here to see the rest! I'm so glad we were able to do this. These pictures are so special.

Surgery

Lincoln had to have surgery to fix two hernia's and then they also did his circumcision with it. The first three pictures are from before the surgery and the last one is after his surgery. It all went really well and they were able to just do a spinal block so he was just numb from his midsection down. Then they gave him a sedative so he would sleep through the whole thing. That way he didn't have to be put under and have a breathing tube put in! The nurse told us she was going to start feeding him again soon and see how he takes it. Hopefully he'll be back to bottle feeding really soon so we can take him home!!
Here daddy is holding Lincoln before his surgery and his little bear is telling Lincoln it's going to be alright. No need to cry! :)

Lincoln with both his IV's in his hands

Mommy holding Lincoln before his surgery. He was really fussy before we got there and as soon as we held him and loved on him he was calm and fast asleep! He just needs his momma! :)After the surgery. Here he is still asleep from the sedative and his legs are still numb. Everything went well and they were just waiting for him to wake up! God is so Good!

NICU Day 36...

Today Lincoln did very well with his feedings! The speech therapist used one of our ventaire bottles (that I'll be using at home) to feed Lincoln to see if he would do well with it or not. He did really well and took his whole feeding. Then I came up this afternoon and we tried nursing for his 2:30 feeding. Lincoln just isn't ready for that yet unfortunately. After trying for awhile I just gave him a bottle and he gulped it down in like 10 minutes! Then at 5:30 I fed him with the new bottle (not the NICU bottle) and surprisly Lincoln took it all from it! I was very proud of him! He worked so hard and did so well!

The surgeon took a look at him today and decided they want to do the surgery to fix his hernia either Thursday or Friday of this week. They will probably go ahead and circumcise him as well during the surgery. The nurse told us that it's a pretty simple and quick surgery. It's scary for me to think of him being put under and having surgery. I know he's in God's hands though and has been through all of this. This is just another bump in the road that we'll get through.

Lincoln now weighs 5 lbs 10.9 oz. He's so long that he's starting to get too big for his preemie clothes! Yay! Lincoln has only lost weight the few days after he was born and two other days. But one of the days was just the loss of 1 gram so that isn't very much.

We're getting closer and closer to getting to bring our handsome boy home! Can't wait!

I usually like rollercoasters.....

...but not this one! We're starting to experience the big ups and big downs of the NICU. The nurses were right when they said that the 4-6 feedings are when parents get the most frustrated. Because Lincoln is doing so well with everything else he seems healthy enough to be able to come home BUT we're still waiting on him to eat all his feedings. It seems like he just doesn't have enough strength yet to put so much effort into eating. It's so hard to watch him get SO tired! He's regressed a little on his feedings and isn't finishing as many of them as he used to. They said that's usually something that happens. He's being asked to do more than he ever has and it's taking him awhile to adjust to that.

Yesterday Lincoln had his pictures taken by Unruh Photography. She takes pictures of NICU babies through the Pictures of Hope Foundation. It's free and we will get 25 prints from her. It's a great way to help us remember the road we've been on. I'm excited to see the pictures! It sure is a small world though. Come to find out that the girl's maiden name is Friesen and she's originally from Henderson, NE! She recognized Tyler from seeing him at the Henderson pool so many years ago. Then we also found out her husband is first cousins with the lady Hope nanny's for. Small, small world!

Lincoln also had his eyes checked yesterday and the Dr. said that they are developing normally and doesn't need to see him again just for Lincoln to get them checked again at his 6 month appt. Lator on in the day we found out that the nurses saw that Lincoln has a Hernia. It's not a problem now because they can just push it back in but if it gets to the point that they can't push it back in, he will have to have surgery that same day because it could lose circulaton and cause bigger problems. The nurse told us hernia's are pretty common in preemies and espeically boys. She also reasurred us that the surgery they would do to correct it is the least invasive surgery that they do. So that was good to hear.

Tonight my mom got to hold Lincoln for the first time! She was so excited! I think Lincoln liked it a lot too because he was just staring at her for the longest time! It was so cute!

Thursday was Lincoln's 1 month birthday! Can't believe it's already been over a month now! He weighs 5 lbs 9.2 oz today and a couple days ago when they measured, he was 17 1/2 inches long. He sure doesn't have any problems growing!

Well it's getting late and I have to wake up in a couple hours and pump so I should get some sleep. Good night!

Making Some Progress!

Here are a few new pictures. Aunt Hope got to hold Lincoln for the first time! She was so excited and Lincoln liked it as well! He was wide awake the whole time just checking her out! He also really enjoyed his bath time the other day! His poor bottom is so red because he poops SO much that the nurse wanted to let it soak a little while. While he was getting his bath was the first time he actually looked sort of "chubby" to me! His full tummy was just hanging out there! It was so cute! Way to pack on the fat little guy!!

Lincoln is now up to 5 lbs 3.6 oz! His feedings are up to 3-4 times/day and we're working on nursing, although I think it'll still be awhile until he gets the hang of it. We're slowly but surely getting closer to coming home! I talked a lot to his nurse today about what to expect when he's home, things to look out for, what to do about pets, when to call the doctor etc. It was very informative and helpful to talk to her for awhile. I got a lot of my questions answered and it eases a little bit of my anxiety about bringing him home.

Prayer requests:

That Lincoln will continue to do well eating and he is able to increase his bottle feedings.
That Lincoln will show interest in breastfeeding soon.
I have another silly infection, so pray it heals up soon.
Also still for my kidneys, I don't go back until the beginning of Sept. so that's when I'll find out the results.

July 6 - God's perfect timing for Lincoln

Here is an exerpt from a devotional book that I've been doing for July 6 (Lincoln's Birthday).

If we have completely entrusted something to God, we must keep our hands off it. He can guard it better than we can, ans He does not need our help. "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men suceed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." (Ps.37:7)

Things in our lives may seem to be going all wrong but God knows our circumstances better than we do. And He will workin His own way and in His own time. Often there is nothing as godly as inactivity on our part, or nothing as harmful as restless working, for God has promised to work His sovereign will. A.B, Simpson

I thought that was perfect for the day Lincoln was born. God was completely in control and still is of little Lincoln's life and mine for that matter on that day. What an awesome God we serve!!