| Amanda Update |
| (Last Updated: February 2nd, 2002) |
| Thanks for checking out the latest update. When Kim and I put this website together, we had no idea that we'd have so many visitors. Amanda is truly lucky to have so many people pulling for her Kim and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary yesterday and Mandy gave us the best present we could ask for..... Nothing. In fact, she hasn't given us any serious problems for a while now. Knock on wood, she looks great. She's been on a bit of a growth spurt over the last ten days. Her weight has increased by more than 25% (8 ounces) and we think it's all gone to her cheeks. They are becoming quite chubby! She will probably cross the 3lb mark next week and we couldn't be happier for her. Her small size & weight have kept her in the 20th percentile or lower since she was born. She's definitely got some catching up to do. If she can keep growing at this tremendous rate she'll be 1,615 lbs by her first birthday. :-) Maybe she'll slow down a little. Her medical team has continued to keep track of her blood counts and we're happy to report that the white blood cell & platelete counts have returned to normal levels. Up until recently she was still maintaining a high eocenephil (ee-o-sen-a-fil) level, but even that is subsiding. This anomaly adds credibility to their theory that she's allergic to something in her intravenous lines. In fact, one of the manufacturers that makes I.V. catheters indicated that they'd seen similar symptoms in babies that had a silicon allergy, but this condition is very rare. She will probably need to be evaluated by an allergist when she's a little older. Until her feedings have reached a normal level, they continue to rely on intravenous sites for the delivery of essential nutrients. She's quickly running out of possible I.V. locations, so they are taking a very aggressive path to build up her feeding tolerances. She's fed every three hours. They started with 1cc about ten days ago and have been adding 1cc every fourth feeding. She's now up to a whopping 20cc's (4 teaspoons) of formula each feeding. She needs to get to about 24cc's to get rid of her I.V. Won't that be nice. Currently she is still being fed with tube, but they will begin transitioning her over to bottles soon. They are also considering re-introducing breast milk. The only real bad news has been her eyes. Last Monday, Mandy was diagnosed with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) by a pediatric eye specialist. It's too soon to determine exactly what this will mean to her. The long term complications of ROP range from mild vision problems to blindness. In general, about 90% of babies completely overcome their ROP within the first 2 years of life. However, Amanda's extreme prematurity and low birth weight put her at a significantly higher risk for complications. The eye doctor will continue to monitor her ROP on a frequent basis. Thanks for your prayers and support. We plan to update this site regularly so save it in your "favorite places" and come back often. Also, feel free to leave a message in Amanda's guest book on the main page. Kim and John |