Peyton is SPECIAL!

Peyton is special because he decided to pull his feeding tube out yesterday! So, they now have his feeding tube through his nose instead of his mouth. Because of this they are going to go ahead and try to bottle feed him next week. They will start with one bottle a day and progress slowly.

Right now Peyton is up to 15 mL per feeding with the hypoallergenic formula.

They noticed that the PIC line was floating close to his heart, so they moved it a little.

With all the changes he has not had any A&B's (apnea--not breathing and bradycardia which is a slow heart beat) lately.

Today he is having a renal ultrasound to see if the urine is going back into the kidneys from the bladder. He is also having a bladder tap to see if his UTI (urinary tract infection) is gone.

Peyton is One Month Old!!

On Sunday Peyton marked a new milestone: he turned one-month old!!!

Peyton has had quite a set back in the past few days with his urinary tract infection. He will have six more days of antibiotics. Then, they will do a renal (kidney) ultrasound and put dye in the urine to see if it is backflowing into the kidneys instead of flowing from the bladder out of the body.

Today he had his first eye exam and things look normal which is a big praise to God! They will recheck him every two weeks until he reaches what would have been 36 gestational weeks (he is now at 31 wks).

They are questioning whether Peyton may be allergic to some type of food. Because of this they are putting him on hypoallergenic formula for a while to see if things go more smoothly.

Today they inserted a PIC line again because the IV that was in his hand kept coming out. Evidently Peyton is an active little guy! The PIC line procedure took three hours in surgery! Before they did the procedure he had an IV in his head because that was the best place they could find for the time being. Because of this he has a couple bald spots, but they gave the shaved hair to Alaina to keep.

Peyton's weight is up to 3 lbs 5.2 oz, so he is really growing! 5 more ounces and he will have doubled his birth weight!

Good News (for the most part)!

Peyton does not have meningitis! YAY! He does however have a urinary or bladder infection (I can't remember which one). The infection is minor and they are treating it with an antibiotic. Peyton is still not getting milk at this point. He is getting a custom Gatorade type concoction made especially for him.

We are thankful to God for Peyton not having to fight meningitis!

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED

Today is Peyton's 4-week birthday! We have had good news almost the whole way, but the family needs your prayers at this very moment. The doctor called my sister to say that Peyton had four A&B's (stopped breathing) last night. His body temperature has risen also. They are doing a spinal tap on him sometime today to see if he may have meningitis. They are also running test to see if he has a bladder infection.

My sister is devastated by this, of course. Please Pray that God would heal Peyton from whatever he may have. Pray that the spinal tap would go very smoothly and that the medical team would be able to interpret the results properly and devise an excellent plan for Peyton.

We will have the preliminary results of the test this afternoon.

We covet your prayers and are thankful to God for them!

New Milestones

Peyton is just over 3 lbs and is drinking about 27mL of milk. He was also moved from level 3 to level 2 NICU which is a very exciting thing!

Look at all that hair!

More Good News!

Alaina went to go see him this morning and thought she was looking at a different baby! They took the c-pap (I think that is what it is called) out of his nose. That was the device that was keeping pressure in his lungs so it wasn't so hard for him to breathe. Now he has just a normal oxygen line in his nose (like the ones that everyone else has--it goes around the ears). They are giving him 100% oxygen today as a precaution since they just switched him to that.

Good News!

The brain scan was the same as last time which is a good thing. It means the bleeding has stopped and it may reverse itself. They will do another check a few days prior to him leaving the hospital.

He is up to 2 lbs, 10 oz--he has almost gained one pound!!

Also, today is his 3-week Birthday!!! We thank God for him giving Peyton to us for three weeks!

Donating Blood

If you haven't already given blood and would like to, Gringo's Mexican Restaurant is offering a nice incentive. You can donate at Pearland (the old location), Pearland Town Center, La Porte, and Fuqua locations on Saturday, July 18 from 11:30am-4:00pm. Or, you can donate at the Stafford, Texas City or Champions locations on Saturday, July 25 from 11:30am-4:00pm. They will give donors a t-shirt and a $10 gift certificate to Gringo's!!!! YUMMY!

DON'T FORGET to put it towards Peyton Davis, son of Alaina Davis at the Women's Hospital of Texas NICU.

Thanks so much for donating. Even if it can't be used for Peyton someome else will benefit from your kindness!

Please Pray

Tomorrow Peyton will have another brain scan to see if he is the same or better (or worse) than he was last week. Please pray that God has healed his brain from the bruising and that the medical staff would be able to interpret the results accurately.

UPDATE: Peyton is now 2 lbs 9 oz!!!! And he is drinking 21mL of milk! He moved to a different type of bed which means he is more stable. Also, he got his "PIC" line out of his foot which is the line they used to give him his meds, etc.

Peyton has moved up one floor!

Peyton is doing so good that he has moved to a new floor at the hospital. He is still in the level 3 NICU which is the most life-threatening, but has moved to the more stable part of that level.

Peyton now weighs a whopping 2 lbs 6 ozs! Because of this they are taking him off his lipids/fat--the milk is plumping him up just fine! He is getting 12mL of milk now and they may bump him up to 14mL!

Within a week or so they are planning to take the pressure line out of his nose that is helping keep his lungs inflated. They also hope to take the line out of his leg then which I think would mean he would not be hooked up to anything....maybe.

We are grateful for his progress!

A little short and sweet update:

Peyton weighs in at 2 lbs 4.4 oz!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited about his weight gain! He is drinking 10mL of milk, which seems like such a ton compared to the 2mL he started on! They took the pressure that was keeping his lungs inflated from a level 10 to an 8 which means he is getting more independent.

We are so thankful to God for these improvements and we know only through Him are they happening.

Peyton's 1 room condo

Peyton at 3 days.

Peyton's Big Debut!

Peyton is Two Weeks Old!

Sorry it has been a while since I last posted. Here is the latest...

On Thursday Peyton had many blood tests run including his thyroid, but we will not know the results for several days.

Peyton's daily life is good. He sleeps a lot because of how full he is getting. He is up to 8mL of milk every three hours. He has a couple handmade crocheted hats that were donated by charities and he looks pretty cute in them (from the pics). He is receiving caffeine injections every morning to help him remember to breathe--this is normal for preemies.

Alaina and Pat have been doing skin-to-skin contact with him which all parties enjoy, of course. They say this is very good for Peyton's well-being.

Peyton will have another echocardiogram soon. They are questioning whether they saw a thin membrane, reflection, or tiny hole in one of his atrias in the heart. More testing will give more knowledge. Again it may or may not be a tiny hole. It is my understanding that it is not life-threatening and if it is a hole then they can fix it when Peyton is a little older and stronger.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUED PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!

Ultrasound Results

Texas Children's did the test today. The left side of the brain scored a '0' which is the best it can score. The right side of the brain scored a '1.' The scale runs from 0-4. 0 means nothing is wrong, 1-2 means it might be okay, and 3-4 is not good. The right side of the brain has some bruising on it and that is why it scored a '1.' The doctor doesn't seemed to be concerned at this time. They will run another test on Friday, July 17 to see if there is any improvement. The doctor doesn't want to do anything invasive at this time as it may harm the brain even more. It sounded like this was kind of normal with preemies. The doctor will again check the brain at seven weeks of age.

Thanks for the many prayers!

Day 9

On Friday they had him on 2 cc of milk. Then on Sat they upped it to 4.5 and today to 7 cc of milk per feeding! And he is keeping it down and having normal bowel movements! Tomorrow is another big day. They will do an ultrasound of each side of the brain to see if there are any developmental problems. This is the last big test (I think) that he will have to go through to determine if everything works properly. God blessed Peyton with healthy lungs, heart and intestines, so we pray he developed his brain also.

Daddy's first picture with his little boy.

Mommy's first picture holding her son.

Peyton Is One Week Old!

b We are so excited that God has given Baby Peyton to us for one full week!

Peyton's Progress: Last night Alaina got to hold him swaddled in her arms for one full hour! They will get to continue this once a day. Tonight Pat gets to hold his son, so he is very excited.

They laid Peyton on his tummy and he seemed to really enjoy it. He has dark colored hair.

Peyton has gained 2 ounces!!!!!! They said to expect him to lose weight the first week, so this is a very big deal. This means he weighs almost 2 pounds!

Peyton has received some Mommy's milk and had a diaper from it, so this means everything should be functioning normally.

Giving Blood

Evidently people have been having problems donating under the correct name, so here is Peyton's number at the blood bank to make sure he gets credit for it: 3754873. "Davis Baby of Alaina" is what is in the computer.

THANKS THANKS THANKS!!!

Day 6

Today they took the line out of his hand, so he is a little more independent now.

Please Give Blood

Over the next several weeks little Peyton will need blood. He has already received blood but will need more. Anytime they take blood they have to give the same amount back to him because he has so little blood. Peyton is B+, so O+, O-, B+, or B- will work for him. Even if you are not one of those blood types you can bank your blood under his name and they will receive a credit for it. What this means is that they don't have to pay for the blood if they have enough credits for baby Peyton.
You can donate at any Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. You just need Mama and baby's names which are Peyton and Alaina Davis and the hospital which is the NICU at Women's Hospital of Texas.
THANKS!!!!!!!

YEAH FOR DAY FIVE!

We have WONDERFUL praises to God for Peyton's progress!
1. He had a photo light above his bed to help break down bilirubin in his liver--The light is GONE!! And he had to have little glasses to cover his eyes from the bright light, but now he doesn't have to anymore. Mimi Mangum (Alaina's Mom) got to see his eyes open last night when they visited Peyton.
2. He got a catheter put up his leg which will deliver glucose and electrolytes the next couple of days. They will take out the tube in his belly button which is the way he was receiving these things before.
3. Yesterday he had a spinal tap and the preliminary results are good however we have to wait a full 72 hours for full results. Because of the good report he is off morphine and antibiotics! Also the spinal tap showed his white blood cell count was low so that means there should be no infection (this is what they thought sent Alaina into labor).
4. He should be off the ventilator this afternoon. He will have a tube in his nose to keep his lungs inflated, but not giving him any oxygen. They want him to breathe on his own, but that could be strenuous. This way his lungs will not have to do all the work.
5. He will have a feeding tube inserted in the next couple of days which should help plump Peyton up!
6. The echocardiogram showed no signs of the duct still being open. But they do not have the full results yet.

Praise God from whom all these blessings flow!