My name is James Matthew Kinser. My mommy and daddy are James Eric and Amy Suzanne Kinser. I was due to see the world for the first time on October 1, 2003. As you can see, I was too excited and came out 17 weeks early. My mommy had only been pregnant for 23 weeks! I am very little (even now). I was 1 pound 8 ounces (675 grams) and 12 1/4 inches long when I was born. But you loose weight after you are born (must be all that hard work during the delivery to get here!) and I got down at one point to 1 pound 5 ounces (595 grams). I am still in the hospital and sick, but the doctors say that I am getting bigger and more stable-- even though I still have a long road that is sure to be wrought with more bumps! My mommy will try to keep the information below updated at least once a week!

Previous Updates

July 11, 2003 July 14, 2003 July 16, 2003 July 18, 2003
July 22, 2003 July 24, 2003 July 27, 2003 July 31, 2003
August 5, 2003 August 8, 2003 August 12, 2003 August 19, 2003
August 24, 2003 August 31, 2003 September 13, 2003 September 29, 2003
October 14, 2003

Current information as of: 10/04/03

(changes in bold, italics)
  • Actual Age: 6 months and 7 days
  • Gestational Age: I am now "full term"! 40 weeks! (this is how far along I am if I was still in my mommy's belly)
  • Corrected Age: 2 months 7 days (this is how old I am if I had been born on mommy's due date, Oct. 1 2003)
  • Weight: 9 pounds and 2 oz.
  • Length: 40 cm
  • Head Circumference: 36 cm
  • Current Issues my doctors are working on:
    • Lungs:
      I am currently on a nasal cannula on 1 liter of air flow. I home to get taken off of it soon.
    • Belly:
      My belly got a tear in it when my bowels stopped working because I had a bad infection! But, the doctors made me better from the infection and my tear healed itself. BUT, when I healed, my bowels stopped working for awhile. For a long time my doctors thought I would need surgery. But on Aug 22nd and 25th I had upper and lower GI studies done. Luckly all of the dye made it though! This means that I can eat!! On Aug 28th I got milk for the first time (just a little bit- 2ml per hour- and then they are going to gradually increase my food and see if I tolerate it! On Monday, September 22nd I was moved up to full feeds! I now get 16 cc's of fortified food every hour all day! Next week the doctors want to try to begin delievering my 3 hour feedings over 2 hours to help my tummy get used to "normal feedings". Of course if I'm anything like daddy I'll just eat all day anyway. Don't tell him I said that! Right now we do not know if I'll need surgery or not. Every day that I continue to eat is better and the bigger and stronger I get the better! Thanks to the food that mommy gave me I'm already a big strong guy!
    • Brain:
      After my 7 week head ultrasound, we found out that my body is growing faster than my brain (between my 5 week ultrasound and 7 week ultrasound I got my first growth spurt)! This might be a beign phenomeon because I was so very small where my brain will eventually catch up (they say about 24 months of age). It could also be indicative of some brain injury (though if it is, we can't tell for sure or have any idea how much). Or, it could be a progressive issue where the brain will get worse. All we really know is that I am still at risk (some babies like me have completely normal ultrasounds all the way through but have severe problems anyways as they grow up and some kids who have one or more concerning ultrasounds turn out normal) and we won't know whether I will have problems until I start missing milestones (things I should do at certain times like sitting up and crawling). The 9 week ultrasound results were good news. My brain is maturing normally in the past few weeks (for example, the ridges in the brain and such are developing). They shouldn't be able to see how much my brain has matured, but I do still have some extra fluid between my brain and my skull that allows them to see it. But, they said that the ultrasound looks better than the last. So, now they think there is just an anomoly that my brain is growing at a different rate than my skull. They are hopefull it will even out evenually and that it is not much to worry about. Though we still won't really know till I do or don't hit milestones! They have not given me any more head ultrasounds (my head growth has been normal). So, we do not have any more information in this area.
    • Eyes:
      My eyes are open now! They were closed (fused shut) when I was born. I might have something called ROP. Lots of preemies have it. It means that I could be blind- but that most likely I will just have to have laser surgery and wear glasses. I had laser eye surgery on September 17th to correct my ROP which was getting worse. They will keep checking my eyes to make sure my vision doesn't get any worse. Daddy is jealous that I got to have laser surgery before him. He he!
    • Lines
      No more of these!
    • Liver
      My liver is all better now.