It's a boy!!!!

Well a lot has happened since the last time we made a blog post. I guess I will do my best to catch you up.

The Hospital before Christmas:
Well Brianna ended up staying four days in the hospital. She was off and off with her eating but she was able to keep her food down so that was good. They kept her on IV fluid the whole time and actually decided that it would be best if they inserted an PICC line (basically a IV access that stayed in her arm until they decided to take it out). She didn't love having this in her arm but it did make things easier for her and the nurses. Instead of poking her for an IV each time they were able to just use the PICC line. Brianna was discharged on Wednesday December 20 from the hospital which was great! However, there was concern that she would end up getting sick again and not having an appetite so it was decided that she would return to the hospital on a daily basis for IV fluids until the baby was born. Seems simple enough but it took several hours each day which wasn't fun. However we convinced Dr. Perrone to let Brianna have Christmas Eve and Christmas off so that was great. From there out Brianna only went about every other day for IV fluids until the baby was born. We did enjoy getting to know all of the wonderful nurses and it was nice to see her while I was at work but it still wasn't very much fun.

Brianna's parents came to town on December 20th and have been here ever since helping out! They have been a tremendous help and we are so grateful that they are here. They have been able to help Brianna stay positive as well as tend to Watson while we have been spending so much time in the hospital. They have also been helping with the housework and that has taken a lot of stress off of my plate for the time being. Brianna finished her last day of Radiation on December 21!!!!!! NO MORE RADIATION!!!! She was very excited. Here are some pics from her on the last day!

                              

Brianna is very excited that she no longer has to continue radiation. Dr. Goble told us that it is very unusual to have to go through radiation again so it is very unlikely that she will ever need to go through it again which made her feel really good!!!! Dr. Goble informed us that he would let Dr. Jenkins, Medical Oncologist (Chemo doctor), take care of the MRI so we could see how the radiation did for treatment. Dr. Jenkins decided that there was no need to do the MRI until after the baby was born and told us to have a meeting with him 2 weeks following the baby being born to finalize the chemo treatment plan. Dr. Jenkins informed us that the chemo usually didn't have any side affects and most people handled it well so that was excited. The plan is to do 5 days of chemotherapy with pills and then have 28 days off and then start the cycle over again. The question we have all wanted to know is for how long. We were informed that Brianna would probably repeat this cycle for 2-3 years as this chemo is more of a maintenance drug and the hope is to keep the cancer from growing back. Dr. Jenkins also informed us that it is likely that after 2-3 years that the chemo will stop working and we will have to start thinking about other options whether those be other medications or homeopathic options. He shared a couple of stories with us about woman who were pregnant that after two years no longer needed the chemotherapy so we are hopeful!

Christmas
Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We were able to spend some time with family on both sides which was a blast. We had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents and Christmas with her parents at our house. It was nice not having to think about cancer or the hospital or anything else like it. We just relaxed and enjoyed our time together as a family. Watson enjoyed all of his gifts and he really enjoyed opening all of the presents and ripping off the wrapping paper. We also had the opportunity to spend some time with the Elders and Sisters, missionaries from our church, and that was a lot of fun. We gave them some gifts as well. We had the Geddie tradition of eating finger foods on Christmas Eve and for Christmas dinner we had ham, potatoes casserole, rolls, salad, pie and a strawberry jello dish (which I LOVE). It was fun spending time together as family and remembering the real meaning of Christmas. We focused on our Savior and the gospel and all the many blessings we have received in 2017 and the blessings we continue to receive. Although a lot has changed in our lives, we continue to recognize the Hand of God in our lives and we are ever grateful for all that we have been given.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018-It's a BOY!!!!!
I am sure most of you have been waiting for this part of the blog! The Cesarian Section was scheduled for Wednesday January 3 at noon. We arrived at the hospital at 10:00 am to get everything ready. Brianna was prepped and while I waited, I went and had lunch with my dad, Dr. Perrone and Dr. Dawson who would be performing the C-section so that was a lot of fun just eating together before everything went down. Dr. Perrone and Dr. Dawson headed out and informed us when it was time for us to head back. Typically only the father goes back into the delivery room for C-sections but as Dad is Dr. Geddie, Neonatologist, at the hospital, he was privileged to go back as well. We had great staff in the delivery room. The NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) was in the room as well as the delivery team. As the baby would be born at 32 weeks it was certain that he would be admitted to the NICU and thus the team was there. So we had two OB-GYN's and two Neonatologist in the room.  Dr. Geddie was not on at the time but was allowed to go back. Dr. Carmichael was the physician on that day for the NICU so she was there too. As I gowned up in the proper attire, I said a little prayer that everything would go okay. I felt nervous but assured that all would go well. I felt so much love for my family and Brianna and I just swelled with joy. My dad took me back into the room where Brianna already was and I was informed to sit by her and hold her hand. It seems like it happened in the blink of an eye. They started the procedure and within moments, they announced that they were pulling him out. My dad told me to stand up and take pictures. As I did so, I saw him. What a beautiful baby boy. Eli Grant Geddie was born at 12:33pm on January 3, 2018. When he came out, he made a small cry, the showed him to Brianna and me and then handed him to the NICU team to start taking care of him. I left Brianna's side to go see our son. He didn't seem very happy at first but everyone was calm which reassured me that he was doing okay. He wasn't breathing as well as they would have liked so they were giving him some oxygen but everything else seemed to be okay. As the team worked on Brianna to finish sewing her back up, the NICU team starting prepping Eli to head to the NICU. I decided that Brianna was okay and that I would go with Eli to the NICU to make sure everything was okay. Once at the NICU they weighed and measured Eli. He weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 18.25 inches long. For a 32 week old baby, this was pretty good! After everything settled down in the NICU, I went back to check on Brianna. She was in the recovery room and I was informed that her family could come in. I went and showed pictures to Kim and Terry and then we went and spent some time with Brianna. After a while, they decided to go home and rest while Brianna was resting. After about an hour, the nurse decided that Brianna was doing well enough to move to PostPartum where she would spend the rest of her stay until discharged. As we left recovery, it was decided to take Brianna to see baby Eli. She spent a few minutes with him and held his hand for the first time! He was on CPAP with was to help him breathe and he had an IV but she was still able to hold his hand. We then headed to let Brianna rest. By that evening, Brianna was feeling so good that she got in a wheelchair and we went to see baby Eli again. She held Eli for the first time and it was beautiful. She did skin to skin and she just felt at peace. For once, we didn't worry about cancer or the negatives, we focused on the miracle of birth and the joy that came from meeting our precious son. I went home to spend a few minutes with Watson and have dinner and then headed back to the hospital where I slept on a magnificent bench (sarcasm intended). While I was at home, the Schuebert's came and visited with Brianna which was awesome and it made her feel great! We are only allowed to let 6 people go and visit with Eli so unfortunately not everyone is allowed to see him. This is to keep the NICU not as busy but also allow Eli to get the rest that he needs. Dr. Geddie instituted a rule that for the first 6 hours of the baby's life only mom and dad can see the baby so no one else really met him today.

Thursday, January 4, 2018-The next day...
I woke up and started getting ready for work. That's right, I went to work. Gotta pay the bills! Although it helps that I work at the very hospital that we were staying at so really I could come and see Brianna and Eli whenever I wanted. Brianna was doing great with recovery and seemed to not have very much pain. She went to go see Eli and just rested. We had some wonderful guest come and visit today. Bishop and Sister Cooper saw Brianna during lunch, Bishop and Sister Martin came to visit for a little bit, Donna Fas came in for a few minutes, and then the Mecham's came in for a little while. These were all wonderful visits and we felt so loved. It was so good spending time with these individuals and I feel we were each uplifted by the different visits. Not much else happened today but Brianna and Eli are doing well. I held Eli for the first time today. It felt so good to have him in my arms and it felt so good just to hold him! He feels so delicate because of the breathing and the IV but it did feel nice to hold him.

Friday, January 5, 2018-A little concerned...
Brianna seemed to be having some issues today. She wasn't able to speak very well this morning or make any decisions. I was pretty concerned and nervous that something was going wrong. I spent some of the morning with her as well as going to work. I was cornered that she wasn't doing as well and told her to just sleep and rest in the morning. I went home around lunch to allow Kim and Terry to go and visit with Brianna. They called when Dr. Perrone came and Brianna seemed to be doing better so that was good. Dr. Perrone thought that Brianna was just tired from everything and she seemed to be better so that was good! Once Kim and Terry got back, I went to Lowe's to get some supplies as we decided to build a ramp as Brianna really struggles to get up our stairs into our home. I went with a member from our congregation. It was a huge blessing as he knew exactly what we needed as he had designed the ramp! Daren Graham helped out so much and he really designed the project and was our team leader! We can't thank him enough! We bought a billion pieces of lumber as the ramp was designed to be 35 feet long. After getting the lumber, I headed to the hospital to sleep on a wonderful bench again! We were both pretty tired but we decided to go see Eli before going to bed. It was wonderful just being with him. We then went back to the room and went to bed and hoped that Brianna could go home the next day.

Saturday, January 6, 2018-Home Sweet Home
We woke up around 6 with the on call doctor in our room wanting to know how Brianna was doing and if she wanted to come home today. She said she was more than ready and he said he would put in the orders so she could go home later that day. I got up and got ready so I could get to our house for the big Ramp Build day! I got to the house and the group started arriving. We probably had 15+ people come from the church to help build the ramp today. Brianna has had a hard time walking down our pathway because of the uneven path and the rocks. It is difficult because her foot doesn't lift like it used to and she has a harder time being sturdy. The idea for the ramp was so she didn't have to walk on the path and so she didn't have to do stairs as those are pretty hard for her too. We most of the day building a 35 foot ramp. After a couple of hours, Brianna called and said that she was ready to come home. I headed up to the hospital to sign some paperwork, we spent some time with Eli and then we headed home. Brianna looked happy that the ramp was being built but when she came home it looked like nothing had been done! She went in and took a nap and rested while we continued to work. By about 3 or 4 the ramp was completed and it was awesome! I went and got Brianna and brought her out to try it out! She loved it and was so grateful! We will never be able to thank all of those who came and spent their Saturday serving us. After some dinner, Brianna and I went to see Eli. They took him off of the breathing today!!!!! That was wonderful!! They also gave him a bath so it was really like the first time we were seeing our son because the CPAP covered most of his face. It was so wonderful. We spent several hours with him because it just felt sooooo good! Today was a good day because Momma came home and baby got off the breathing machine and it just felt good!

We also have to give a shout out to all of the amazing healthcare providers that have been working with Brianna and Eli. We have been truly blessed with some of the best and we can feel their love for us. One of the nurses the other night said that she feels that the NICU babies are part of her family and that helped us remember that we are all one big family. It also reassured us that our little one is being cared for the way that we would care for him. We have a huge family at CHI St. Joseph and we continue to feel loved by those taking care of us. The nurses, doctors and all other team members are amazing and we love them so much for who they are and what they do to serve our family. We are truly blessed.

We continue to see the miracles that are pronounced on our family. We continually put our faith and trust in God. We know that things aren't always easy but we feel so much peace because of the knowledge that families are forever. We were reminded of the blessing of service. It has always been so easy to find people to serve. What we have been learning through this trial is that sometimes you have to be the one that needs to be served. It is easy to say we are doing okay or that we don't need service but we are reminded that for people to be able to serve, there must be those that need to be served. We are at a point in our life that we have to be willing to allow others to serve us. This has been very humbling and we have had our eyes opened even more to the plan that God has for us. We know that by serving others, we can draw closer to God because we can feel His love when we serve others. We will never be able to thank each of you for your service to our family. These blessings come through physical labor, through prayers and so much more. We know hat God lives, He loves us and He knows us. We know that God has a plan and as we put faith in Him, we can overcome all things. We know that through service we can feel the spirit of God and it is a great opportunity to serve but even more so to be served. We love our Watson and we love our Eli. We feel so loved by friends, family and our Heavenly Father. We continue to look for the positive and look forward to so much more that we have ahead.