They have gone up on the feedings for Matthew again! Can you believe it? He is now getting 25 ml's every 3 hours with the supplemental calcium and phosphorus in it. It appears that he is tolerating it fairly well. He is still pooping but he doesn't poop at every diaper change. I don't know if that is normal or not, but as soon as I heard it hasn't been every diaper, my first thought was, "what's happening with his bowels." I began to wonder if something was going wrong again.
He still goes up and down on his oxygen levels. The secretions in his lungs are thinner due to a new medication they are giving him called mucomist along with his albuterol treatments. He is still on the ventilator and they are talking about putting him on CPAP by the end of the week.
New developments: Since Matthew was so premature, his body is having a difficult time making red blood cells. They are thinking about giving him a blood transfusion in the next few days to help with this and they are giving him additional iron as well to help with his anemia. (Babies usually absorb a lot of iron in the third trimester and since he didn't get that chance, they have to give it to him directly). In addition, they are giving him Epoetin, which is a man-made form of a naturally occurring protein called erythropoietin. Erythropoietin is produced in the kidney and stimulates the production of red blood cells.
Jason got to do his first skin to skin or Kangaroo care with Matthew tonight. Judging by the huge grin on Jason's face, I would say he was pretty happy doing it. Matthew was enjoying it too. He was fast asleep and there were a couple of times where it looked like Matthew had a smile on his face...I tried to get a photo of it, but no luck...maybe another time.
Please pray that his body is able to start producing red blood cells on a regular basis.
Keep praying that he tolerates the increase in his feeds with the additional supplement and that he continues to have bowel movements and NEVER gets the NEC infection.
Keep praying for his lungs to be getting stronger and for him to remember to breathe.
Keep praying for the abnormality in the brain to go away completely and for his direct bilirubin levels to come back down to normal.
Praise God for bringing Matthew this far in his development, and continue to pray that he carries him through all this as he heals and strengthens his little body.
Hi Jennifer,
Your reports remind me of the miraculousness of life at all - all the small intricate details and timing associated with the development of a baby that are normally taken for granted. And then, I extend the thought to the numerous involuntary processes occurring that keep us all running through the day (and night). Life is truly a miracle. Thanks to you and Matthew for the reminder. You're in our prayers.
Love,
Karen
Wow - I am amazed at all of the developments and progress since I was last able to check on Matthew's daily reports over a week ago. We have hearts full of praise for God's daily touches on his life and will continue to pray for your strength and peace. God bless you all! Lots of love,
Anita
All this time I did not know that I could actually post something on the web. I always wondered why the comments said 0 sometimes and others 2 or whatever. I thought that was part of the email itself. What a dork. Well anyway, I am so praising God for the blessing that you guys have had over this past week. It seemed kind of dim there for a little while but now things seem to be looking up. Just wanted to say even though I don't want you guys to be going through this, being able to pray for little Matthew has been an exciting moment for me and watching the prayers being answered. Also, that I have not prayed for anyone as much as Matthew, it has brought me closer to GOD and has helped in my own prayer life and for praying for others. It has also helped me to praise God more than I normally would. Because God does deserve our praises. Thank You God for being here for Jennifer and Jason and thank you for sending the angels to watch over Matthew. Thank you Thank you Thank you. Praise be to God. Forever, and ever. Amen.
I love you guys so much!!
Anita (The sis)