snowdeal.org > ex machina: the eric update: Tiniest baby thrives as teenager

ex machina

the eric update: Tiniest baby thrives as teenager

there's small and then there's really, really, really small. madeline was born in 1989 at loyola university medical center ( which at least one reader and frequent commenter ( :-) ) is quite familiar with ) at just 280 grams or 9.9 ounces. having such a small birthweight at her gestational age would normally lead on to believe that she might be headed for complications down the road. but apparently the tiniest baby every to survive had other plans:

"But 14 years on, Madeline is remarkably healthy, Muraskas and his colleagues report in the New England Journal of Medicine1. She is small for her age, at only 136 centimetres compared with the average 163 centimetres, but she is in the top 20% for high school entrance exams scores. "I think her development is a miracle," Muraskas says."

~~don't get me wrong, i'm comparing eric to madeline or anything of that sort - just recognizing the accomplishement :-)~~

don't get me wrong, i'm not comparing eric to madeline or anything of that sort - just recognizing the accomplishement :-)

interestingly, madeline's mom had preeclampsia, which is what thrust us into our little adventure.

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8/19/2004 08:00:00 AM 1 comments

1 Comments:

That is one of the first stories that the NICU nurses at Loyola share with parents of Micro-preemies. It gives us hope for the future.

I would also like to add that there was a little girl born in Elmhurst Hospital (IL) in January. She was a 23 weeker... She weighed in the rage of 10oz I believe... She went home before her due date as I understand the story.

I have crossed the path of so many micro-preemie parents in the past months - with only good things to say about their child's development. I know that not all children born this early fair well, but if they can avoid and overcome the major obsticles - then they have an outstanding chance with the right parents and developmental attention.

I should add that our next door neighbor has a 2 year old girl... Big, fat, happy - running around the yard and talking up a storm. She was born at 25.1 weeks - I know 25.1 not quite a 23.6/24.0 weeker as Kyle - but it's still quite early, gestationally speaking. She weighed only 1lb 8oz (compaired to Kyle's 1lb 1oz)... I think he's going to outweigh her in another year :)

And I'm sure E4 will be quite the contender come next year... These baby sure have a way of fattening up once they are home!

By Katra, at 7:58 PM

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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

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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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