Information as of: 7/31/03

• Actual Age: 1 month and 28 days old (8 weeks 2 days)
• Gestational Age: 31 weeks and 2 days (this is how far along I am if I was still in my mommy's belly)
• Corrected Age: -2 months and 2 days (this is how old I am if I had been born on mommy's due date, Oct. 1 2003)
• Weight: 1352 grams or about 2 pounds 15 1/2 ounces* while mommy wishes I was really this big, it is mainly water weight!
• 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 got tired because I got so puffy. I got puffy because my albumen is low. This is something that helps me regulate my fluids and keep from getting puffy. The doctors say this is because of inadequate nutrition! I really need my breast milk. But I can't get it till I have my belly surgery. So, in the mean time they went up on my vent settings and I won't get off the vent now before my surgery!
  • 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. So, I am on the sugery schedule for Wednesday August 6th, 2003. They will make the offical decision on Monday, so it could change. But, hopefully, we can get this over with and get me better so I can have some of that yummy milk!
  • 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. I will be having another ultrasound on Monday Aug. 4 and I will have the results before my surgery on Wednesday!
  • 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. Well, they finally saw something. Right now I do NOT have ROP. BUT, I will probably still get it because my eyes are still growing. So, I am only going to have eye exams every other week now! I will have them weekly again if/when I develop ROP!