Thursday noon

FREEDOM!! He has had his pic line removed and his monitors are turned off. He has no lines, cords, probes, nodes, monitors, sensors, or leads on him or in him for the first time in his young life. It is so incredibly beautiful to see.
They did not take a drug level today, so there is no number to report. They raised his dose yesterday from 16.5 mL to 18.5 mL. They will take another level tomorrow morning. Unless that level is completely shocking or other unforeseen things arise, we will be taking him home tomorrow. There is some disagreement between the neonatologists and the neurologists about the significance of the drug level. The neurologist is apparently saying that the level is of no importance; what matters is that he is on a mL/kg dose that is controlling the seizures. Since he has been seizure-free for a week at all different levels, the neurologist is fine discharging him at his current dose and will just adjust the dose as his weight increases. The neonatologists, while they acknowledge that the neurologists have rank in this area, are not entirely comfortable discharging him if his level is below 30. A meeting of us, the neurologists, and the neonatologists is supposed to happen at some point today. We are hopeful that meeting will happen and will bring some clarity and peace of mind as we get ready to go home.
Finley continues to do well. He is showing some signs of developing neck strength and continues to sleep, eat, and poop well. He had a bit of discharge in his left eye for the last couple of days, but that looks like it has cleared thanks to some lovingly applied warm compresses.
We will update after our meeting this afternoon. We will not likely know for sure that we are going home tomorrow until his level reading comes back tomorrow morning, but today's meeting should allow us to take some of the caution off our hope. We are having to accept that he is not as high a priority now. The NICU is very busy right now and he is now considered a "well baby". But the last thing we are going to do is complain about anything that comes along with having the word "well" associated with him.
We have returned home each day to some wonderful things in the mail. Thank you so much for those things. In time, we will attempt to express our gratitude on an individual basis. Thank you for your patience with that. Please know that your love and generosity are hitting their intended targets with precision.
Much love,
Kevin, Robyn, and the Homeward-looking Angel

Here he is passing his car seat test - he had to prove that he could keep his oxygen saturation stable for the car ride home. Passed with flying colours.

I'm a Tar Heel born...