Doctors appointments

Well we have been to several doctors appointments since last update. Peyton is doing very well for where he came from 3 and a half months ago.

About 3 weeks ago now we went to have xrays taken to show how his rickets was doing. It showed his rickets was very active and the pediatrician referred us to an Endocrinologist. We saw the Endocrinologist about a week ago now and she did confirm his rickets and showed me nodguels on his bones and where his joints could not absorb the calcium. The doctor put him on a new medication called calcitrol to try and get more vitamin D and Calcium in him. I did ask her if the damage was already done and she said if there was no other underlying problems then hopefully we could get this reversed. She had us go get blood work and a urine specimin done that day at Texas Children's where she is and they were great with him. We do not have the results yet however she did refer us to a genetic specialist to make sure there was nothing possible in his background that would cause rickets. We are not able to get into him until December. We will update will update you when this happens. The doctor did mention that it was possible that the TPN fluids he recieved in the NICU could cause the rickets as well however, we can not be upset with this as they were doing there job as saving his life.

Last Wednesday we saw an Early Childhood Intervention worker and Physical Therapist to evaluate Peyton's developmental progress. Things went very well, he almost scored out of the program. They are allowed to correct for him being premature up tp 2 months. He scored between a 2 and 3 month old developmentally, yea! He is less than 3 % weight and height even for a 2 month old, so needless to say he is still very small for his age but that's expected however they did say he was porportionate. The only reason he qualified for this program is because of his rickets and the possibility of needing help with that.

Yesterday we went for a recheck to the pulmonologist and everything checked out very well. Peyton finally gets to get rid of his heart and apnea monitor that he has been having to wear. We will finally get to move about our house like a normal baby not attached to anything! This is a major praise.

Next week we go to the pediatrician for his 4 month check-up, yes that's right 4 months thank you God! Also we will be seeing the pedi-surgreon as well to see if it's possible to get him circumsized yet.

Thank you for all your prayers and please continue to pray for him and us. God has done a mighty work in this little boy and on our hearts!

Newest Pictures and Update

These pictures were taken when Mimi Hickman (Pat's Mom) was taking care of him on his 3 month birthday. He is doing good just having some issues with acid reflux and throwing up once or twice a day. Today was his first day without getting Caffeine, Potassium, and Diuril. The Caffeine was used to help make him remember to breathe, the Diuril was to make sure no excess fluid built up around his lungs, and the Potassium was to offset the losses from the Diuril. He ahd his X-rays to check for Rickets today at TCH but no results from that yet. Just wanted to give everyone an update and post new pictures. Have a safe week and God bless.

Patrick

Latest Update

Wow, how our life has changed since he has come home! We do not get a lot of sleep between giving him a bottle every 3 hours and giving him his 7 medications that range anywhere from giving it 30 minutes before bottles, some twice daily and even one mixed in every bottle. However, we would much rather have him at home to finally try to be a family at last.

Friday Peyton went to the pediatrician and he now weighs 6 lbs. 10 oz. and is 19 inches long, yay for his growth. He had a good check up and th dr. said he wanted to see Peyton back at 4 months of age which if you can believe it or not is only a little over a month away.

Yesterday, Monday, we went to the Pulmonologist for the first time. He was great, he spend almost an hour answering questions we had as well as giving us a lot of knowledge about what to expect. Peyton again checked out very well! They decreased one of his medications to every other day and the medications that went in his bottle cut it to half the dose he was getting. We are supposed to do these for a week and then discontinue them on Sunday evening. Once we got home the doctor called back and said they had had a chance to read his heart monitor download and that he had only had one apnea episode and it was 2 days after we brought him home so he has been doing really well. Because of this they are also allowing us to discontinue his caffeine he was getting every morning to help him remember to breath on Sunday evening as well. They said that when we get rid of the caffeine his acid reflux should get a littler better, thank goodness as it seems to really hurt him. Finally we are getting to get rid of 3 of his medications, only 4 more to go.

Peyton has made great strides and as you can tell he is getting bigger which helps out as well as they tell us he will grow out of a lot of his problems with age and weight. On Saturday, September 26th he will be 3 months old, he was supposed to be due this Friday, September 25th! Next week we will be going to Texas Children's to get x-rays done of his wrist to see how his rickets is, which is what tells us how fragile his bones are. Please continue to pray for him to grow and get stronger!

Aubrey Fleming, Alaina's younger sister whom originally started this blog for Peyton is having a c-section on Friday, Sept. 25th at the Women's Hospital of Texas. Please pray for her, the baby and the doctors that everything goes well as we are sure it will. With this in mind Alaina, Pat and Peyton will be going to see her this weekend. If any of Peyton's nurses from the NICU read this blog and will be there anytime from Friday to Monday please let us know by commenting to the post as we would love to bring Peyton to come see you guys.

Thank ya'll so much for the prayers and support! Please continue to pray for him as he still has some hurdles to go through and we will keep ya'll updated of his progress. Also please pray for the Fleming family and God Bless!

Update

Peyton now weighs 5lbs 15oz and is 17 5/8" long.

He had his first check up yesterday and he seemed to enjoy the car ride this time. The dr. said that he is doing very well. He is in the <5% for his age but he should grow and catch up by 1-2 years of age.

He is pretty much just sleeping and eating all day long just as he was in the hospital. Although yesterday he did stay awake from 4:30pm to 8:15pm. He also figured out that it was fun to pull his mommy's hair yesterday so that was fun to see that he is grabbing at things. Peyton did have a good night sleep but he was upset after his 11pm feeding and took awhile to fall asleep.

We want to thank everyone for their prayers and please continue to do so. Ask that God continue to watch over him and give him the strength to grow stronger everyday.

God bless,

Patrick

Homecoming

Peyton's blood work came back with good results. His blood is regenerating itself and his calcium and phosphorus levels are back in normal range. During his car seat study he got a little upset but finally calmed down and was able to hold his respiration and heart rate levels.

He got to come home last night about 7pm and we are so thankful. His first car ride was not his favorite, he seemed to think we were on a roller coaster or something. But we made it and he seems to be doing very well. He did mange to set off his monitor a couple of times but they were just false alarms do to his leads coming loose. He did have a little trouble eating last night but he figured it out about 2am this morning.

Sorry this post seems so scattered but we did not get much sleep last night. We just want to thank everyone who kept him in their prayers. God obviously has big plans for him and he is proof of the power of prayer.

Thank you and God bless. We will continue to update the blog so everyone can keep track of his progress.

Patrick

Weekend Updates

Peyton now weighs 5lbs 6.2oz.

He had a sleep study yesterday and all indications are that it went very well. We are still awaiting official results from that and should get them back in the next 24 hours. He did well throughout the weekend and seems to be very happy as long as he gets fed when he wants to.

He will have some blood work done today to determine if his blood is regenerating itself, if his Calcium and Phosphorus is normal, and to see if the rest of his electrolytes are in the normal range. Please pray that everything goes well with this because this could be the determining factor on whether he comes home in the next few days or not. He will also have a car seat study done today to see if he can handle riding in a car seat while maintaining control of his breathing and heart rate. This is done because he is to small to fit in a car seat normally and his chin may tend to drop and thus cut off his air supply a little, the nurses have ways to pack blanket rolls in the seats to help limit this effect.

Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for him and please continue to do so. God is giving him strength and watching over him. Thanks and God bless.

Patrick

Update

Peyton now weighs 5lbs 3.3 oz.

He is doing well with the new medication the gave him and he seems to be able to eat a little more now that his stomach is digesting things a little faster.

The doctors are a little concerned with his Calcium and Phosphorus levels still being low. The levels are coming up just not to the amount they are wanting them to be. The doctor is going to have a meeting with the nutritionist today to discuss other options in regards to supplementation for the Calcium and Phosphorus.

He is also going to have to have another sleep study done in the next couple of days and may have to have another blood transfusion if he does not start producing red blood cells at a faster rate. the doctor said he is producing the red blood cells but they are taking more blood out to test him than his little body can produce.

Please continue to pray for Peyton and ask God to watch over him as he continues to grow.

Patrick