3 lbs 14 oz

     Tonight, we confirmed Riley's birth weight as 3 lbs 14 oz.  We have been confused about this because his little info sign on his incubator says 3 lbs 4 oz.  Craig had a feeling this was incorrect because it also listed the grams as 1750.  He felt the conversion was off.  Riley was weighed tonight for the first time since birth and he weighed very close to 3 lbs 14 oz.  Craig and I were surprised because he has lost so much fluid since birth and looks smaller everyday, I was expecting him to weigh less than 3 lbs.  He was also close to 15 inches long.  I think if I carried him full term he would have been very big since I was only 27 weeks, 4 days when he was born.  No matter how much he weighed, I am so thankful that he is here.
    Riley was given a new medication today, hydrocortizone (a steroid), to help wean him off his blood pressure medicine, dopamine. This morning his dopamine med level was 20 and by the time we left today, it was 3.  Allison, his nurse, said he would probably be able to stop receiving the dopamine by the end of her shift.  They are basing this off his blood pressure number which they want to be between 35 and 40.  The longer he stays close to 40, the more they drop the med level.  In Jesus name, he will be off the dopamine by tomorrow and will be able to keep his blood pressure at the desired level without drugs, only with God's help.
   When we called this morning to check on him, we learned that they have lowered the amount of oxygen they are putting into his system to 58%.  This number was in the low 80s when we left Friday night.  God continues to amaze everyone with Riley's speedy recovery. 
     We went home last night to see our 3 doggies, Fancy, Chance, and Gidget, and to sleep in our own bed.  It is hard to leave and know that you will be somewhere that is more than 5 minutes away.  However, it felt good to be home and to see our dogs.  We told them about their new little brother and that we would bring him home soon.  I can't wait to see Riley loving on our big Golden Retreiver, Chance.  They are gonna be best friends. The dogs are being well taken care of by our family, they are receiving lots of treats.  They probably like us being gone since they are getting so spoiled by their new care takers!  We also needed to get more clothes, well mostly me since I wore the same outfit to the hospital several days in a row.  The hospital staff was probably thinking, doesn't that woman own anything different!  We are back at the hotel now, as close as possible to our son.  I can't wait until the day when our little family is all under one roof.
     We visited with Riley most of the afternoon, he had many visitors again today.  My parents, grandparents, and Craig's parents.  They were all very excited to see Riley open his eye and move around a little.  You can see the hope in their eyes as they watch him in awe, a baby healing who was not given much hope to begin with by some doctors.  God is hope.  Believing that God can do all things and knowing that any obstacles set before you he can overcome gives us hope.  Psalm 62:5  ⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.  Don't let anyone speak the word hopeless to you, believe in your heart that God has already done what others chose to believe is hopeless.
    After we ate dinner with my family, we went back to spend more time with Riley.  We found him with his incubator top open and Allison taking care of him.  He had just received his first bath!  Well, sponge bath.  He will receive another in a few days and we will make sure to be present because she said we could help.  Anything we can do to help take care of Riley is a blessing.  I'm really excited for bath time!  He actually just received his first rubber ducky today from our good friends, Ryan and Dixie.  Maybe I can sit it next to him as we wash his little body.  He was also wearing a precious little knit cap, it's light blue, green, and white.  He looks so cute and warm wearing it!!  The coolest event was when Craig asked about him moving his mouth all around and if that was okay.  Allison suggested we try to see if he would take a pacifier.  Riley has a tube in his mouth so I didn't think this was possible.  Then here she comes with the smallest pacifier I have every seen and she worked with Riley to see if he would take it.  He did!  This lasted only a short while, but I got to try as well and I could feel him do a few sucks on it.   Doing things with him at the hospital that we would normally do if he was home is really helping me.  It gives me peace and comfot. 
     I will leave you with a picture of Riley's new blanket we put in his incubator tonight.  My friend, Elizabeth, was kind enough to make two blankets, one for his time now in recovery and one for his time at home.  It's really cute and we appreciate it a lot.  His incubator is looking less clinical and more personalized everyday.  Check out his feet too! 

Remember to never give up hope, God is Great!