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the eric update - day 689: happy birthday to poppi!

that's right - on this day 34 years ago, i was born 3 months early, weighing 2 pounds 8 ounces.

interestingly, i was always under the impression that i was born between 26 and 28 weeks and i've heard recently that there's very little evidence any babies born at 26 weeks survived prior to the introduction of surfactant and mechanical ventilation ( neither were in use 34 years ago ). one person even claimed that *no* 26 weekers survived and the survival rate for 27 and 28 weekers was vanishingly small. the theory is that most of the very small babies that survived were actually low birth weight later term infants and the actual gestational age was simply not well known. so, if anyone who knows that facts cares to clarify, i'd be interested in hearing just how well established it was that i was born between 26 and 28 weeks :-)

and that all has very little to do with the fact that odin and kris were making me a birthday card today and practicing saying "happy birthday, poppi". except, of course, that it makes me all the more appreciative of the moment.

you can even listen to odin practicing, if you're so inclined. by the time i got the laptop out to do the recording he was pretty sick of saying "birfday" and decided to simply shorten it to "day".

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5/25/2006 02:20:00 PM 2 comments

2 Comments:

Awwww, what a sweet voice he has!

Happy (belated) birthday!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:32 AM  

Happy Birthday, Eric! I'm a little late but since I was there when you were born, I couldn't possibly forget the day. I will have to find the presentation about your birth, given by Dr. Wilson at a national meeting at the time. I think that other babies - even smaller than you - survived at that hospital in the early 70s. In fact, I always tell the story of the 6 foot 6 guy that came to see me before you were born to tell me that you would be fine - he said look at me - I was 1 and 1/2 pounds at birth. I didn't ever know his name but I am still grateful for his encouraging words. May 25, 1972 was a big, big day. Just ask Nana. It reminds us all that miracles do happen and you are one of them. Then there is Odin too. Wow!
Kirk has been in the hospital three times in the last week. I will fill you in on the gory details later. The good news is that he is finally better and came home from the hospital this morning. I will call you soon. Love, Mom

P.S. Odin's voice is so sweet. Time to start calling him on the phone...

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:14 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

[ 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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