A Day of Rest

The day we've been looking forward to for what seems like forever finally came yesterday!  Eli finished his last dose of chemo late last night (technically early this morning) and you can bet we celebrated!  We are so proud of how well he handled everything and so grateful for the strength he was blessed with to do so.  Looking back over the past 8 days, we'd probably sum it up as being pretty smooth sailing the first 4 days and pretty rough the last 4.  Logan and I can definitely agree on one thing: We have learned so much from our 2 1/2 month old on what it truly means to be strong during the trials we're given.  Thank you, Eli, for fighting so hard and teaching your mommy and daddy so much!

We were so excited when the time remaining hit all those zeros!

It seems like once the chemo is finished, the side effects should subside as well but unfortunately that's not the case.  Some of the side effects that can be pretty brutal don't actually start showing up until several days after the last dose of chemo.  Today is technically supposed to be Eli's rest day but his tummy is starting to reject anything that goes into it.  The doctors expected him to stop eating after a couple days but he has continued to pleasantly surprise them with how well he is eating.  He has still wanted to eat all day and has eaten really well when we've fed him but right after he finishes it all comes back up.  We've been trying different anti-nausea meds in an attempt to calm his little tummy but if that doesn't work they will probably put him on TPN for awhile which is nutrients through his IV so his stomach can have a break.  Fingers crossed we're able to keep him eating!  Several people have asked why his hair hasn't fallen out yet and the nurses say that it typically takes a couple weeks but they also mentioned they've seen babies that never lost their hair.  Eli has already lost a lot of it but maybe he'll luck out and keep a bit! 

Tomorrow is the real big day we have been anxiously awaiting!  It's pretty crazy to think that because of the advanced medical technology available to us, out sweet little boy is going to have a second chance at life.  We are so grateful for the care that has brought us to this point and know he is going to be in very qualified and guided hands tomorrow and throughout the rest of his recovery.  Eli's transplant is currently scheduled for 12:30 (we all know that can change pretty easily) but he'll have his bone marrow birthday party before then :) We are so excited to get our little boy on the road to recovery!

Logan and I know that Eli has done so well with everything and received so many  blessings over the last 6 weeks because of the numerous amounts of prayers, thoughts, love and well wishes that have been sent our way.  We also know that he will do that much better tomorrow because of all of your support.  Thank you so much for helping our family get through this journey!

Our sweet little boy was able to go off oxygen today!  It's not uncommon for him to do well for awhile and then to need it again but hopefully he can get a good break from it.