Home sweet home!

We're going home...today!

We had a little set back last night. His potassium was too high. If your potassium is too high (especially in heart babies) it can cause arrhythmias that they can't shock him out of. They put him on more Lasiks (I don't know how to spell it but it's the medicine to clean out your system). He had to get another IV in him to give him the medication. Poor guy! Then they had to come in the middle of the night to get blood samples. Because he has had so many previous IVs and shots, the Phlebotomist couldn't get a good sample so the IV team came and after four tries in his feet, they were able to bleed out a sample. What a strong little guy!! His potassium is still a little high but they are letting us go home! We can't wait!!!!!

Lincoln's Recovery

Link has great news today. He is IV free! The nurses took out all of his IV lines and his feeding tube. The cardiologist also came in and took out his surgical chest drain. He has even been off oxygen for almost two days! That means he only has the monitor on his chest and one on his foot. We are so proud of him! If he continues it will be only a few more days before he sees his real home!

Baby Lincoln looking out of his blanket. He is happy to be in his new room!

We are able to give him a bottle now that his feeding tube was taken out. It is fun to feed him like a real baby!

This is Link's cut from open heart surgery. The doctor took out his chest drain this morning where the smaller stitches are.

Link's new recovery room.

Link's doing GREAT!!

They took out Link's breathing tube, his PICC line, the central IV in his neck, and the art line in one of his hands. He still has the drainage tubes from his heart, one peripheral IV in his foot, and oxygen. He's bottle feeding again and doing GREAT! Once they take out the drainage tube we can go to recovery. You would never believe this little guy just had heart surgery two days ago!

Link's Surgery

This morning Link went in for the BT Shunt. The surgeon said that his surgery went well and he is doing fine thus far. He is still intubated and has multiple IV's that they will wean off of him throughout the week. We will most likely be in the PICU for another week then on the floor (recovery) for the next week then we're headed HOME!!! Thank you for all of your prayers today. We appreciate your love and concern so much!

Here's Link after surgery today

Here's some more pictures from the last week:

Our Family

Link looking at his daddy!

Red Hair

Mommy and baby

A four week stay in the PICU: Millions of dollars
Delivering at the U of U: Way too much
A happy baby through it all: PRICELESS

The plan...

Yesterday they took Link off the Prostaglandin for the fourth and final time. He was so close and tried so hard! They took him off at 9:00 a.m. and at a little after 10:00 p.m. he dropped dramatically. His PDA had shut completely and his oxygen stats were really low for an hour. We were very grateful that we were there so that we know for certain that the BT Shunt is necessary. Even though it's been hard to wait around for two weeks, we're grateful that the doctors waited so we know we tried everything before surgery was necessary. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Link is going in for surgery- the BT Shunt.

The BT shunt consists of a sternal incision through his chest. Artificial tubing about 3 millimeters in diameter is sewn between the subclavian or carotid artery and the pulmonary artery, making it easier to regulate blood flow to the lungs. This is only a temporary surgery lasting around 4-8 months. At that time, Link will most likely need the Glenn surgery which turns his heart into a 1 1/2 ventricle heart where the right side will only have to do half the work. After the Shunt, we will stay about another week in the PICU then go to recovery for a few days so we HOPEFULLY will be home in a couple weeks! He will most likely come home with oxygen for the first little while, eventually not need the oxygen, then require it again in a few months as it gets closer to his next surgery. We are so grateful for the medical care he is receiving and are counting down the days til we get to take him home!

Lots of updates!

Russ loves this picture! He said that Link's going to get a Philosophy degree just like his daddy!

They did an ultrasound on Link's leg a couple days ago and the blood clot was gone! We were so excited! If the blood clot wasn't gone he'd come home on blood thinner that we'd have to give him with a shot every 12 hours. Now we don't have to!! A special thanks goes to his cousin Miles for continuously praying for "Winklon's sore leg."

They took him off Prostaglandin for the third time a few days ago and it didn't work so he's on it again. They will take him off Prosaglandin for the last time this Saturday or Sunday. If it doesn't work then he'll go in for the BT Shunt surgery sometime after next Wednesday.

Yesterday they needed to take the IV out of his umbilical artery because they can't have an IV in there for very long. They inserted a PICC (Peripherally inserted central catheter) line into him. Russ and I were a little hesitant about it at first but they explained that regular IV's only last from one to three days and they could come out of the vein, etc. So he has a PICC line that goes from his arm to right above his heart (central location). They can leave PICC lines in for up to 6 months. But his will hopefully come out before we go home!

And finally... our biggest surprise came this morning when we showed up at the hospital and saw this! RED HAIR?! Thanks Grandpa Cap!

Prostaglandin

Link has been on and off of Prostaglandin two times thusfar. He was off it yesterday but in the middle of the night his oxygen stats got too low so they put him back on it. He's resting today then they'll take it off tomorrow, etc. throughout the week. Babies have high pressure in their lungs which usually drops the first couple weeks of life. With lower pressure it's easier for the heart to pump blood to the lungs and throughout the body, therefore, our cardiologsit told us that she wanted to wait til he was around 2 weeks old before determining whether he needs the BT shunt. So he'll go on and off Prostaglandin til this next weekend. If he keeps his oxygen high then he'll be done but if it continues to drop when he's off Prostaglandin then we'll do the shunt.

Link

Link's oxygen saturation got too low yesterday so they put him back on Prostaglandin last night. They are going to leave it on for a day or two and let him rest then they are going to try to take him off of it again. If his oxygen stats get too low again we are looking at open heart surgery- the BT shunt. For now... we wait.

Lincoln James Ferry

Lincoln and his Daddy. Russ loves his little boy SO MUCH! He is so cute with him!

Our little guy!