I'm convinced that "exact science" is a total misnomer. Medicine isn't an exact science because exact science does not, in fact, exist. It comes down to differences of opinion. When we were told that Quinn needed to be on 1 liter/minute flow to go home, that was one person's opinion. Now we're being told .5 liters/minute to go home, and that's another opinion. But what it amounts to is that Quinn is being challenged to breathe with a much lower flow rate than he has had previously. The neo sat down with me today and said "Now I don't want you to get upset when you see the oxygen level." There is no oxygen blender that we can bring home. It's all or nothing. But, as was explained to us previously, the lower flow rate allows more room air to be inhaled, effectively diluting it. So although 100% oxygen is flowing through the tubes, that's not what's ending up in Quinn's lungs. Kurt could do the calculation for exactly what it is, but it's somewhere between 21%, atmospheric oxygen, and 100%. That doesn't exactly narrow it down much, does it? We'll just hope this experiment goes well. As of this afternoon, Quinn was on .2 liter/minute flow. That seemed like a big jump to me, but the neo seemed to think he could do it.

We had more success nursing today, but still not what we've had. I don't know what happened, but something changed, and now Quinn doesn't want to take me, at least not without a fight. But the fight doesn't seem to be affecting his growth. He was 5 lbs 11 oz today. He has steadily gained about 1 ounce/day for about a week now, which is a very good growth rate. I got bold and asked the neo when she thought we might be bringing him home. She said for babies born at 26 weeks or so, they are happy if they go home by 44 weeks. She didn't think it would take that long, but she couldn't say when exactly. Quinn was 39 weeks on Monday. But he's gaining, he's on a low enough flow to go home, and they pulled out his gastric tube today, because it had been 36 hours since he had needed it. Here's hoping. I can't believe it's July already. I was supposed to be thinking about giving birth any day now. No, I'm not going down that road of thought again. It does no good to dwell on it.