Information as of: 7/27/03

• Actual Age: 1 month and 24 days old (7 weeks 5 days)
• Gestational Age: 30 weeks and 5 days (this is how far along I am if I was still in my mommy's belly)
• Corrected Age: -2 months and 6 days (this is how old I am if I had been born on mommy's due date, Oct. 1 2003)
• Weight: 1244 grams or about 2 pounds 12 ounces
• Length: 32 cm
• Head Circumference: 26 cm
• Current Issues my doctors are working on:
  • Lungs:
    Even though they are better than they used to be, I am still on the Conventional Vent. I will probably be on the vent till they fix my belly (see below). I currently have moderate-mild chronic lung disease. This means I will might have asthma when I get older and get colds easier. See, my lungs will keep growing till I am age 3! So, while I have immature lungs right now, I will have time to recover. My lungs will never look like other people's, but they will be normal for me! Mommy knows lots of kids with asthma who didn't have all the problems I do! So, if that is the only lasting effect, that isn't too bad! Well, they were thinking about extubating me (letting me breathe on my own) but I tried to do it myself first. I got my tube up over my adam's apple and then I gaged on it! I sent myself into such a tizzy, it took me almost 48 hours to recover fully! Then I needed some blood and now I am a bit puffy from too many fluids. So, my settings are really low but I need to get rid of the puffiness in order to extubate (I really don't feel well when I am puffy and extubating is hard work!)! But, I have been working on pulling out my tube again, mommy caught me earlier. You should see all the tape they put on my face! If I am sucessfull, then they are going to let me try it for myself before re-intubating. My Grandpa Kinser thinks I want a boob not a tube... I think he is right! :) Hopefully, I will be able to extubate this week sometime!
  • 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, I got a scar that is now blocking part of my bowels. So, now I will have to have surgery-- but luckily not for a few more weeks. I will be sick for awhile after the surgery, but I am a fighter and will fight hard afterwords. There is a chance that long term I will have trouble getting all my nutrition (short bowel syndrom) and mommy and daddy will have to make me eat a lot or my growth could be stunted! But, the surgery will otherwise fix my bowels so that when I am in kindergarten, I shouldn't be any different than my friends! The doctors are talking about setting the bowel surgery for the first week or so in August. We are going to have to push back the surgery another week or so! I am puffy and I can't be when I go into surgery!! It will take awhile for my body to get rid of the fluids!
  • Brain:
    Well, in this area we just got some concerning news. After my 7 week 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. So, with only one ultrasound showing this (we could tell because there was more fluid between my skull and my brain than there was in the last ultrasound), 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). If it is progressive, we might know when I get my next ultrasound in about 1 1/2 weeks. So, I will definitely need some more time to catch up to other kids my age, but there is still chance I will catch up with my peers.
  • 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. We don't know if I have ROP yet, I might not. But, I can see something! Mommy caught me looking at my hand today. I was wondering was it was and why it moved when I thought it should move! I had my second eye exam July 21, 2003 but the doctors couldn't tell anything because I am still too small. I really hate it when they put those drops in my eyes! But, they will do it again now next week till they can see something! They said that little guys like me can take up to 10 weeks old to be able to see something, so my mommy and daddy shouldn't worry!