A Good Day

So...I think our hands have probably been cleaner in the last four days than they've been in our entire lives! Each time we go into visit Lincoln we've got to do the "3 minute scrub". We don't want to give him or any of the other babies any cooties from the outside:)

All kidding aside, today was a great day! Lincoln seems to be getting stronger and showing more signs of development every day. The morning started off with us meeting his nurse for the day. It was fun to talk with her because she's actually friends with someone I work with at our church. She told us that she'd been given a heads up about our baby...so when she came into work this morning...she looked for Lincoln and immediately called dibs on him. It's good to know he's under such great care. His nurse even asked me to help her in removing a line which was going into a vein in his bellybutton. The line helped the nurses keep track of his blood pressure...which means that he's stable enough that they don't need to constantly watch it anymore. That's a good thing!

While Lincoln chilled out under his blue LED's, April and I got a little more rest. We also had the chance to go out to lunch...which was sorta fun because the place we ate at was the same place we went to dinner back in March and made the final decision to start trying to have a baby. We decided to treat ourselves to some dessert to celebrate our success.

Like I said before...Lincoln seems do be improving every day. I can't help but think that it's because of the many prayers that have been lifted to God recently. Please continue to pray for him and us as we continue to travel on this adventure...no matter what happens in the days to come. Also, thanks to all of you who've been leaving comments on our blog. It's encoraging to read your words and hear that many of you have made it through similar situations. I think all of this is testament to the fact that God is a great Dad.

God You Reign

Today was coming home day for April...so needless to say it was a little rough on both of us. I do have to say real quick that April is already an amazing mom! I wish I could take away the sadness she's feeling right now. We still look at each other and say, "It's just crazy!" Although we had to leave Lincoln at the hospital tonight, we are confident that he's in good hands. We'll definitely be back in the morning to spend some time with him.

While we were there today, they let me hold him on my chest...another moment that made it feel like the world had stopped. The nurses really encourage us to have as much skin to skin contact as possible with him because it's proven to speed up growth and development in preemies. It's awesome to watch his vitals calm so quickly when he's close to you. It's got to be a God thing that Linc knows who we are when we hold him.The reports from the doctors continue to be encouraging. They took him off blood pressure medication...removed the breathing tube and now he's breathing room air through a nasal ventilator. These are both really good things! Just like many babies, Lincoln gets to sleep under some bright blue lights for a little bit until his jaundice goes away...but at least they're blue lights and not pink:)

There's no question...it was just plain hard to load up our car and drive away from the hospital tonight. It felt so wrong...and to be really honest I would rather be staying up all night tonight...losing tons of sleep with a crying baby then wondering how his breathing is doing while he lays all connected and tied down. We both shed a lot of tears, but as we drove away we listened to a great song that reminded us that Lincoln is in God's hands tonight as he sleeps. The song is by a guy named Lincoln Brewster (no...just in case you're wondering we didn't name our son after him:) and it's called "God You Reign". We know that we aren't the only ones who have gone through this type of situation...and certainly there are a lot of people out there right now who are experiencing hurt because of stuff happening in their lives. But, the song we listened to on the drive home is just pure truth about who God is in the middle of tough times. God is in control and even though we can't be there tonight to watch our baby sleep, we know that God is holding Lincoln in his palm. God reigns

A little father & son time

April was able to change Lincoln's diaper for the first time!

We never thought the hospital would be decorated
for Christmas when our baby was born...pretty crazy!


Smiling through some tears

Moments

From the moment the doctors started taking care of Lincoln we were told to plan on having a lot of ups and downs. Good days and bad days. Today was a pretty good day:) We were able to spend some really good time sitting with baby Linc. The doctors gave us good reports on Lincoln's progress and they're hoping to get him breathing completely on his own in the next couple of days. Pray that this would happen!

I think we're quickly learning to slow down and appreciate moments...especially because we know that after tomorrow night, we aren't going to be able to just walk down the hallway of the hospital and see him whenever we want. It's going to be hard to bring April home without our baby boy but we trust that he's going to be well taken care of and we know that God is right there beside him in the nicu.

Tonight we got to share a really special moment. Due to some funkiness in his blood pressure earlier we hadn't been able to hold him yet today (or yesterday depending on when you're reading this:) Tonight we went in just to check on him (not expecting to hold him) and the nurse asked us if we wanted to do some skin to skin time with Linc (just like you'd think...they place the baby directly on the mother or father's bare skin). The look on April's face was great! She looked at me with a huge smile and then asked the nurse, "Can we really?" The nurse was serious and so a couple of other nurses worked together to navigate the tangle of wires and tubes and they placed Lincoln on April's chest. She was able to feel him breath...feel his heart beat...and smell his baby smell. The nurses pulled some curtains around us to give us total privacy. It was awesome just to sit and watch the two of them. Obviously I'm anxiuos to hold him too but I'll get my chance. I was just loving it...watching April enjoy every moment that she got to spend so close to Lincoln. It was the first time that we really felt like a family. The look in her eyes is hard to describe but I know that hour is something I'll never forget! It was like the entire world stopped. It's those kinds of moments that matter.

15 little inches of life

Hi everyone! I (Jeremy) just wanted to take a few minutes to fill you in on the adventure April and I started out on yesterday afternoon. I'm home to grab a few things for April and get a little bit of rest...but I wanted to say hi before I go:)Yesterday at lunchtime April started to notice some things happening with her pregnancy that caused her to call her doctor. The doctor suggested that we get checked out at the hospital and that's when it all began...

Over the next couple of hours her contractions started increasing...harder and closer together...and it became obvious that the doctors were not going to be able to hold birth off any longer. The doctors were awesome and tried as hard as they could! April was only in her 30th week of pregnancy but it was obvious that God had different plans. A great team of medical people...some of the best in the state...rushed in to join around us and at 2:27 a.m. this morning we welcomed Lincoln Isaac Brown into the world weighing only 2lbs 14oz and measuring 15 inches long. Due to the fact that Lincoln is so premature, they rushed him (after a quick kiss from Mom) into the neonatal ICU...which again is one of the best in the state! He was quickly stabilized and then we were able to see him a little. He even grabbed onto my finger when I touched his hand:) Needless to say it was a very long night, but we can't say how thankful we are to have received such amazing care from our Dr. and the medical staff at John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek. April and I both know that God was watching over us and little Linc.

So now what? Well, it's just a waiting game to see how he does over the next several days. We were told that they could keep him in the nicu for up to six weeks. His vitals are still doing good considering the circumstances but it's just not possible for the doctors to answer a lot of our questions. This whole thing really is entirely in God's hands. God reminded us he is with us today because April was allowed to hold Lincoln for about an hour in the ICU:) He also opened his eyes a little bit and his breathing became less labored when he got to feel his momma close by. God is good.

Before I go I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you everyone who has called us, offered to help, and most importantly prayed for us over the last 24 hours. It feels kinda lame to just say thanks but that’s because it's hard to put our feelings into words

Since many of you are miles away…here are some pictures and videos we wanted to share. Enjoy and keep praying!

Love ~

Jeremy, April, & Lincoln

Baby Shower

My mom made an adorable cake! The little figures were made by hand. And it matched the invitations perfectly.

You can see the invitation theme on this little photo album.

A well-packed present from my Mother-in-law.

Thanks, Jan, for sending so many treasures!

Showing off my Mother-in-law's handiwork.

I'll have the cutest burp cloths around.

Testing the blankie for the softy factor. As a kid I rubbed the satin trimming on my lip while I sucked my middle fingers. Can't wait for him to choose his favorite blankie... I think this will be a contender.
Digging through a diaper bag full of treasures.
I can't wait to fill it up and organize...
These little vans are so precious. I can't wait for him to wear them and all the other adorable clothes he got. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures when he arrives so you can all enjoy.

Thank you all for making the shower so special for me!

It was a joy to celebrate with you and I can't wait unil you get to meet our little guy!

My fellow pregnant ladies! Thank you Emily & Robyn for being such wonderful hostesses... your turns are just around the corner!

Emily (13 weeks), Robyn (16 weeks), April (27 weeks)

26 weeks

The baby is starting to move more and more.

Looks like he is going to be one active kid!

Couldn't resist adding this picture too!

Getting bigger

24 Weeks!

As you may notice the belly is getting a little bit bigger and so is our baby boy. A recent trip to the doctor showed he is measuring great and has a strong heartbeat. One fun thing we're really enjoying is how much the baby moves.

We've also had a lot of fun getting the baby's room ready. Much to Jeremy's despair every closet in our house is now reorganized... hahaha! On the more serious side we have really enjoyed setting things up together.

It appears we aren't the only ones excited about the pending arrival of a new family member. Although dogs don't understand English, we've been trying to teach her where the baby is (don't worry we'll ease her into the fact this is going to change her entire life). :-)
Because Jeremy loves music so much he's been playing lots of music for our "little rockstar." On a recent shopping trip to a baby store we found something kinda cool... it's a company called Rockabye Baby. These guys take bands like U2, Coldplay, the Beach Boys, etc. and turn their songs into lullabies. Jeremy was excited to bring home lullaby renditions of Bob Marley songs. Check it out and have fun at www.rockabyebabymusic.com.