Updated Pics of Peyton...

Here are 2 new pics of Peyton...I will post more.  I really need to get my friend Annalee to help me out and make this blog look all fancy like hers! =)

Off to Cincinnati...Again!

Hey everyone!!
Gosh I know it has been forever and a day since I last posted on this blog, and I am bound and determined to change that!  A lot has gone on since I last posted.  About a week after we got home from Peyton's follow up in Cincinnati in November, Peyton decided that she did not want her feeding tube anymore.  Ever since then we have been without it.  It makes things a lot easier, especially when she gets crazy with those hands...she's a wild woman.  And because she is a wild woman, feeding her can still be difficult, but manageable once you figure out what works for her.  December came and went so quick and before you knew it, we were in a new year, but first stop Christmas.  Peyton enjoyed her first Christmas very much.  We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house (Nanny and Poppa G) and Christmas day with Allen's (DeeDee and Granddaddy).  She watched and maybe grabbed a piece of wrapping paper here and there, but I cannot wait until this Christmas when she can really dig in.  So the Christmas holiday passed, and the Wednesday after Christmas, I went back to work.  Can you believe how phenomenal the people I work for are?  I was able to stay home with Peyton that whole time, and take care of her to get her to where she is today.  It has been really great getting back to work and seeing all my fellow co-workers everyday.  They are amazing people.  It is also nice seeing my customers come in and ask how Peyton is doing and want to see pictures.  But back to Peyton...

Peyton has been doing all sorts of new things.  She rolls, attempts to crawl, and can hold her head really well.  We have been attempting solids, and all we have attempted so far is rice cereal, oatmeal with banana, and pears.  Sweet potatos will be our next stop.  However, even though we have been working on the solids thing, doesn't mean she really eats a whole lot of it.  She has learned how to blow spit bubbles, turn her head, and puff her cheeks up.  This makes it a lot of fun.  That's ok...she'll get it one day.  I just can't believe that in about 2 weeks our sweet baby girl will be 6 months old...where has the time gone?  And just to think that we weren't even sure how the outcome was going to be in August.  She has just come such a long way...she is a strong baby and we are just so blessed. 

We will be returning to Cincinnati starting tomorrow morning.  We will be driving some tomorrow and some Tuesday, and Peyton will be admitted to the hospital on Wednesday.  She is having surgery on Thursday to close her fascia.   This is the little muscle layer right under the skin.  It could not be completely closed when she had her diaphragm repaired because when they pushed everything back down..stomach, intestines, her tummy was just so small, and the pressure would have been too much.  I have no doubt that she will handle this just as well.  God has taken care of this family to this point, and I have faith that he will continue to keep his hand over us.  She shouldn't be in Cincinnati long, we will be discharged the following week, however, please keep our sweet baby in your prayers!  Everyone has been sooooo supportive, and once again THANK YOU!! I will keep everyone updated! Promise! Love yall!

Thankful!

So I know I haven't blogged in a while, but tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am so thankful for my precious little miracle baby, Peyton.  The journey with her has been a challenge, but a challenge I am greatful for everyday.  So just a little update on her... we took her to Cincinati last week for a visit.  She is 11 lb. 3 oz and 23 inches long.  Developmentally she is where she needs to be, and they were very pleased with how she looked.  We are still facing feeding challenges, but I have full confidence that she will get the hang of it.  We want a chunky baby!!  A few of Peyton's favorite things right now are (at the top of the list for sure) - eating her hands, tv (it fascinates her), and smiling big smiles and talking to mommy and daddy!

I am also so thankful for all of our friends and family who have given us comfort and support through-out it all.  We are so blessed!  I couldn't ask for more amazing people in our lives.

I am so thankful for all of the incredible doctors and nurses who have taken care of and continue to take care of Peyton.  What would we do without you?!

I am also thankful for a wonderful husband.  I couldn't ask for a better friend, and someone to share my life with.

I am thankful for the roof over our heads and the food on our table.  Not everyone is as fortunate to have this.

And most importantly, I am thankful to God for making all of these things possible in my life.  Without him, I would not have all of these wonderful things!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!  Love yall!

A Week at Home...

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while! So let me begin from discharge...Peyton was discharged from Children's at the beginning of the week.  She handled the looooong car trip home very well...I almost think she handled it better than I did.  When we got home late, we laid her in her crib and the first thing she did was throw those hands over her head and kick those legs straight out.  She was happy to be home and happy to be out of that carseat!  So then it all began...Allen and I have come to know what tired really means this week.  Don't get me wrong, I was tired in Cincinnati, I was emotionally tired as well, but this is a completely different kind of tired..ha!  I think we have started getting used to it a bit though as we work out who does what when.  But even though we are tired, there is no better feeling than the feeling of being home and taking care of Peyton.  She is such a sweet little girl.  We also went to the doctor on Friday for a follow up at home and to get her 2-month shots.  Now, Peyton has been through a lot...surgery, etc...but...those shots were definitely something she was not fond of.  She let out the biggest cry when she got the 2nd one.  She stopped very quickly though as soon as she realized it was over, and she took her pacy.  She let out another big cry like this Saturday...Allen had gone to the store to go get propane for the grill.  I proceeded to feed her, when all of a sudden she decided to have a diaper explosion.  I had to put missy in the tub and clean her off.  Well, when I got her out of the tub, I had to take her bandaid from the shot off, and my goodness, you would have thought she was getting another shot!  And just as she is crying out...who walks back in the door...Allen.  He just said, "What are you doing to her?!"  It was pretty funny.  Peyton still has her feeding tube, but it doing well with taking a bottle.  Whatever she does not take, we put it in the feeding tube.  Hopefully, we can have her eating without that thing pretty soon!  I will say the nice feature of the tube is that, when she has meds I have to give her, I can just put it in the tube if she is sleeping...very nice.  We will still have to go back up in November for a follow up appointment, and in December for another small surgery to close the muscle back up all the way under her skin.  This surgery is not as invasive as the previous.  Her tummy was just so small that when they did the first surgery and pushed everything down, it would have created too much pressure to close that muscle all the way.  So now.... there are some thank yous that we want to say.  First, we want to thank God.  He has guided Peyton through this whole process and held her precious self in His arms as she has continued to heal and grow.  We want to thank both of our families.  Both of our parents have been there for us the whole way and have been a wonderful support system.  To Allen's parents, thank you for helping us make the trip home (with all our STUFF!) and to My parents, thank you for stocking our kitchen for us, and cleaning up our house to make it shine!  Our extended families as well, have done nothing but just be there for us in our time of need.  To all our friends, that have helped us out whether it be a gift, a kind word, or just a silent prayer that you may have said for us...thank you so much.  For all of those who collected can tabs for us to donate to The Ronald McDonald House...thank you!  The last group of tabs we got came from Kosciusko Lower Elementary and South Leake for a combined total of 111.5 lbs...absolutely amazing.  And also, from  Annalee Patrick and her mother Cindy Rice's school...for a total of 26 lbs...just wonderful.  To both Allen's employer, Shelter Insurance and my employer, Lemon Mohler Insurance, thank you so much for being so supportive and understanding of our situation.  You have made caring for our little one easy without the stress of worrying about our job.  To all the families at The Ronald McDonald House that I met during our stay there, it was so wonderful meeting you, and will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers.  And finally...to all of Peyton's wonderful doctors, surgeons, and nurses.  You are just miraculous people.  Our experience at Cincinnati Children's has been wonderful.  You can tell that you sincerely love what you do just by how much you care.  Peyton was blessed to have such amazing people taking care of her.  To Everyone...THANK YOU!! Love Yall!

The BIG News

Well this is what we have been working for...the big news that our little one is ready to come home to Mississippi!  Today during rounds, the doctors set a date for discharge as being a week from today...just one day shy of her 2 month birthday!! Next Monday, we will be making the journey back home to Mississippi (unless, of course she pulls any funny business!)  Of course, we will not let Peyton in on this little secret because last time we had a date set like this (her first surgery date) we had to move it because she got the skin infection the same day...I swear it was because she heard us talking about surgery.  She has just been taking the feeding thing so well.  She has gotten the hang of all that she needs to do for the most part, it's just the endurance part that she is still working on...she gets wore out.  She has the look at the end of taking a bottle like, "Whoa, that was so good, but man is that hard work!"  She just continues to amaze me everyday...she is such a miracle!  I just want to thank everyone again for all their prayers and wonderful, wonderful support.  Without all this, I do not believe that we would have been able to get through these past 2 months!  It has meant soooo much to us to have people standing behind us this whole way.  And, if anyone did not believe in the power of prayer before, say hello to Peyton!  God definitely has a plan for this special little girl!  I cannot wait to see everyone...it has been a while!  Until next time...Love Yall!

New Post!!

Sooorry everyone...someone needs to get on to me when I don't update this blog! =) Peyton is now in a big girl room!  She got moved back to the "B" pod on Friday.  I am pretty sure she is enjoying it very much...she gets much better sleep back there, and I am pretty sure she is getting herself on a schedule.  And speaking of schedules, we are now getting missy on a bath schedule.  For a while there, she was the stinky kid in the pod, but with her skin infection that she had and then surgery, we couldn't really give her too many baths...but now she's shining!  It's so funny too...yesterday, I was giving her a bath, and she was just talking to me (she has started cooing!!).  I really think she enjoys them.  We have been weaning her medicine for hypertension...her echo looked great!  Also, Peyton is not on the oxygen anymore!  The only tube coming out of that sweet baby's face is a feeding tube from her nose (which usually mittens would be used to prevent babies from scratching, Peyton, however, gets to wear hers when she gets a little crazy with those hands...she can't be pulling that tube out!).  She is continuing to receive feeds through her feeding tube to her intestine, but we have been working with her on taking a bottle...she did sooo great this afternoon!  I am just so proud of her!  She is such a strong little girl.  Peyton has come a long way, and she just looks so great.  I just can't wait to bring her home and show her off!  I miss everyone very much, but I do know that I am here for a great and miraculous reason!  Love yall!

Update!

Hey Everyone!  Sorry it's been a few days, but Peyton is doing great!  So last time I blogged Peyton had come off of the ventilator.  Sunday, they began feeding her milk!  This is a process because sometimes these kidos can have some bad acid reflux.  They have been giving her continous feeds through a feeding tube that goes down to her intestine.  She has been doing great with this and they continue to increase her feeds.  Now, the real test will come probably sometime next week when they pull back to her stomach.  We will be able to see how this reflux issue actually is.  In the meantime, we have also been working with Peyton with the occupational and speech therapists on the taste and smell of milk by giving her little drops on her hands and pacy.  She is doing well with this too!  I think she likes actually getting something out of sucking on her pacy!  I don't blame her!  Also, they have stopped her nitric...this was for her hypertension, and she is just on a by mouth medicine.  Her echo will be tomorrow to see if her hypertension has improved more.  She just has the oxygen through her nose right now, but will probably not need it much longer!  Hopefully this will be gone tomorrow too!  She is just a little rockstar!  She says she is ready to get her little booty home!  She's ready to see her house!  We are also now on the list for the "B - pod."  These are like private rooms that are like a transition to home kind of room.  There are still nurses back there, but it's more homey.  There is a tv and chair that pulls out to a bed, and a private bathroom.  So excited!  And speaking of excited, we were so excited when Peyton was just smiling and looking all around today.  She was just so happy today.  It was so sweet...Allen was on one side of her crib and just looked down at her, and she kind of did this little shy smile.  She put her head down and just grinned!  It was so sweet!  Goodness, I hope I'm not leaving anything out...a lot has happened in a week, if I did leave something out, I will be sure to update everyone again sooner!  Oh yeah, and I have my 6-week follow up appointment for me tomorrow...hope all goes well!  Miss everyone back home!  Love Yall!