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the eric update - day 15: more of the same. in a good way.

nope. you never get tired of seeing the finger grab.

we had another great day today. his white blood "differentials" are all back to normal and he's now getting a whopping 1.5 cc's an hour of breast milk, which - if i've done my math correctly - is a little over an ounce a day. he didn't forget to breath at all today and he had 8 episodes of bradycardia ( slowing of the heart rate ), but they can all be attributed to a buildup of saliva in the back of his throat. micropreems don't have a fully developed swallow response ( and all the tubes don't help ) and somehow that leads to his heart rate slowing down. nurse cheri said he lets them know that he needs his mouth suctioned by throwing a bradycardia alarm or two. he's funny like that.

and he got two more hours of kangaroo care with kris. maybe tommorrow i'll get my chance.

he's got a bit of a bulbous growth near the entry point of his pic line. besides being fairly nasty looking, it's not anything that overly concerns the staff. fluid collects at the entry point of the pic line that threads close to his heart. he keeps his hand folded in such a way that fluid tends to pool in the area. it's really not very pleasant to look at, but it's fairly harmless. they did try to get him to keep his arm extended more today and it got better, but he didn't cooperate for very long.

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7/19/2004 11:59:00 PM 6 comments

6 Comments:

dear eric,

you are one of the bravest little boy I've ever met. You make me appreciate what I have. Lots of love and blessings.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:44 AM  

Found your blog on boing boing today. I pray for you and your family and especially little Eric. Our daughter was only 5 weeks prem and that was scary enough so cannot imagine how it is for you.

God bless

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:45 AM  

God bless you, Eric. You and your family are being prayed for around the world.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:52 AM  

wow. i just caught the link from boingboing.

great. in addition to the nicu bill, now i'll have a doozy of a bandwidth bill :-)

once again - many, many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post a comment, send an email. etc. if you've ever had to spend time in the nicu, you'll know how much every little bit of support helps.

By Blogger e3, at 12:58 AM  

Hi, found your blog via Boingboing too. Your family will be remembered in our prayers. I have two kids of my own, and I almost their mommy when we were having the first one. May God cover you all with His everlasting love and protection. -Kin Mun from Singapore (www.mrbrown.com)

P.S. Just want to add that, at the time I was reading your blog, my iTunes happened to be playing the song All Creatures by the Dave Crowder Band:

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him, alleluia
Thou burning sun with golden beam
Thou silver moon with softer gleam
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along
O praise Him, alleluia
Thou rising moon in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening find a voice
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him, alleluia
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, three in One
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, three in One
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

O, alleluia, alleluia

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:07 AM  

hi there - another boingboing reader here: i wish you, your family, and your son the best. for what it's worth, i was a preemie, too: 1 pound 10 oz, and i am now 37 and have pretty much always been healthy as a horse. preemies are fighters! eric, rock on with your bad self! - frank@drbombay.reno.nv.us.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:42 AM  

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[ rhetoric ]

"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."

the complete tales & poems of winnie the pooh

[ about ]

this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.

he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.

if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.



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