It's OFFICIAL- NO MORE OXYGEN!!!

Today Eli went to the lung clinic for a regular 6-8 week check up, and we got some BIG NEWS... He is officially off of oxygen now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If you hear a lot of loud noise, cheering, clapping, shouts of joy... it's probably just the Gannons having an after-17-long-months-our-child-is-free-of-tubes-and-tanks-and-monitors-party :)!!!  (Well he still has the feeding tube in his stomach... but as far as breathing tubes and accessories, he's a FREE MAN :)!)

July 1st, this Friday, is Eli's 1-year-of-being-home-from-the-NICU-anniversary.. and the following day, July 2nd is he and Isaac's 17-month-birthday.  If you would have told me when he was born that we would spend the first year and a half (almost) of his life toting around O2 tanks and tubes and monitors, I would have thought, "Oh my..." But at that point in our journey, I was pretty clueless, so it wouldn't have really made sense to me what all that meant.

But after enduring all we did in the first 5 months of his life during the NICU roller coaster, and already having Isaac at home, who was still on O2 and monitors himself... we knew how draining it was to manage all of it.  So if you would have told me the day he got discharged from the NICU that he would still be on O2 for the next year, I would have probably burst into tears, thinking, "Are you kidding me?  I can't do that, it's too much... That's such a long time...!!!" 

But, by the grace of God, we did it.  Through a lot of prayer (thanks to so many of you who were praying for us!) we survived these 17 months.  If I'm going to be real, I have to admit that it's been really hard a lot of times.  It's exhausting to manage.  Especially when they both were still on O2, but even still when just Eli was the only one still on O2.  Our dining room wall was always lined with tanks, and we usually had a few more tanks dispersed throughout the house and our cars for "easy" (ha!) access.  Everywhere we went, a tank went with us.  We could never easily pick Eli up and take him even just across the room, without toting a tank along, too.  Eli couldn't even easily get himself across the room once he started "scooting."  He would go so far, and then that was the end of the rope, literally- the oxygen tube is only so long, so he could only scoot so far before he'd be out of slack. 

If we left the house, even for a short period of time, there's always that pressure to make sure you have enough oxygen with you.  "Is the tank going to run out?  Do I have a spare in the car with me just in case?"  Going somewhere overnight was quite the ordeal- that always meant you had to have multiple extra tanks, because 1 wouldn't be enough to last long enough.  And those things are heavy- even the "small" ones that are meant to be portable.  By the time you get the tank in the carrying case, strapped to your back, and then get a baby and probably a diaper bag in tow, too... you are carrying quite the load.  (It's no wonder my friend and massage therapist said my back and neck were full of knots...)  It was physically and mentally exhausting at times... honestly, most of the time.

So I am beyond thankful to be closing this chapter in our lives.  I love being able to pick Eli right up out of his crib in the mornings, without having to untangle all the tubes he's wrapped himself up in throughout the night.  I love being able to pick him up from playing in the floor, and take him right downstairs to eat, or get a bath, without having to pull or carry a tank behind me.  I love getting him in and out of the car with out strapping a tank to my back, too.  I love putting him in and out of the stroller, without having to put a tank in the basket underneath.  Most of all, I love that his lungs are healthy and getting stronger everyday, and don't need supplemental oxygen to be okay.  I've avoided a lot of situations over the past year, and declined invitations to do things, because I just couldn't fathom managing two babies and the 1 or 2 tanks that came with them.  So I am really looking forward to this new freedom and weight (literally) off our shoulders.



Look at that handsome, oxygen-free face...



"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths will grow weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my day. He is mine forever." Psalm 73:26

Thank you, Lord, for the strength you provided me over the past year. There were many, many times that I did not feel strong at all... but you gave me enough strength to get through each day. I praise you and thank you for that love!

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19