~2 Month Birthday Present~

Our beautiful baby boy turned 2 months old today!  Despite everything we have discovered about his health the past few weeks, we can genuinely say we're having the time of our lives being Eli's parents.  Not a day goes by that we don't feel so much joy because he's a part of our family.  Happy 2 month birthday, little champ!

Eli's Scoop:

-Eli currently weighs 8lb 10oz (to many of you that probably seems tiny for a 2 month old but considering he got down to 4lb 14oz that is fantastic in our eyes!  He has been gaining weight really well since he got to the hospital which the doctors are very pleased about!) He's starting to get chunk on his cheeks and we love it!

-He still wears newborn diapers and probably will for a while longer.

-He really fills out his newborn clothes now and is starting to fit into some of his 0-3 month outfits.  I brought almost his entire wardrobe of clothes (up to 6 months) here to the hospital otherwise he might never wear any of them!

-I've said this a couple times already but he LOVES the bath and will sit in it and chill forever if we let him and as long as the water is really warm.

-About 2 weeks ago I had to stop breast feeding because they discovered I had been exposed to the CMV virus when I was younger and it can be passed through breast milk so we couldn't risk Eli getting it.  I was nervous about the transition to formula but he has done quite well and continued to gain weight like a champ!

-His two least favorite things (so far) at the hospital are getting his temperature and blood pressure checked.  I honestly think he'd rather get his blood drawn than either of those two things!  Unfortunately they happen every 4 hours :S.

-Eli LOVES his daddy!  He's with me all day so I'm nothing special but when his dad comes home from work he'll just stare at him forever and loves to play with him!

2 Month Birthday Present:

No, Logan and I didn't give Eli a two month birthday present but the doctors gave him the best present possible!  We were informed today that they found Eli's match! We weren't expecting it to be found for another month at least!  The doctors told us that it would take about 2-3 weeks to find his match once it went into the system and it was found a mere few hours after.  We are completely overjoyed and still shocked that we have been given this great blessing.  We know, without a doubt, that it is because of all of your thoughts and prayers that we have witnessed this miracle.  Even though he can't tell us, we know Eli is ecstatic as well! :)

The Updated Plan:

We have been here in the hospital for almost 3 weeks now and were originally told that he wouldn't have his transplant for about 2-3 months.  Because they already have his match, we will get going right away.  The match they found is a cord blood match, not a live donor match, which is what the doctors were hoping to find.  There are many great things about having a cord blood match and one of those is how much quicker we can get started.  Had they found a live donor match today, Eli's transplant wouldn't take place for a couple more months because we'd have to wait for that person to go donate their bone marrow, etc.  Because we have a cord blood match, it is already frozen and ready to go so it will be sent to the hospital and should arrive in about a week.  As soon as it is in the hospital's possession, the chemo will begin.  We haven't had an in-depth discussion about the details of the chemo and transplant yet but we have a rough idea of the timeline.  Chemo should take about a week and then the bone marrow transplant will take place right after which means Eli will probably have his transplant in about two weeks!

We are so grateful for the incredible amount of fasting, prayers, thoughts and love that have taken place in our behalf.  Logan and I know that the reason we have witnessed so many miracles already is because of each one of you.  While it can be nerve wracking to think about the treatments that Eli will have to go through in a few weeks we find so much comfort in everyone's support and the knowledge that he has many angels watching over him.  

As it has been for the past 3 weeks, our main goal continues to be to keep Eli healthy until his treatments begin.  Eli's doctors told us today that his immune system is quite worse than even most SCID patients which is one of the main reasons we are so grateful his match came back so fast--he really wouldn't be able to fight much of anything if he were to catch a bug right now.  Thankfully the hospital keeps this unit very clean and he won't have any visitors so we are confident he will stay healthy until his chemo begins.

We never imagined that Eli's two month birthday could be so exciting and filled with such wonderful news!

Fight on, little Eli!