We felt pressured into it, but we attended our first parent hour at the NICU. They gave us lunch and a giant bag full of gifts. As if that wasn’t humbling enough, parents went around sharing their stories. It feels so weird and sad to say that we are so blessed with what our journey entails, comparatively speaking. They showed us a TedTalk given by a National Geographic photographer named Dewitt Jones.  It was about perspective and looking through a lense of celebration: change your lense, change your life. After, the nurse asked “Well, where to find joy in the hospital?” For Heather and I, it’s in baby smiles, watching her heart rate go down, finger holds, her contentment in a perfect swaddle, visiting with and recognizing nurses, and even sharing our social media story. To end, they shared a quote that really means a lot to me. It’s truth: “The more we turn to others, the more joy we experience, and the more joy we experience, the more joy we can bring to others.”

Not only do we have Mileena as a primary nurse, but Courtney and Kylie have been added to the team, too. Courtney rummaged through some back closets and found a new collection of bows for Navy Rose, while Kylie was someone who took initiative and helped lead the first successful feedings. We love all these girls because they seem to care about us, our story, our care, and our journey. They welcome us with smiles and help make our NICU room and experience feel as close to a home as it can. 

It’s small and seemingly insignificant, but it seems we’ve driven to Salt Lake in every storm, every drizzly day, and all the fog and rain of the last two weeks. Yet, Navy Rose has a room with a window and each day we’ve looked out to see sunshine and beautiful mountains in the distance. There’s a lesson in that. 

Two more gifts came in the mail, perfect Unicorn additions to Navy’s nursery. However, the gift-giver just had a baby of her own, yet still was thinking of us. That’s just another perfect example of the type of people who surround us. 

Tuesday was our setback day, but it was also the day someone from Weber High called. They weren’t taking no for an answer but wanted to let us know the school was going to do a few things to raise money for us. Some unicorn shirts were donated, and bracelets were bought that they’d sell, and a few other things are in the works, too. I’m not a crier, but a tear was in the corner of my eye and dared to fall. The phone call ended with an assurance that this person loved us. 

We met some ladies from our church Thursday morning. The night before the youth went around to collect things from the ward we might need and put together a beautiful gift basket. A young woman who babysits Kai wanted it to be known that there was a Teddy Bear in the basket just for Kai. Inside, to our surprise, were piles of envelopes filled with cash and gift cards. To us, each envelope grew heavier, not of value but because of our respectful gratitude. In fact, it was terrifying opening each envelope because there would be a card with a gift and a saying like “God is with you, so are we” and then no name; they were mostly left unsigned and we have no one to specifically thank. The young women also created coupons for free babysitting/ house cleaning.

Speaking of church, our neighborhood ward has been hooking us up and taking care of us when it comes to meals. Heather serves in the Primary Presidency and her teammates came over to visit one night. They brought food, a wonderful soup and Snickers ice cream bars, but a gift. It was from a magical, secret store (Amazon) and was another key addition to Navy’s growing unicorn collection. They also just brought a visit, giving us company and cheer that we needed after a long day in Salt Lake. 

More church: Heather’s old YW leader delivered two cards to the Edmunds house one night. One was a thoughtful note to ‘Feather’ with a Cafe Rio gift card and the other was for Randy and Leslie offering condolences for having their daughter move in with them. I’m sure you need a break, they wrote, so a Cafe Rio gift card was given to them, too. ?

One night last week a text from a random number came through. It was the mom of one of my SBOs. She had heard of what was going on and wanted to touch base to tell us her story of one of her kids. Spencer had nearly an identical birth story as Navy Rose. Spencer needed surgery with his TEF, was suspected of Trisomy 18, was on the Vacterl spectrum, and was 4 lb 13 oz when he came home. Today? You’d have no clue as he is thriving and living a normal, healthy life. I could only reply “I love hearing about Spencer from you. It’s nice to just to remember what he looks like, that everything is fine, and to just have that confidence for Navy.”

I knew he would do it because that’s just the kind of guy he is, but I asked my dad to service our cars. They were both overdue for an oil and lube, but I had been too distracted to get to it. With going back and forth to Salt Lake now, it had been weighing on my mind. He’s Dad, so of course he’d say yes to getting that taken care of for me, even switching cars for a couple of days so it would work out with our schedules and the timing. After bringing back one car, he returned it with a full tank of gas and left a Papa Murphy’s pizza in the freezer, too. Dads, am I right? 

After a scare, we decided I should stay the night to be here for the night feedings, just in case. Heather and I had spent the day together, but she is having dizzy spells, was crashing with milk, hormones, and general exhaustion (uh, you did just give birth, dude) so she wanted, and needed, to get home. How to get her there became the question when we remembered a friend works in Salt Lake and would be leaving soon. Of course, he’d be happy to grab her and help out. In fact, he and his wife were going to Salt Lake together the next day and would be happy to bring her back, too. 

On Sunday, we dropped Kai off in his pajamas to a neighbor. She fed him breakfast (two pancakes and eggs!) and then got him ready for church. Her kids played with him until it was time (apparently, they have cool, big firetrucks) and then another neighbor took him to church and sat with him through the meetings. This neighbor had made the initial offer and we were so thankful someone was thinking of that. Kai had missed the nursery class with his friends and was so happy to see them. We were so happy he was able to have a Sunday morning and church experience. 

Heather’s friend group nicknamed themselves the Dime Squad, since they graduated in 2010. The dimes collabed together to put together a snack basket for us to leave in the Jeep to access whenever. It’s not only the perfect bag (for some reason, we are obsessed with bags now), but it has boxes of chips, crackers, Twix, Mike and Ike’s, and Kit Kat bags, dried fruit, gatorades, sanitizers and lotions, and just all of that kind of stuff. When we need a walk and a snack, we’ve just gone back to the Jeep where we are well supplied. It saved us the night we showed up to the hospital at midnight, since Heather was nauseous but all the food places in the hospital shut down.

As was documented, our Friday night and Saturday morning was a bit chaotic and scary. Yet, the team in Salt Lake went out of their way to help us feel comfortable, while prioritizing Navy’s health and success. We knew we could just drop Kai off with Grandma at any time and he, too, would feel comfortable and be happy. When we got home, a friend dropped off a Crumbl cookie, which was delicious, and a check that she assured was not from her. “This envelope is from someone anonymous who wanted you to have it,” were pretty close to the exact words. When we opened it, we were floored. We keep saying it, but we sincerely mean it: we are surrounded by such thoughtful, caring people and are so lucky for this magic to be sprinkled on us and Navy. 

Word about my absence and Navy Rose has spread through Weber High. In case you didn’t know, I also love the Utah Jazz and run a fan account on Instagram (@thetorturedfan). Sometimes Weber High and Jazz fandom intersect, as was the case one night when my account got a DM. I just have to repost all of it. “Hey Mr. Godfrey! This is _____ from school. Mrs. Champi told my class about your baby girl. I’m so sorry and I just want to let you know that I have you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. If your baby girl is anything like you, I know she will be a fighter just like you. We miss you here at school and we are thinking about you. Even though you’ve never actually taught me, you’ve always been one of my favorite teachers at school. Keep fighting and everything will work out. Remember the Lord and He will provide a way for your baby girl. When you get back to school I’ll be sure to stop by your room and say hi. Stay strong and go Jazz!”

For about two-and-a-half weeks, we stayed at the Edmunds house. We moved in, as we liked to say, completely taking over their upstairs living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Kai was starting to wake up and call throughout the house, ‘Grandma where are you?’ and the two would have breakfast together. Once, Grandma was already gone when Kai woke up and Heather called to him from the other room. Hearing his mama, he started crying because he wanted Grandma so much. Another time, Kai and Gma ate breakfast and then she had to go to work. Once she left, Kai sat on the living room floor with a pout and said “darn it. Today is a bad day because grandma went to the office.” Eventually, it was time to move back home. I told Heather to sleep in and take it slow at the Edmunds while Kai and I went home to unpack, clean, and organize the place. I invited my mom to tag along. She met us at our house, with breakfast, and then started laundry, dishes, and picking up stuff. Together, we organized the nursery again and then I got phone calls about Navy. I left and closed the door to talk, turning in an hour long conversation. I come back out and my mom had finished the nursery, read books to Kai, and was eating lunch with him. Long story short: we love Grandmas. 

I posted some generic messages on my Facebook page about Navy Rose. I don’t use Facebook all that much, but I’ve also loved how it’s connected me to people all over the world. Consequently, I had messages of love and prayers from all over the world.  One that stood out was: “Sounds like sweet Navy is a fighter and doing well ❤️❤️. I shared your first post about Navy with Colton and he was concerned and sending his love.  Hope you have felt his prayers all the way from Sydney, Australia.  I will send him this update as well.  Praying and thinking of your family!”

Another post read: “Congratulations on the birth of Navy – another Godfrey in the world is great for everyone. Our thoughts and prayers are directed to her safe and speedy recovery.” One, from Rajahmundry India, said: “Congrats Baby Fish. Do not worry, bro, she’ll be fine and you’ll definitely have a wonderful time with her. Take care of your wife.” Or, my Primary Teacher when I was 11-years-old: “She’s a fighter and tough. Regardless of what’s in her future, she will grow up stronger and confident knowing she has already overcome. All the physical stuff is temporary, you guys are showing her that her soul is eternal.” So many messages of hope from India, Nepal, the Dominican Republic, old friends from Medford, Oregon, China, my Logan and USU Ambassador family, and my stateside mission family from Maryland and West Virginia. With support from all over, it’s no wonder we’ve felt so strengthened.