Hi MonkeyGirl,
First of all congratulations on the birth of baby Finley, you did sooo great to get him this far...he went from having no hope to having a real fighting chance! Wishing you much strength for the difficult months ahead of you in the NICU. 24 weeks is such a tough gestation to be born at, with so many obstacles to overcome, but we recently participated in our local March of Dimes walk for babies, and the keynote speaker at that event was a 17 year old who was born at 24 weeks with lots of complications. He was now a strong, and healthy high school athlete and honor student.
My firstborn daughter Sophie was a 24 weeker, she lost her battle when her lungs failed at the end of her first day. Don't be disheartened though, good outcomes do happen all the time with the medical technology available. Vincent's NICU neighbor was a 24 weeker, and it was amazing to watch her go from fighting for her life to heading home with mom and dad.
My advice to you is take thousands of photo's and videos, because if things do take a turn for the worse they will be so important to you. I wish we had more pictures of our daughter.
Reading softly to your baby will help you keep sane during long days. Actively participate in his care, it can be daunting changing a diaper on a baby that small, but you can do it. Kangaroo care is amazing for mom and baby when he's ready to be held do it as much as you can. Pump in the NICU, I wasted precious time with my daughter trying to go back and forth for pumping sessions. Get the book "Preemies - second edition" the doctors will only tell you as much as they think you need to know. I felt like reading this every night help me be better prepared to ask relevant questions to Vincent's doctors and be an effective decision maker and participant in his care. Be a pain-in-the-ass. I definitely had a reputation with the doctors and nurses as being a demanding mama bear, but it can make a difference (I complained so much about his eye exams they ended up buying new less-invasive equipment for the ROP exams).
Sending you lots of hugs during this difficult time. Feel free to message me if you need to talk or have questions, I've collected a lot of hours in the NICU.