Resemblances

Sweet Pea look-alike?











Or a young Uncle Fester?

Sunday update...

Well... we did fabulously without the CPAP for about a day and a half. This morning we hit a snag. The spells were becoming too frequent and they dusted off the old face mask... I'm sure we'll try again in the near future. Even without the current setback our doctor has proclaimed him the healthiest kid in the ICU (not sure if that's a hint that they want him out soon?!).
More updates for the week:

• When he hits four pounds (which is about 5 ounces away) his body can regulate its own temperature. So at that point we may lose the limiting walls of the incubator. Comes in handy if one wants to, for example, fly a kite.
• Eye exam number II is schedule for either Wednesday or Thursday.
• There is talk about him leaving the ICU in the next couple of weeks. He wouldn't be sent home though. Once the breathing gets under control he wouldn't need many of the medical marvels of the ICU so they'll put him in a less intense environment.
• In an informal poll taken among the nursing staff he has been named the cutest baby in the history of mankind.

CPAP free...

...is the only way to be!
The CPAP is removed. If all goes well it is for good!
Not sure if it is a hard and fast rule but as long as he has less than 3 breathing spells in an 8-hour period it is staying off! Tick... Tick...
Thx!

Visitors - Part II

AKA It's a small world after all...

I mentioned counting site visitors and the surprising results. Those of you who worried about contaminating the results with multiple visits- fear not - most of your repeat visits are adjusted for in the convoluted web definition of the word Unique.

One of the stats that comes back is the location of the visitor. Once again - fear not - it is not a big-brotherish scheme to watch over your surfing habits! It merely returns the region where your IP address is located.

Since we started paying attention, we have had visitors from 27 states in the union [Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming] and six regions of Sweden [Dalarna, Gavleborg, Halland, Ostergotland, Stockholm, Sodermanland].

We have also had the pleasure of hosting visitors from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, England, Germany, India, Maldives, New Zealand, Switzerland. We are very excited to have you all stop in!

In the words of Dr Seuss: It's a scrumptious world and it is ready to greet you!

+1000 grams since birth

The weight gain party continues! He is now at 3 1/2 pounds!
Although it will be a while until the grows into his "preemie outfit"...

Visitors

One of the capabilities of a site like this is the ability to tally how many visitors there are. While measuring web traffic is notoriously difficult (amazingly, there is not clear cut definition of "unique" or "visitors") it gives you at least a rough estimate.

So here it is... on any given weekday there are between 100 and 150 unique visitors to the site. Had this been 1999, Merrill Lynch would have been working on our IPO by now!

Kidding aside, Ericka and I are quite overwhelmed and delighted with the support, concern and interest out there.

Thanks for stopping by to check in on the little peanut!

Progress...

Sundays at midnight the measuring tape comes out...
Here's the latest:

• Full-body length is up to 40cm (16 inches) from 32 cm (13 in) when he was born
• Head circumference is up to 27 cm (11 in) from 22 cm (9 in) when he was born - that's why we're on the verge of outgrowing hat number two!
• His weight is up to 1550g (3lbs 5oz) from 635g (1lb 6oz) - up marginally from yesterday

Overall, his measurements are hugging the 25th percentile line on the developmental charts (I can't be the only stats nerd out there..)

...And a setback

The breathing stubbornly refuses to stabilize.
Today, Mathias' CPAP schedule was reversed to the previous two-hours-ON-and-one-hour-OFF.

The Aminophylline (that's the remember-to-breathe med) intake has been cranked up a few notches. A blood test showed that, over time, the concentration of it has declined in his body.
It's much like yourself when you're closing in on two in the afternoon and you haven't had a cup of joe since before lunch...
Thx!

Big meals in small packages

The feeding schedule has again been increased. It is now up to 6 teaspoons (one ounce) every three hours - or one teaspoon every thirty minutes. Certainly doesn't sound like much for a person that's supposed to be growing!

But this is pretty rich stuff. The milk [thanks, Ericka!] provides him with about 60 calories per pound of his body weight per day.

Ponder this... If you weigh 160 pounds (73Kg), Mathias' food intake equates 9,600 calories per day for you. To make that a bit more tangible - 9,600 calories gets you:

• 17 Big Mac hamburgers
• Or, if you're more health conscious, 160 average size apples
• Or, if you're a dairy man like Mathias, 16 pints of ice cream
• Or, if you're a Monson, 42 Hershey's bars rinsed down with a case of Diet Coke.
  

Any way you slice it, he's a member of the big eaters club!

Sunday Update

As of today, Mathias has gained a full two pounds from his birth weight! He is now weighing in at 3lbs 6oz (1530g). His CPAP schedule is steadily dropping. He is now at 2 hours OFF and one hour ON. There are even rumors of the CPAP going away alltogether in the next couple of days. That'll be a good day.

He was out hanging with daddy for about 90 minutes today. After a brief discussion on the benefits of daylight savings time he zonked out and was asleep for most of the time.

All is well.

Sporting some new duds...

For the fashion conscious preemie, the spring of 2006 is all about light blues, stripes, and animal imagery.


The collection showcased here comes compliments of the design house of Grandma R [hat] and the Springfield, SD branch of Neiman Marcus [onesie] located in the Aunt B neighborhood.

Disclaimers:
The hopelessly-out-of-touch green background element (top left) represents the less than fashion forward elements of the household. Due to the press deadlines there was no time to airbrush him out. It is only the first in a long string of embarrassments dad will foist on his son during the next 18 years.
The bent nose and folded ear are not part of the look for 2006 - merely a function of the recent CPAP adventures. Don't try to replicate those at home.

3Lbs!

At midnight they put Mathias on the scale and for the first time in his life it registered 3 lbs! Feels like it was only two weeks ago he was at two pounds!

In the morning they checked his eyes. The blood vessels are quite immature but nothing looks out of the ordinary. They will keep checking as they develop and monitor the progress. Next eye check is in two weeks. On this front, no news is good news!

Thx!

Eye exam

Mathias is doing better with his breathing every day. He is also taking in more and more food. He was just bumped up to five teaspoons (a quarter deciliter) every three hours.



Next on the radar is the vision development. Children born
prematurely are at greater risk for just about everything vision-wise. Either tomorrow or Thursday he will have his first eye exam.

This is to make sure that the blood vessels behind the eye develop as they should. This is apparently not for the squeamish.


Keep your fingers crossed!

Brain ultrasound - Part III

Thanks to those who pointed out that I forgot to give an update to Friday's ultrasound...

Like the previous two, it came back looking as it should. Whew!
There will likely be one more as a final precaution before they send him home (which isn't imminent). But, knock on wood, we seem to have passed this hurdle.
Thx!

A new way of eating

As I have mentioned, Mathias is fed milk continuously at a clip of 1.6 teaspoons per hour.

While perhaps a nice setup (that many of us wouldn't mind), it will not be a practical approach for long. So today, things were switched around a bit. Instead of the continuous feeding, he's now getting 4.8 teaspoons in a one half-hour meal every three hours. This will prepare him for life in the real world - and it will be the feeding schedule we'll learn to love once he comes home! It is considered a good milestone to pass to graduate to the new feeding routine.

He has also graduated to a new CPAP schedule - it is on for two hours and off for one hour.

It's a good day in the ICU.

While we were napping...

on Sunday afternoon, the Easter Bunny stopped by.
Displaying fearless and self sacrificing maternal instinct, Ericka offered to safety sample each of the M&Ms...

2x

It took 32 days for Mathias to double in weight.
Today he is weighing in at 2lbs 12oz (1260g). That's a pretty impressive daily growht rate of 2%!

He is now on a CPAP schedule of 3 hours ON and one hour OFF. He seems to hold up reasonably well in the OFF hour.

Feeding is up to 1.6 teaspoon per hour.

All is well.
Happy Easter!

April 14

Happy one month birthday!

It seems a bit unreal that it is a full month since Mathias joined us.
Yet... I can't really recall what things were like before he arrived. So in other ways it seems he has been here much longer than a mere 31 days.

Ericka and I would like to take a moment to thank everyone the support, visits, thoughts, prayers, and blog visits we have received in the past month. It has made a world of difference. Thank You!

For the blog... as long as you keep reading I'll keep writing.
Thx!

Working to get off the CPAP

Every four hours the nurses remove the CPAP for a while and go back to the air tube we know and love. It is at the 2 liter/minute setting. When this started a few days ago he didn't normally make it all that long until he started having trouble remembering to breathe. But now he's up to about an hour "off" at a time.

He still has some breathing spells but those are viewed as ok as long as he pulls himself out of them rather than having someone help him. It is going in the right direction even if it is always a bit disappointing to see the CPAP go back on.

-He is now weighing 2lbs 10oz.
-The eye cream regimen for the infection is done!
-Friday we'll have the third brain ultrasound.

He's hard at work preparing for important visitors this weekend.

Sometimes...

life is a day poolside at a full service establishment...

On the eve of the 4-week birthday

I suppose tomorrow will be the last week we celebrate a birthday in "weeks". Friday he turns one month and I don't suppose we'll recognize the 5-week birthday nearly as much as week 1-4. They grow up so fast, don't they!

On that note, here's where we are:

• Mathias is currently weighing in at 2lbs 7oz (1110 grams). If things progress as they have, he may have doubled his birth-weight by the time he turns one month on Friday.
• The CPAP is staying on although they take it off every once in a while to see how things go (and give his nose a chance to straighten up).
• His feeding rate is now up to 1.4 teaspoons per hour.
• The treatment for his eye infection is done in a couple of days.
• It's a bit counter intuitive but it is a welcome sign that he gets quite cranky when the nurses apply his eye meds, etc. As the thinking goes, if he has the energy to cry and protest then he must be doing ok!
  

Ps. I'm celebrating week 1826 on Thursday!

Ericka Update

As you may have noticed, the blog that was started to keep friends & family informed about Ericka long ago switched scope. I think it happened around the 14th of last month. I just wanted to give you an actual Ericka Update.

She is holding up amazingly well. And has done so from day one. We have now established somewhat of a routine to our lives. It leaves us with about 45 seconds per day of free time. Throughout it all, Ericka is not only coping but maintaining the upbeat spirit we all know and love. Her positive outlook on everything is what has allowed me to maintain sanity. She's the greatest!

Although we can't really remember what we used to do before this, I'm sure it wasn't nearly as tiring or exciting. As Ericka put it "our house is frozen in time as of March 8th, much like Pompeii is frozen in time as of 79 AD". That's not quite true - the biology project in our refrigerator is thriving.

Drum Roll...

Someone suggested we get an impartial observer as a judge for this. Bah! Humbug!
Here are the winners:

Best overall entry:
Yah, I know I'm stuck inside for another two months but hey, what do ya do? It's a little hard to make a break for it when you got all these tubes!
-By Marci!

Runner up:
I didn't do it. It wasn't me
-The fact that it came from Ericka’s boss did not add or subtract to the rating. Really.

Best entry that was rejected on humanitarian grounds:
Touchdown! (Vikings of course!)
-This was disallowed due to the cruelty of subjecting a person of such tender age to the life-long string of disappointments that come with being a Vikings fan.

Most creative entry:
The “Dahhling” rant
-From the Monson compound.

Entry most fitting-to-the-gesture:
You do the hokey pokey and your turn yourself around. That's what it's all about!
-By Lydia. Honorary chairman of the Mathias for President committee.

Thanks All!
Prizes are in the mail (sorry, it won’t be the Publisher’s Clearinghouse patrol…)

Saturday

In spite of medication intended to reduce the water retention (which did work - we were carrying away some pretty heavy diapers...) Mathias gained a little over an ounce since yesterday. He is now an even pound over his birth weight - 2lbs 6oz (1080g). It feels like it was just a couple of days ago that he turned two pounds. Actually, it was.

The new blood seems to have worked its magic. He is more alert, has better color, and some of the puffiness has diminished. Although he has now picked up a minor eye infection.

Ericka and Mathias were kangarooing for 90 minutes today.

Friday

This morning we called the ICU and the nurse told us Mathias had gained a whopping 3oz (90 grams since yesterday). The one-kilo barrier came and went although not in the way we would have wanted. He had gained weight as a result of retaining water. As he was looking pale and 'puffy' and had a couple of significant breathing spells, the doc ordered up a blood transfusion which took place late morning.

With the addition of 15 ml of brand new blood he's looking much better.
Ericka is kangarooing as we speak.

Out on parole

Nowadays, Mathias comes out of the incubator for usually one to one and a half hours per day (always under parental supervision, of course).

Today, the young prince and I spent some time making grand plans about the future.

The CPAP has greatly improved his breathing but he doesn't seem terribly fond of it.

Of cows and men

In an odd irony, Mathias' haematocrit [the ratio of the volume occupied by packed red blood cells to the volume of the whole blood - aren't you glad you asked!] level was down today. At the same time his re-generation of red blood cells is up... So in other words, he's producing more blood but he doesn't have anything to show for the effort - yet. It seems less likely that he will need a transfusion down the road.

However, as the intended donor, I was scheduled to donate blood today. They want to have the blood at least four days in advance to make sure that they have time for all the testing involved. Children's, and the "blood supply system" in general, are extremely cautious with their blood.

As you may know, I grew up in Sweden. Therefore, I was automatically disqualified as a donor. Not just in this case, but from donating blood in the US. Ever. There is some evidence that vCJD (AKA Mad Cow Disease) can be transmitted in blood transfusions. But there is no way to screen for this. Therefore, if you have lived, basically, anywhere in Europe for 5 years after 1980 you're out of the pool.

Or maybe it was the lutefisk contamination...

Milestones of humanity

1903 - The Wright brothers' first flight
1905 - Einstein introduces the theory of relativity
1907 - Picasso introduces cubism
1947 - Yeager breaks the sound barrier
1954 - Bannister runs a mile in under 4 minutes
1980 - Smallpox eradicated
1989 - The Berlin wall falls
2003 -iTunes sells a million songs in a week
April 5, 2006 - Baby M exceeds two pounds (950g)

Second breathing setback

Mathias had about a half dozen breathing spells today. Around 8 PM the docs decided to put him on a CPAP. This will help him breathe better.

But they consider it a temporary relief. He would be expected to, if not go off it permanently, at least switch back and forth between this and the previous breathing tube. They don't want him to get too used to having someone else do most of the breathing work for him.

Thx.

Your turn!

Think you're creative?
This is your chance to prove it!

Add a caption to this picture. You can do it in either a comment or an e-mail (you'll find the e-mail address under my profile in the top right).

In a few days the best entry will receive a fabulous prize (well... reign in your expectations - it is mostly about bragging rights and a chance to have your name immortalized in electrons).
Have at it!

Monday

Sunday night at midnight is as close to party time as they get in the ICU. That's when the yardstick comes out and it is time to document progress. Mathias has grown almost an inch since birth. Although he's actually still 13 inches. When he was born he was slightly less than 13 inches. Now he's slightly above... Kangaroo care continues to go well. Feeding is up to 1.2 teaspoons/hour!

Tomorrow is the big 3-week birthday!

5...4...3...2... 3

We have had a small setback on the march for air independence. With the lesser air supply, Mathias occasionally forgot to breathe and had to be reminded. The breathing spells were a bit too regular an accurance and we stepped back to 3 liters/minute. We'll hold there for a while. The docs aren't treating this as particularly serious. It is just a matter of time.

ICU update - Day 19

It has been a quiet couple of days in the ICU. And that's a good thing.
A few updates:

• Slowly but surely the ounces are rolling in. Today he weighed in at 1lb 14oz (850g). I'm hopeful that in the next week we'll get to celebrate 2lbs (912g) AND 1000g (2lb 3oz)! That's the beauty of using two measurement systems - twice as many milestones! Back up that cake delivery truck!
• He is still a bit anemic. The race is on between his ability to produce blood cells and the never-ending need for blood samples. If he ends up needing a transfusion, daddy may be tapped for supply. A test will be done tomorrow to see if our blood types are compatible. Mommy is off the hook playing the "I gave birth to him" card... The idea of being able to do something tangible for his development is very appealing. Not that the incubator-side cheerleading isn't tangible...
• Today he was quite alert, moving his arms and legs (pulling out the air tube which has now been re-applied with industrial strength tape) and looking around.
• Ericka has been kangarooing for the past few days and it has gone well. I did it today for the first time since the March 23 fiasco. It went very well. He slept like a log (which is really the point).
• Feeding is now up to 1.1 teaspoon per hour. That extra .1 teaspoon adds up over time...
• He still has a few occasional breathing spells that need to be under control before any further drops in air supply.
• The bilirubin light hasn't been seen for days!

All in all, things are good!

These boots are made for walking...

From the web edition of the Washington Post

3-week old receives advance admission to Harvard Medical School
Cambridge, MA

In a highly unorthodox maneuver, the Harvard Medical School has awarded advance admission as well as a full scholarship to a student who is an estimated 20 years from a likely start date. The lucky recipient is a Minnesota prodigy at the tender age of 3. Weeks that is. In a press conference announcing the decision, Harvard University president, Lawrence Summers, offered the following motivation: "This highly advanced phenom will almost certainly spark a virtual bidding war between universities a few years down the road. This move is simply meant to pre-empt the advances from such competitive institutions as Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and Yale."

It has come to the Post's attention that the student not only shares his premature birth status but also his birthday [March 14] with none other than Albert Einstein, who later went on to become Time Magazine's Man of the Century.

Summers continued: "That's a good start but we have greater expectations. In fact, we are so confident in his abilities that if need be we'll up the ante and give him a guaranteed spot on the schools basketball team."

It is unclear whether the spot as Crimson point guard holds much sway in the decision making process as the team has had a dismal year (again).

For privacy reason, the name of the very young student is being withheld and he was not available to make a comment. Readers who are interested in congratulating the young but unknown academic sensation can send fan mail to:

Class of 2026 Whiz Kid
c/o Harvard University / Massachusetts Hall / Cambridge, MA 02138
In your correspondence, be sure to reference today's date