6 lbs!
Matthew is doing well. He has three more shots to go and will have his bloodwork rechecked on Friday. He still has to get a little better with his feedings. Sometimes he is sound asleep for his feedings so they still feed him by the tube.

Grandma and Grandpa Altizer came to visit Matthew this weekend. We all went to the hospital together and took turns visiting and playing with Brandon in the waiting room. The nurses told Grandma and Grandpa that Matthew is a little mellow fellow.

Another ten days before Matthew can come home. He needs to get some medicine to help him with his Anemia. He will get ten shots over ten days and then his hematocrit levels will get checked again. Hopefully this will give him some more energy and he will take his feedings better. He got his first shot last night - so nine more to go!

Hi everyone,
Matthew is now 5 lbs 4 oz and getting chubby. He had his nasal cannula taken out a week ago and he is doing fine without it. He still has his feeding tube but that will be coming out soon- we hope. That is the last step before he can come home. He only used the feeding tube once yesterday, so it won't be too long before he won't need it at all.

The nurse said she thinks it will be a week before he comes home. we are still hoping it will be sometime this week. We will have a good idea that it is time when they ask us to bring in his car seat. We will let you know when that happens.

He passed his hearing screen and his second head ultrasound was clear. His retinas are still immature and need to be checked again next week- it is just a 'preemie thing' that should clear up on it's own. :)

Matthew got moved to an open crib on Sunday! He is one step closer to coming home.

He was visited by Aunt Liz last night and did lots of smiling and sleeping.

He is now 4 lbs 7 oz and is getting too big for some of his preemie clothes.

The doctors are saying maybe two more weeks until he comes home. I think he might surprise us and take off and be able to come home sooner.

Matthew is in an area that is called 'the beach' because behind him is a mural of Cape Hatteras. I took some pictures of he and Aunt Liz hanging out at the beach!

Liz and James will go visit him again tonight- so more pictures to come.

Matthew may get to move into an open crib this week. He is still at 3 lbs 14.2 oz.

He had his eyes checked and he has immature retinas which is common. They will recheck in two weeks and expect everything to be fine.

His hematocrit (spelling?) levels have come up and won't need a blood transfusion!

That is about all that is going on for now. A lot of babies have gone home so Matthew has a nice quiet area now. there were 39 when we first got there and now they are at 25. Maybe he will be one of the next ones to go home!

Matthew is now 3 lbs 14 oz! He is doing well and has moved from Intensive care to Intermediate care. He is still in the Intensive care nursery but the level of care needed is lower. He is still in the isolette and getting fed with a tube and has a little bit of oxygen. In a week they are thinking of trying to get him to drink from a bottle.

James visited yesterday and said he was very alert. He was looking around and gave him a half smile. He must be a ladies man because he smiles a lot for the nurses.

I talked to the neonatologist today and he said he thinks it will be another 3-4 weeks give or take a little, depending on how Matthew is doing.

April 6th, 2010:

Matthew weighed 3 lbs 6.7 oz
He was busy getting dinner so I didn't get to hold him. They were afraid that he would spit up. He was wearing a cute little monkey outfit from our neighbors. I didn't bring the camera but the nurses were nice enough to get their camera and even print out a picture to take home.

He is still getting a little bit of room air through a nasal cannula to help him 'remember' to breathe. He is still on a feeding tube and probably will be for a while. Normally babies are fed over 30 minutes, but Matthew has a bad case of reflux so his feedings are done over two hours. They are going to try to get him down to and hour and a half and see how he does. This means it will probably take a little longer for him to get off of the feeding tube.

He smiles a lot. He is doing well gaining weight too.

We will keep letting you know how he is doing and we will let you know when he starts reaching his goals to be able to come home!!!!

Hi Everyone,

This is a blog site we have set up so we can update everyone on how Matthew is doing.