6 weeks old and Sophie is a wee toerag!

Sophie is a whole six weeks old today - or 33 weeks if you want to think of it that way - we go by both ways of looking at it!

We have really seen her determined nature coming through this week...she can really make it known if she doesn't want something! On Monday, her grandad and I went to see her and we could see a huge difference in the two days since we had last seen her - she was looking so much podgier in the cheeks, upper arms and shoulders. That was the first time we had seen a dramatic change in such a short time. She had her eyes open a lot of the time as well, and every time she opens her eyes she looks so worried, which is a really cute look! She does something with her eye that is exactly the same look as her Daddy does :)

Very worried little face!

Sophie was wearing a chin strap on Monday because she keeps opening her mouth and letting all the air come back out and she does not like that look! She spent all afternoon trying to pull the chin strap off, and often succeeding - despite the fact that it was velcroed on and quite hard to get off! She is surprisingly strong for one so small.....

Chin strap successfully removed by young Miss B

Sophie had hiccups on Monday night, and for the first time, we could actually hear them! It was the cutest little squeaky noise :) She seems to get hiccups quite a lot and always has done - I could feel them when I was still pregnant, and she also had them at one of the many scans I had towards the end of my pregnancy.

Sophie and her little friend Reece in the next incubator were having fun all afternoon on Monday taking it in turns to set their alarms off. It was constantly one of them then the other, ALL afternoon! They had the poor nurses running around like demons! Reece has now moved into high dependency and Sophie has a new neighbour. I don't think they will be such a good double act as Sophie and Reece were. I wonder if the nurses just couldn't cope and had no choice but to separate them!

I was allowed Sophie out for cuddles on Wednesday, which made my week! It was only the second time I'd held her and it was so special. She was really snuggled into me, and her alarms didn't go off at all while she was out - she was so happy and settled. She was out for about half an hour, but I could have sat there with her all day, given half a chance! She didn't feel anything like as tiny as the first time I had her out for cuddles. The nurse told us that as long as she is stable, we should be allowed her out for cuddles every three or four days now :)

The dreaded chin strap is back...

On Friday when Daddy took the milk delivery in, there was good news. Sophie had been off the CPAP for four whole hours overnight, with no dips! The longest she had been off it before was one hour. When I arrived to see her in the afternoon, she was off again and I saw her little face with no mask and also saw her without her hat. She was looking absolutely gorgeous, and I was so happy that Alan arrived from work earlier than expected because I was longing for him to see her like that! She managed 3.5 hours off the CPAP that time before having a couple of dips, which was the nurse's cue to put her back on again.

Our gorgeous girl off the CPAP

When I arrived on Friday, I was told the amazing news that Sophie had been weighed again and is now up to 3lb 5oz! We were expecting her to have gained weight since her last check at the end of last week, but not as much as that! Her feeds have now been increased to 12.5ml every hour. The nurse, Sarah, also told me that we are getting very close to a heated cot - she just needs to gain a little bit more weight and she will be good to go! Sarah said it may even be within the next few days. All in all, a day of good news.

On Saturday when we arrived to see Sophie, there was a none too fragrant aroma coming from her incubator! Simon the nurse thought I was crying and came over to check I was ok, but my eyes were just watering from the foul smell! Alan found this highly amusing....until he found out it was his turn to do the nappy change, heehee. It took him a little while to recover from that task....but at least I got to see him change a nappy for the first time!

Sophie 'helping' daddy with the nappy change

We had a lovely hour just the three of us, and then daddy was allowed to have Sophie out for cuddles. She was out with him for about an hour, while he talked to her about what it's going to be like when she comes home, all the animals we have and what her room is going to be like. She certainly looked as if she was enjoying hearing about it all! When it came time for Sophie to go back in, the nurse asked if mummy would like cuddles first....I definitely wasn't about to refuse! I had lovely cuddles for about half an hour, then had two delightful nappy changes to deal with...one straight after the other - nice! Sophie likes to make nappy changes into a challenge for us, by clamping her legs together (usually with our fingers trapped between her ankles) or using her tiny hands to try to push us away!

Uncle Greig and Aunty Claire visited in the afternoon and brought Sophie her first Tatty Teddy. Every baby needs a Tatty teddy :)

Today, we had a day at home and the spare room is now mostly empty and ready to start being turned into the nursery. We went to Homebase and looked at paint and borders - the plan is to have very pale pink walls - we got a tester but it's not quite right - and we found a lovely border which will be just perfect.

Grandad has ordered the nursery furniture this week - very exciting! It feels nice to be starting to do things in preparation for Sophie coming home, even though we are a few weeks away from that yet.

When we phoned the hospital this morning to see how Sophie was, we were told she had been off the CPAP for another four hours overnight, and they'd had to take her off it again this morning because she was wrestling with the mask and driving the nurses demented! She is so determined to be rid of all the equipment - she even pulled her feeding tube out yesterday. She is such a little toerag but we love her soooo much already! We can't believe how determined and stubborn she is at such a young age.

Uncle Brian and Aunty Steph visited Sophie this afternoon and sent us pictures of her which was really nice as we were both missing her like crazy - and we didn't like to think of her having no visitors.