Famous Preemies

 

Recently we attended the parent support group at KKH for premature babies and got to learn about some famous preemies. I have done a quick search online and found out some interesting facts:

 Famous Premature Babies

 Albert Einstein 

Albert Einstein, famous for his great contributions to math and science, was born premature in Germany in March of 1879. He was once quoted as saying, “There are two ways to live your life. One is though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.” This rang true for Einstein, who experienced small beginnings in a time where neonatology was virtually non-existent, and went on to make outstanding achievements.

 

Mark Twain

Accomplished American writer Mark Twain is also on the roster of famous preemies. It is said that he was so small when he was born that he could have fitted inside a quart mug.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte

Perhaps his premature birth was responsible for his infamously small stature. Either way, Napoleon went on to achieve great military success and is regarded today as a genius leader by many.

 

Sir Winston Churchill

The celebrated former prime minister of England was born two months premature.

 

Victor Hugo

The great French novelist, most famous for creating the wildly successful Les Miserables, was a preemie of 1802, again beating the odds in a time where medical technology was not in favour of early infants.

 

Stevie Wonder

Famous American singer Stevie Wonder became blind as an infant due to a condition known as retinopathy of prematurity. This is a common condition of preemies and takes place when the blood vessels in the back of the eyes are not fully developed and detach from the retinas. While it would be a challenge for anyone to be blind from birth, Wonder has thrived and his dark sunglasses has become a signature part of his look as a professional musician.

 

Charles Wesley

A leader of the Methodist church and noted writer of many hymns, Wesley was born two months early and was said to have been wrapped in wool until he was original due date, preserving his life.

 

Famous preemies turn out to be all shapes and sizes, but one thing is for certain-premature children are continuously growing up and going on to make history in all aspects of our world!

 

Source: http://baby.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Famous_Preemies

 

Believing that our little miracle baby will turn out to be a mighty man of God too! 🙂

 

 

P.S: Notice that Xi En no longer has a nasogastic tube? Yes, he is free from it because he has master the ssb (suck-swallow-breathe) technique of bottle feeding! 🙂

Intraventricular Hemorrhage

A recent cranial scan showed that Ethen has Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH). IVH is bleeding into the ventricles of the brain. It is categorized into different grades of severity; grade I being mild and IV severe. Ethen’s bleeding is grade I (thank God).

 

IVH is most common in premature babies, especially very low birth weight babies weighing less than 1500grams (Ethen was 1270grams at birth). We are definitely very concerned about this but doctors did assure us that his is a mild case and should not lead to further complications. However it is not known how long the bleeding will last. Hopefully it will resolve by itself over time. For better understanding, please refer to this website.

 

Updates: Ethen is currently 2.47kg and feeding on 55ml per 3hourly. He is still learning the suck-breathe coordination and hopefully can finish more feeds on his own soon. Once he is able to do that, he can be off the nasogastic tube (the tube that goes through his nose directly to the stomach). Please continue to pray with us:

• for the bleeding to cease (no further complications)
• Ethen will be able to master feeding on his own soon (no choking and coughing during feeding; controlled breathing on his own)
• for a clean bill of health so he can be discharged very soon
• Ethen will grow up to be healthy and strong

 

Ethen waving Hullo!

 

Learning to pray at a young age! 🙂

 

 

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and of LOVE and of a SOUND MIND”

2 Tim 1:7

SCN – Learning Centre for Preemies

 

Xi En had been transferred to another department of the SCN (Special Care Nursery)– the learning centre for preemies. Here, there are fewer nurses ratio to babies; I guessed it might be because the babies here are supposed to be more stable and ready to progress further. Anyway, we are happy that Xi En had moved on and is learning the “suck-breathe” coordination. He is currently on 5 minutes “training” every feed; but we witnessed that it really depends on whether the nurse on the duty is willing to spend quality time pacing him on. Thus, every time we are there, we make sure we are feeding him since we can definitely focus all the attention on him. Today is Kim’s turn:

 

Mentioned earlier, Xi En can really make himself heard nowadays. See the evidence below:

 

 

 

And immediately after we gave him the specially bought NUK pacifier:

 

Well.. whatever it takes to calm him down. 🙂