tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64373705441265662702024-03-13T07:23:45.013-07:00The story of Baby BBaby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-52292325612746431182010-08-01T09:29:00.000-07:002010-12-08T13:42:43.224-08:0020 weeks - new clothes and Sophie's first BBQ!This has been another very busy week! On Tuesday the health visitor was here and wee Sophie is now 8lbs 7oz and doing well.<br /><br /><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TP_6ncgT5qI/AAAAAAAAAeE/LJfS_Eo6kM8/s1600/Sophie%2B912.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TP_6ncgT5qI/AAAAAAAAAeE/LJfS_Eo6kM8/s320/Sophie%2B912.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548428821517297314" border="0" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>Wednesday and Thursday we looked after grandad's dog Sammy, and Friday daddy was off.<br /></p><p> We bought Sophie her first proper coat - a piglet coat :) It'll be a while before she grows into it, as we got it in a size that she should fit by the time it's the weather for needing a coat - 3-6 months. It's so hard to predict what size she will be when. At the moment she is still in newborn clothes and looking like she will be in them for some time to come - not that I'm complaining, because after feeling in a way as if I missed out on the first few weeks of being a mummy, it's lovely to still have a newborn sized baby now she's finally home!</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TP_7MmZxXWI/AAAAAAAAAeM/Xwn32UfYLbw/s1600/Sophie%2B913.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TP_7MmZxXWI/AAAAAAAAAeM/Xwn32UfYLbw/s320/Sophie%2B913.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548429459829382498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie's new Piglet coat</span><br /></div><p><br />On Saturday we went to the Fort and got Sophie some new clothes with the vouchers we got from my colleagues (0-3 months for her growing into as she got so many newborn clothes when she was born!) then went to a BBQ at Aunty Steph's and Uncle B'ri's - Sophie's first ever BBQ! She was a little angel and got lots of cuddles! She had her first trip to Ikea and Costco as well - no doubt the first of many!<br /></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TP_7tnoduDI/AAAAAAAAAeU/0h7MjTWJ4kE/s1600/Sophie%2B1026.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TP_7tnoduDI/AAAAAAAAAeU/0h7MjTWJ4kE/s320/Sophie%2B1026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548430027095128114" border="0" /></a></p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-24871377468591820972010-07-25T14:34:00.000-07:002010-09-03T15:27:29.696-07:0019 weeks...just the two of us!Well, that's daddy been back at work for one week and we have survived so far! It's been difficult to get us both organised in the morning - just things like me getting a shower, getting Sophie dressed, co-ordinating everything around feeds and not having someone else here to keep an eye on her while I go and do something! It'll probably take us a few weeks but I'm sure we will get into a routine of sorts eventually.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFu_uPxulI/AAAAAAAAAcE/T9Zn44wg2rU/s1600/Sophie+743.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFu_uPxulI/AAAAAAAAAcE/T9Zn44wg2rU/s320/Sophie+743.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512809459903216210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Being angelic for mummy!</span><br /></div><br />Sophie spent most of our first day on our own awake and I actually did manage to get into the shower before midday which I guess wasn't TOO bad! We had a walk down to Asda for a few bits and pieces in the afternoon but it was far too hot, not to mention all the beasties that were going about, and Sophie got really crabby by the time we got home! Actually, we were both a bit crabby!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFvw1wiI2I/AAAAAAAAAcU/PXFhx0DNVyY/s1600/Sophie+846.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFvw1wiI2I/AAAAAAAAAcU/PXFhx0DNVyY/s320/Sophie+846.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512810303733244770" border="0" /></a><br />I've had to send daddy lots of photos of Sophie because he was missing her so much. It's the first time he's been apart from her since the beginning of June so it's really hard for him going back - and I've missed him too after being used to having him around for so many weeks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFwJYhzvXI/AAAAAAAAAcc/em36R8CwISo/s1600/Sophie+820.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFwJYhzvXI/AAAAAAAAAcc/em36R8CwISo/s320/Sophie+820.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512810725383585138" border="0" /></a><br />The health visitor came again and Sophie is now 7lb 15. She had her third set of immunisations this week, which was absolutely horrible. She howled, and there were real tears :( I gave her lots of cuddles in the waiting room afterwards and she was ok after a little while but I found it so hard to see her so upset. She was fine after them - no ill effects other than a little bit sleepy and tetchy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFxAovFHOI/AAAAAAAAAck/MkjPSSVqLTM/s1600/Sophie+754.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFxAovFHOI/AAAAAAAAAck/MkjPSSVqLTM/s320/Sophie+754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512811674627022050" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFxU-9SgtI/AAAAAAAAAcs/AR6J1GEM1wA/s1600/Sophie+748.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFxU-9SgtI/AAAAAAAAAcs/AR6J1GEM1wA/s320/Sophie+748.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512812024189584082" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Cuddles for tired daddy after his first day back at work!</span><br /></div><br /><br />Sophie's Granny and I went to visit her Great Granny in the middle of the week. We had a rake in the lovely baby shop and Sophie came home with several new outfits for when she gets bigger!<br /><br />She's had a really hungry week and doesn't seem to have stopped eating some days! She is probably having a growth spurt again.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFxx0wtLiI/AAAAAAAAAc0/MbwkhTSyY3I/s1600/Sophie+780.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFxx0wtLiI/AAAAAAAAAc0/MbwkhTSyY3I/s320/Sophie+780.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512812519668657698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie with Granny and Great Granny<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFyPKqi8LI/AAAAAAAAAc8/LKLtRUP8IRs/s1600/Sophie+783.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFyPKqi8LI/AAAAAAAAAc8/LKLtRUP8IRs/s320/Sophie+783.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512813023764607154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Great Granny having a go with the pram!</span><br /></div><br /><br />She's been enjoying lying on her mat, and has been desperately trying to roll onto her back. She gets as far as her side before getting stuck then she gets frustrated with herself and starts to cry.<br /><br />Sophie had her 6 week (corrected age) check up at the Royal on Thursday and everything is looking great. She's doing everything she should be, and putting on the right amount of weight. She was checked by a paediatrician who tested her reflexes, checked her eyes and asked general questions about her, then a physiotherapist came to check that her muscle tone is as it should be.<br />She's certainly very strong and tries to stand up when I'm trying to get her to sit on her bottom if I want to do her outfit up at the back. She locks her legs and won't move them!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFym94uzDI/AAAAAAAAAdE/ZS9UecCC6EY/s1600/Sophie+797.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFym94uzDI/AAAAAAAAAdE/ZS9UecCC6EY/s320/Sophie+797.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512813432651303986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie with Dona before her check up<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFzMn1T6PI/AAAAAAAAAdU/jpx-wrQ9l-U/s1600/Sophie+805.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFzMn1T6PI/AAAAAAAAAdU/jpx-wrQ9l-U/s320/Sophie+805.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512814079566407922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Waiting to see the doctor...</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFzMBpc-9I/AAAAAAAAAdM/LxuDGDKNAFI/s1600/Sophie+802.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFzMBpc-9I/AAAAAAAAAdM/LxuDGDKNAFI/s320/Sophie+802.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512814069316123602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Having a chat with Daddy</span><br /></div><br />After her appointment, we met up with Dona, who had her baby last year at 27 weeks, and another mummy with her little girl, Lily, who was born at just 23 weeks at the same time as Archie. Then we went to the neonatal unit, and saw Roz, one of our favourite nurses. She was so pleased to see how well Sophie is doing - she couldn't believe the change in her. She looked after her on her very first two days in high dependency when she was just 7 weeks old. It felt very strange going back in there with Sophie, and leaving with her! In a way it felt as if we'd never been away.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF0rq3UX3I/AAAAAAAAAds/3vJWH7oZDmo/s1600/Sophie+815.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF0rq3UX3I/AAAAAAAAAds/3vJWH7oZDmo/s320/Sophie+815.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512815712467705714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Daddy trying out Sophie's harness - she's still a bit small!</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF0q6mm2wI/AAAAAAAAAdk/KtnRmTsKvc8/s1600/Sophie+808.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF0q6mm2wI/AAAAAAAAAdk/KtnRmTsKvc8/s320/Sophie+808.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512815699512711938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Cuddles for Grandad</span><br /></div><br />Before her appointment, we went in to Daddy's work so that his colleagues could all meet Sophie. She has lots of fans there and it took us ages to get round everyone! They were all so pleased to see her - lots of them had visited her while she was still in her incubator, so they saw a huge difference and were really pleased to see how well she is doing.<br /><br />We went shopping on Saturday and got Sophie some new pink bottles with flowers on them, a fancypants Dr Brown's bottle and some new dummies to replace her tiny premature baby dummy. Then we visited Granny and Grandpa, and when we got home, Grandad visited. At night, daddy gave Sophie her bath for a change. Normally I undress her then Alan does her vitamins (a messy job - one of them is bright yellow and often gets spat out or sicked back up!) while I run her bath, then I bath her. This time, we swapped roles! Sophie noticed and wouldn't take her eyes off me while Alan carried her into the bathroom.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF1yiWdWMI/AAAAAAAAAd0/c-O2fYXLj2Y/s1600/Sophie+832.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF1yiWdWMI/AAAAAAAAAd0/c-O2fYXLj2Y/s320/Sophie+832.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512816929953110210" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF1zevtQjI/AAAAAAAAAd8/74wTOcu7ON0/s1600/Sophie+828.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF1zevtQjI/AAAAAAAAAd8/74wTOcu7ON0/s320/Sophie+828.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512816946165137970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF0Esqfd4I/AAAAAAAAAdc/z_WtOIMOs3Y/s1600/Sophie+826.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIF0Esqfd4I/AAAAAAAAAdc/z_WtOIMOs3Y/s320/Sophie+826.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512815042935879554" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sophie is getting more alert by the day, and definitely recognises Alan and me. We get big smiles when she first sees us in the morning, no matter how early it is or how sleepy she is. It's a lovely feeling!Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-59269974029284727562010-07-18T14:03:00.000-07:002010-09-03T14:34:12.763-07:0018 weeks and she's starting to squeak!Sophie is now officially 4 months old, despite looking just like a little newborn! We had the health visitor again and she is now 7lb 7 and 22 inches long. She's getting so alert and starting to look us in the eye and squeak at us when we speak to her.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFke0v1R6I/AAAAAAAAAbM/33YgxHpuv6w/s1600/Sophie+693.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFke0v1R6I/AAAAAAAAAbM/33YgxHpuv6w/s320/Sophie+693.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512797899596318626" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFk7xSDUpI/AAAAAAAAAbU/7k3Q5B4TmWI/s1600/Sophie+699.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFk7xSDUpI/AAAAAAAAAbU/7k3Q5B4TmWI/s320/Sophie+699.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512798396882309778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She's now fitting clothes that didn't fit her even last week, and she wore her little dressing gown for the first time this week - so cute! She looked like a little boxer in it!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFlp_tmbWI/AAAAAAAAAbc/St_SmnnHxVc/s1600/Sophie+701.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFlp_tmbWI/AAAAAAAAAbc/St_SmnnHxVc/s320/Sophie+701.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512799191029935458" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoKtFdD9I/AAAAAAAAAbk/ozrZVjpmABU/s1600/Sophie+736.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoKtFdD9I/AAAAAAAAAbk/ozrZVjpmABU/s320/Sophie+736.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512801951988649938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />We've visited all the grandparents a few times this week again, and Aunty Steph and Uncle Brian came to see us as well.<br /><br />Daddy is due back at work tomorrow, and isn't happy about it. Neither am I! I'll miss him a lot and I'm so nervous about looking after Sophie on my own for the first time. He'll be out from 7am-7pm every day so they are long days. I'm sure I will be fine once I get used to things but I'm still a bit worried.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoMl_qq0I/AAAAAAAAAb0/rs8rIQ1fLQw/s1600/Sophie+680.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoMl_qq0I/AAAAAAAAAb0/rs8rIQ1fLQw/s320/Sophie+680.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512801984445066050" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoNTnIdWI/AAAAAAAAAb8/g7e3khF1B1I/s1600/Sophie+727.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoNTnIdWI/AAAAAAAAAb8/g7e3khF1B1I/s320/Sophie+727.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512801996690191714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Looking much bigger in her car seat!</span><br /></div><br />We had some nice family time today, with it being his last full day with us till next weekend. We took Sophie for a lovely walk by the sea at Spittal and she was actually awake for it, for once! So far, she has slept through it every time!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoLspR0EI/AAAAAAAAAbs/yjvB9gXg8v0/s1600/Sophie+720.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIFoLspR0EI/AAAAAAAAAbs/yjvB9gXg8v0/s320/Sophie+720.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512801969050341442" border="0" /></a>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-14851623108102228682010-07-11T14:28:00.000-07:002010-09-02T14:56:18.216-07:0017 weeks and a visit from Uncle Michael, Aunty Lesley and AlasdairSophie's Uncle Michael, Aunty Lesley and Alasdair arrived on Monday. They hadn't seen Sophie since the beginning of April and even then didn't really see her properly as she was out for her very first cuddles that day and was zipped inside my top!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAZKcu8G6I/AAAAAAAAAas/ccSE2Ymb5ho/s1600/Sophie+223.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAZKcu8G6I/AAAAAAAAAas/ccSE2Ymb5ho/s320/Sophie+223.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512433611203943330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAZdFCjiMI/AAAAAAAAAa0/F-9jMtfpKe8/s1600/Sophie+268.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAZdFCjiMI/AAAAAAAAAa0/F-9jMtfpKe8/s320/Sophie+268.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512433931261282498" border="0" /></a><br />They still couldn't get over how tiny she is even now. Alasdair was soooo cute with her and kept stroking her head and saying "baby". He can't say Sophie yet, and pronounces it "Dofoo"!<br /><br />We spent a lot of time with them all week, and we all visited Great Granny for dinner as well. Michael and Lesley couldn't get over Sophie sleeping through Alasdair running round shouting and giggling!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAaZbPoZ4I/AAAAAAAAAa8/O4L94qruy8I/s1600/Sophie+203.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAaZbPoZ4I/AAAAAAAAAa8/O4L94qruy8I/s320/Sophie+203.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512434968013858690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sophie has started doing proper smiles this week! I was getting huge smiles every time I kissed her. She has also started sucking her thumb, and has been trying to get both thumbs in at once! The health visitor weighed her again and she is now 6lb 15 and a half and starting to fit into some of her newborn clothes. She has a huge wardrobe of clothes to work her way through - a lot more than Alan and I put together! I'll need to make sure that she has plenty changes of outfits to get through them all (and create lots of washing for myself in the process!) I'm sure that won't be a problem as she is sick quite a lot and needs lots of changes!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAcBHC0YCI/AAAAAAAAAbE/DEQpEwwzFC0/s1600/8.7.101.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAcBHC0YCI/AAAAAAAAAbE/DEQpEwwzFC0/s320/8.7.101.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512436749297803298" border="0" /></a><br />Sophie has started sleeping longer at night the past few nights and has been going through to 5.30 or 6 some mornings! I keep waking up all the time though, wondering why she has been so quiet! No doubt I will get used to it eventually....Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-14000483236582429032010-07-04T13:53:00.000-07:002010-09-02T14:18:52.716-07:0016 weeks and our little piglet is growing so fast!I'm afraid I've missed a week here - everything has been so busy! We are quickly getting used to having Sophie at home, and absolutely loving being parents. She is such a good natured, contented baby, and she sleeps well at night. She's feeding every 4 hours, day and night, so usually she's just up once in the night. It normally works out that she is up around 3am and 7am which is fine.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIARJ2MGHsI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/3Rwywe7D4DQ/s1600/IMG_2939.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIARJ2MGHsI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/3Rwywe7D4DQ/s320/IMG_2939.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512424804764229314" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She is still absolutely loving her baths and gets one every night before bed. It really seems to help relax her and get her settled for sleeping.<br /><br />We had our first visit to the house from the health visitor this week. It was a long visit with lots of questions, and Sophie was weighed. She is now 6lb 6, which means she has gained 8oz in a week :) We measured her today, and she is 18 inches long - 13 inches longer than when she was born. She's still wearing "tiny baby" and "early baby" clothes but you never know, she might fit into her newborn clothes soon!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIARqiGRgLI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/7d3ZrqVDJxs/s1600/Sophie+103.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIARqiGRgLI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/7d3ZrqVDJxs/s320/Sophie+103.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512425366306783410" border="0" /></a><br />We bought her a playmat that has lots of scrucnchy bits on it, and a mirror, so she has been having tummy time on this mat. She has been using her legs to try to move herself up it, kind of like a mini crawl, and can also push herself up on her wrists! It looks ridiculous on such a tiny baby.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIASCCmSIRI/AAAAAAAAAaE/mGvvgOGoJac/s1600/Sophie+114.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIASCCmSIRI/AAAAAAAAAaE/mGvvgOGoJac/s320/Sophie+114.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512425770167968018" border="0" /></a><br />We met Grandad for coffee one day this week and then took Sophie for her first walk along the seafront at Spittal. She completely missed it, as she was sleeping!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIASUDqqOwI/AAAAAAAAAaM/6yaRhEuAeZI/s1600/pawinlawpram.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIASUDqqOwI/AAAAAAAAAaM/6yaRhEuAeZI/s320/pawinlawpram.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512426079692405506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Grandad pushing the pram</span><br /></div><br />We also spent an afternoon with Granny and Grandpa, and Granny and I took Sophie for a walk. It was a lovely hot day and Sophie looked so cute in her little white dress!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIATypIu2NI/AAAAAAAAAak/kBf_Z-PHkkc/s1600/Sophie+080.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIATypIu2NI/AAAAAAAAAak/kBf_Z-PHkkc/s320/Sophie+080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512427704658352338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIATyONrnpI/AAAAAAAAAac/KzzRP0M-MQE/s1600/Sophie+074.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIATyONrnpI/AAAAAAAAAac/KzzRP0M-MQE/s320/Sophie+074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512427697431355026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Granny pushing the pram<br /><br /><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIATxlSZr5I/AAAAAAAAAaU/AFY_j-BlhsA/s1600/Sophie+069.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIATxlSZr5I/AAAAAAAAAaU/AFY_j-BlhsA/s320/Sophie+069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512427686445297554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Sophie's Uncle Michael, Aunty Lesley and big cousin Alasdair are coming up next week which will be lovely. They've not seen her since she was three weeks old, so they are going to see a massive difference.Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-27213061220772026052010-06-20T11:58:00.000-07:002010-09-02T14:20:37.966-07:0014 weeks - daddy's first father's day!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAKe3nUvqI/AAAAAAAAAZU/gDzwdvu1qUQ/s1600/fathers+day+20.6.10.jpeg"> <img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 166px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAKe3nUvqI/AAAAAAAAAZU/gDzwdvu1qUQ/s320/fathers+day+20.6.10.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512417469342727842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's funny really...here we were, wondering if Sophie would arrive in time for Alan to be a daddy on Father's Day, and she arrived on Mother's Day! We certainly didn't see that coming! Sophie gave her daddy a photo frame that says "Me and My Dad" on it but we still need to sort out a photo for it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Sophie's had another very busy week. We took her into my work on Monday to meet everyone, then on to visit her great granny. She got lots of lovely presents from work - some she fits now and some she will grow into :) She's spent a lot of time visiting her grandad and her granny and grandpa and we've had the first visit to the health visitor. She has also had her second set of immunisations, poor lamb. She seems so tiny to be getting her second set of jags already but they go by the baby's actual age rather than their corrected age for the immunisations for premature babies.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIALTbtTo9I/AAAAAAAAAZc/lR1efgAjiZU/s1600/14.6.20104.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIALTbtTo9I/AAAAAAAAAZc/lR1efgAjiZU/s320/14.6.20104.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512418372384695250" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie's first cuddle with Great Granny</span><br /></div><br />I think I found it more upsetting than Sophie did when she got her jags - I couldn't watch :-( She needed lots of cuddles and lots of feeds afterwards and didn't really settle well at night - she was a bit off-colour. The health visitor was meant to organise some calpol for her but she didn't do it for three days, by which time the need had passed!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAL4oH7v4I/AAAAAAAAAZk/foscbYVIuIA/s1600/bouncy+chair.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAL4oH7v4I/AAAAAAAAAZk/foscbYVIuIA/s320/bouncy+chair.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512419011372760962" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She has been through a really hungry phase this week - probably a growth spurt! She is now 5lb 14 and still looks tiny. When we go out with the pram, people keep asking if she is a new baby and we have to go through the whole long story! It takes us a long time to get round Morrisons!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAMgvCARFI/AAAAAAAAAZs/pr6qih186ww/s1600/14.6.201091.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TIAMgvCARFI/AAAAAAAAAZs/pr6qih186ww/s320/14.6.201091.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512419700421706834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Cuddles with Daddy</span><br /></div><br /><br />Grandad bought Sophie a Winnie the Pooh gym which she absolutely loves, and she goes for piglet every time! Clearly she's going to be like her mummy and is going to like piglet the best. She started trying to suck her fingers this week and she has really grown - a babygrow that was far too big for her the day she came home now fits her!Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-19905166307608200242010-06-13T09:42:00.000-07:002010-09-02T11:01:30.590-07:0013 weeks and it's Sophie's due date!!Well...here we are, 13 weeks after Sophie arrived, and it's finally her due date! She came home on Monday, six days before her due date, weighing 5lb 6.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_azZ4rB8I/AAAAAAAAAWM/7Kxex0bzcyc/s1600/IMG_2712.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_azZ4rB8I/AAAAAAAAAWM/7Kxex0bzcyc/s320/IMG_2712.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512365045581547458" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_bihdwMfI/AAAAAAAAAWU/6-hq5dthgfY/s1600/IMG_2716.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_bihdwMfI/AAAAAAAAAWU/6-hq5dthgfY/s320/IMG_2716.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512365855069975026" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_byGHbLzI/AAAAAAAAAWc/viEv4mlQzPU/s1600/IMG_2723.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_byGHbLzI/AAAAAAAAAWc/viEv4mlQzPU/s320/IMG_2723.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512366122606473010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Safely installed in the car</span><br /></div><br /><br /><br />Alan and I didn't sleep much at all the two nights we had Sophie in our room with us on the neonatal unit. We were scared to leave her "unattended" after being used to there being constant monitors and nurses watching her!<br /><br />All the paperwork was done on Sunday so that we were able to make our escape as soon as possible on Monday!! All that was left to do was the rescusitation training and a couple of last bits of paperwork and then we were allowed to leave!<br /><br />We got away about 11am. Sophie was so tiny in her car seat, and too small for her going home outfit - luckily we'd taken a spare outfit just in case that happened! The hospital had to give us a blanket to put underneath her in the car seat so that she was a bit higher up, otherwise the straps wouldn't have fitted her at all!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_cKr0E1jI/AAAAAAAAAWk/HeghwuQ9JAo/s1600/IMG_2720.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_cKr0E1jI/AAAAAAAAAWk/HeghwuQ9JAo/s320/IMG_2720.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512366545042724402" border="0" /></a><br />We said our goodbyes and took her out to the car. We felt really strange leaving for the last time. The neonatal unit had been our lives for the last 3 months and was our comfort zone. We took photos of it before we left so when Sophie is bigger, we can show her where she spent the first 12 weeks of her life. We were so excited going home with Sophie, but at the same time a little bit sad in a way...definitely a strange feeling and very hard to explain. It was also the best feeling in the world, finally leaving through the maternity dept with the car seat, just like all the other parents we'd seen leaving over the last 3 months.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_gyHK8K8I/AAAAAAAAAXU/jtrXv1A1Xkw/s1600/IMG_2695.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_gyHK8K8I/AAAAAAAAAXU/jtrXv1A1Xkw/s320/IMG_2695.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512371620447792066" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_hIIkSqOI/AAAAAAAAAXc/Z6F_o6tE_fk/s1600/IMG_2701.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_hIIkSqOI/AAAAAAAAAXc/Z6F_o6tE_fk/s320/IMG_2701.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512371998779680994" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_hWpG0f0I/AAAAAAAAAXk/Ztdka_LoB1Q/s1600/IMG_2697.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_hWpG0f0I/AAAAAAAAAXk/Ztdka_LoB1Q/s320/IMG_2697.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512372248032608066" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_hjsl0rcI/AAAAAAAAAXs/HhD0Hj6NGek/s1600/IMG_2698.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_hjsl0rcI/AAAAAAAAAXs/HhD0Hj6NGek/s320/IMG_2698.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512372472306249154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Our second home!</span><br /></div><br /><br />I sat in the back with Sophie and stared at her all the way home! We called in at Granny and Grandpa's and then brought her home and Grandad came round, and then it was just the three of us in our own home at long last. One of our neighbours had put a big "Welcome Home Sophie" banner on the front window and a few neighbours spied us coming home and came to have a peek at Sophie. Nothing escapes un-noticed round here! Sophie brought up most of her bottle as soon as we got home and was really unsettled all afternoon and all night but that was probably just because it was such a different environment from what she'd been used to.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_h5YyAwqI/AAAAAAAAAX0/HlD7m_cRmWg/s1600/IMG_2732.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_h5YyAwqI/AAAAAAAAAX0/HlD7m_cRmWg/s320/IMG_2732.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512372844945785506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie's very first photo at home</span><br /></div><br />Next day, one of the community nurses from the neonatal unit came out to see us and to weigh Sophie and make sure her temperature was ok. She'd lost a couple of ounces since the previous day, but the nurse did say it could just be with the scales being on a carpet etc.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_iTlUYmcI/AAAAAAAAAX8/ooiBHD1Ao40/s1600/IMG_2786.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_iTlUYmcI/AAAAAAAAAX8/ooiBHD1Ao40/s320/IMG_2786.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512373294987778498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sleeping in her moses basket with her very own blankets at last!</span><br /></div><br />After she had left, we took Sophie round to Grandad's then took her out in her pram for the very first time - that was one moment we'd really been longing for! We parked in Tweedmouth Main Street and walked over to Berwick, met Granny and Grandpa in Berwick then walked up to their house and back to collect the car later. Sophie looked so tiny in her pram and so cute! She had a big long sleep and then when we came home, Alan gave her a bath for the first time since we got her home.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_dYmy-s4I/AAAAAAAAAW8/hx0ul8FzxfE/s1600/IMG_2741.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_dYmy-s4I/AAAAAAAAAW8/hx0ul8FzxfE/s320/IMG_2741.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512367883725747074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_d5IJwL5I/AAAAAAAAAXE/Ze25ATozCdI/s1600/IMG_2750.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_d5IJwL5I/AAAAAAAAAXE/Ze25ATozCdI/s320/IMG_2750.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512368442435448722" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_elZv_EhI/AAAAAAAAAXM/MSXJ2qTNobw/s1600/IMG_2754.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_elZv_EhI/AAAAAAAAAXM/MSXJ2qTNobw/s320/IMG_2754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512369203073454610" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On Thursday morning Sophie had a doctor's appointment, then Uncle Greig and Aunty Claire visited for the day and then I walked to the shops with the pram and met Sophie's granny. On Friday we had to go back to the neonatal unit to get Sophie weighed again and went to visit Sophie's great aunty Fay.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_jxQ5X6rI/AAAAAAAAAYM/KsyBdYs8mK4/s1600/IMG_2805.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_jxQ5X6rI/AAAAAAAAAYM/KsyBdYs8mK4/s320/IMG_2805.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512374904413481650" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_jw4Nft7I/AAAAAAAAAYE/yiiJbkA7fLs/s1600/IMG_2807.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_jw4Nft7I/AAAAAAAAAYE/yiiJbkA7fLs/s320/IMG_2807.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512374897786992562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Sunday was Sophie's official due date, and I felt quite strange all day knowing she was actually 13 weeks old but should only just be born around that day! It's a funny feeling, having missed out on the last 3 months of pregnancy, having had to leave our baby behind every day and come home to an empty house but it's wonderful finally having her home and being able to be a little family at last.<br /><br />Here are a few more pictures from Sophie's first week at home:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l9llNvtI/AAAAAAAAAZE/034hxFSMjh0/s1600/IMG_2778.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l9llNvtI/AAAAAAAAAZE/034hxFSMjh0/s320/IMG_2778.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512377315147759314" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l853K_5I/AAAAAAAAAY8/q7DqXu8Bzms/s1600/IMG_2742.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l853K_5I/AAAAAAAAAY8/q7DqXu8Bzms/s320/IMG_2742.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512377303411916690" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l8pMmVpI/AAAAAAAAAY0/lr-j0tt8Ggg/s1600/IMG_2784.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l8pMmVpI/AAAAAAAAAY0/lr-j0tt8Ggg/s320/IMG_2784.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512377298938386066" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l8F-vm-I/AAAAAAAAAYs/NnHBzfs3HfI/s1600/IMG_2730.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l8F-vm-I/AAAAAAAAAYs/NnHBzfs3HfI/s320/IMG_2730.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512377289485032418" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l7mtTv5I/AAAAAAAAAYk/7cvqpn-_tWg/s1600/IMG_2731.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_l7mtTv5I/AAAAAAAAAYk/7cvqpn-_tWg/s320/IMG_2731.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512377281090404242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_khBEy6PI/AAAAAAAAAYU/812VKKbIcPA/s1600/IMG_2731.jpg"><br /></a></div>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-82715304121566205752010-06-06T00:57:00.000-07:002010-09-02T13:48:21.345-07:0012 weeks - and we're GOING HOME!What a week this has been!<br /><br />At the beginning of the week we were told we could give Sophie her first bath, which was very exciting! The nurse showed us how to get the water temperature right, undress Sophie to her nappy and wrap her in a towel, then hold her over the edge of the bath to wash her hair. She absolutely hated having her hair washed, and that was the first time we had ever heard her really screaming!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9gIA26Q8I/AAAAAAAAAR0/gn1wAGHfjmc/s1600/IMG_2611.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9gIA26Q8I/AAAAAAAAAR0/gn1wAGHfjmc/s320/IMG_2611.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512230159710307266" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9gIphwBnI/AAAAAAAAAR8/g0JC9avU3vQ/s1600/IMG_2612.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9gIphwBnI/AAAAAAAAAR8/g0JC9avU3vQ/s320/IMG_2612.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512230170627409522" border="0" /></a><br />However, once she was into the bath she absolutely loved it! The nurse said you could tell by her body language that she was really happy. She was gripping onto the underneath side of my arm the whole time I was holding her in the bath, but her little legs were kicking and her arms were flapping and she looked as if she was really having fun! She looked so cute with her hair all wet and slicked back. She spent the whole bath looking all around her and taking everything in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9gI9shCmI/AAAAAAAAASE/H5fP7FU_-3Q/s1600/IMG_2617.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9gI9shCmI/AAAAAAAAASE/H5fP7FU_-3Q/s320/IMG_2617.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512230176041273954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When she was dried off, I found such a cute outfit for her to wear, and she looked so sweet with her hair all fluffy! The nurse told us we could just come in and bath her whenever we wanted now and we didn't have to wait to be told we could do it. That's definitely a step closer to feeling as if she is really our baby!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hAYZqUUI/AAAAAAAAASM/-i93yUHUpvk/s1600/IMG_2622.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hAYZqUUI/AAAAAAAAASM/-i93yUHUpvk/s320/IMG_2622.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512231128102752578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hAwHKYpI/AAAAAAAAASU/bw1X1BAER-s/s1600/IMG_2623.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hAwHKYpI/AAAAAAAAASU/bw1X1BAER-s/s320/IMG_2623.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512231134467613330" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hB6XfwMI/AAAAAAAAASc/dImB3h_FXzY/s1600/IMG_2631.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hB6XfwMI/AAAAAAAAASc/dImB3h_FXzY/s320/IMG_2631.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512231154400346306" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Sophie is now 5lb 8 - she has not put on any weight since last time she was weighed, but she hasn't lost any, which is the main thing. They had fully expected her to lose some, with going from being tube-fed to demand breastfeeding, but she hadn't so that's great news!<br /><br />She is getting so much better at feeding, and her oxygen levels are definitely improving. She's getting much better at keeping her oxygen levels up during her feeds.<br /><br />Grandad visited on Wednesday and had cuddles and then after her teatime feed, Alan held Sophie up above the screen so just her wee head was peeking over the top - it looked sooo cute! The nurse came to help and tried to get her to put her hands so that they were gripping the top of the screen but Sophie didn't really co-operate!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hvSJfgBI/AAAAAAAAASk/ZihvF8uZQdc/s1600/Sophie+066.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9hvSJfgBI/AAAAAAAAASk/ZihvF8uZQdc/s320/Sophie+066.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512231933878173714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Super Sophie!</span><br /></div><br />Sophie had a really hungry day on Thursday and never seemed to stop eating! The nurses are doing the night time feeds by bottle and she is breastfeeding through the day. We took her own bottles in so that she doesn't get too used to the hospital teats.<br /><br />Another premmie mummy, Sandi, came to see us this week, with little Alex - another 27 weeker who was born last year. It's great having all these new friends who have gone through the same thing and they have been so supportive.<br /><br />Sophie's sleep study was repeated AGAIN on Friday night. Dona and her husband Gordon had invited us round for dinner that night and we were very glad to be spending the evening with friends rather than stressing out beside Sophie's cot, with our eyes clued to her numbers on her monitor! We had a really lovely evening and got home pretty late which was also good - better than pacing the floor all night!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9iTYFApYI/AAAAAAAAASs/YWPchLUr8rw/s1600/IMG_2665.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9iTYFApYI/AAAAAAAAASs/YWPchLUr8rw/s320/IMG_2665.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512232553945277826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The dreaded sleep study monitor - but looking good at 97!</span><br /></div><br />Saturday morning came and we nervously phoned the hospital to see how she was getting on. We couldn't decide whether we wanted to phone or not but we did want to see how she was! The nurse told us that so far, it was looking good - but we'd been told this on the last sleep study too, so we didn't want to get our hopes up. The community nurse who was reading the sleep study had read half of it and then gone out! We were unbelievably nervous going up to Edinburgh, and I will never forget how I felt going into that nursery almost scared to look at Sophie.<br /><br />I sneaked a look at her cot as I went to wash my hands, and the monitor was gone....all her monitors were gone! Alan was too nervous to look and I whispered to him that they were gone. We went to speak to the nurse, and she asked us if we wanted the good news or the bad news. We were fully expecting to be told she could go home but on oxygen. She said to us "The good news is you can take Sophie home on Monday - and there is no bad news"!! So mean! But we were so happy we didn't even care! I picked Sophie up - the first time EVER without her being attached to anything - and walked about the nursery with her. That was the first time I'd ever been able to walk away from her cot area with her and have no leads to worry about! Then Alan took her and we got some photos. The nurse wheeled her along to our room in her cot and Sophie loved being on the move! She was looked all around her, all wide-eyed!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9l4IPSz2I/AAAAAAAAAS8/RewxENRjh-Q/s1600/IMG_2667.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9l4IPSz2I/AAAAAAAAAS8/RewxENRjh-Q/s320/IMG_2667.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512236483883487074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">First even picture with no leads and no monitor! </span><br /></div><br />Kelly, the nurse, told us we had to keep the window closed and the heating turned up high in the room, and then she left us. We were alone with Sophie for the first time ever! It was pretty scary because we'd been so used to her being wired up to monitors, and things bleeping if there was a problem, and having nurses all around. Now it was suddenly just the three of us! Alan had to go away almost immediately to meet his dad in the canteen and I was on my own with Sophie. The first thing I did was dress her in one of her own wee outfits! Then she was hungry and I gave her a little feed...it felt so strange, but lovely, being just us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9myBOzRmI/AAAAAAAAATU/BPxVJPf7Wdo/s1600/IMG_2676.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9myBOzRmI/AAAAAAAAATU/BPxVJPf7Wdo/s320/IMG_2676.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512237478434784866" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9mxoCySbI/AAAAAAAAATM/fx2q5gNUZ_k/s1600/IMG_2670.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9mxoCySbI/AAAAAAAAATM/fx2q5gNUZ_k/s320/IMG_2670.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512237471673502130" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9mxBYf0MI/AAAAAAAAATE/mmX9mCVV9B4/s1600/IMG_2673.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9mxBYf0MI/AAAAAAAAATE/mmX9mCVV9B4/s320/IMG_2673.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512237461295583426" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_Rdz40JmI/AAAAAAAAAVk/lUTs5sWo8KI/s1600/Sophie+276.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_Rdz40JmI/AAAAAAAAAVk/lUTs5sWo8KI/s320/Sophie+276.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512354778999694946" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Yay, in our room with us at last!</span><br /></div><br />We had lots of visitors all afternoon but finally it was just the three of us. The moment we had been waiting for, for three long months. We had to take Sophie back along to the nursery while we went out for something to eat and then when we came back it was bedtime and that was scary! Sophie was sleeping so quietly and we were both scared to sleep! I don't think either of us really slept that night but Sophie slept well! The nurse came in a couple of times during the night to check Sophie's temperature and make sure we were doing ok. On Sunday morning after I'd fed Sophie, we delivered her back to the nursery and went out for breakfast (the hospital breakfasts were dire!) and then we took her back to our room again. Alan's Uncle Jimmy and Aunty Margaret visited in the afternoon and met Sophie for the first time, then Steph and Brian visited and then Emma, little Anna's mummy came to see Sophie and say goodbye. Hopefully Anna will soon be moving to a hospital closer to home.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9pLf_mDoI/AAAAAAAAATk/7aeMCMOsY5A/s1600/IMG_2688.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9pLf_mDoI/AAAAAAAAATk/7aeMCMOsY5A/s320/IMG_2688.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512240115212488322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9pKjtrwHI/AAAAAAAAATc/chuHeiEL7e0/s1600/IMG_2687.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9pKjtrwHI/AAAAAAAAATc/chuHeiEL7e0/s320/IMG_2687.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512240099031236722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Uncle Jimmy and Aunty Margaret</span><br /></div><br />We had lots of paperwork to complete before we were allowed to leave with Sophie, and they did all this on the Sunday so we could get away as soon as possible the next day! We had to have rescusitation training as well - hopefully we will never need it, but it at least gives us peace of mind.<br /><br />So....home, here we come!! In the meantime, here is a selection of pictures from Sophie's journey through neonatal, week by week from 2 hours old.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9-nLo5MQI/AAAAAAAAATs/dor3RdNvWFI/s1600/dad+027.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9-nLo5MQI/AAAAAAAAATs/dor3RdNvWFI/s320/dad+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512263680529084674" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9--vBOhLI/AAAAAAAAAT0/z4XyNk1AxZ0/s1600/dad+023.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9--vBOhLI/AAAAAAAAAT0/z4XyNk1AxZ0/s320/dad+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512264085163377842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9_VpXbyFI/AAAAAAAAAT8/cDLB9a3LP04/s1600/Sophie+186.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9_VpXbyFI/AAAAAAAAAT8/cDLB9a3LP04/s320/Sophie+186.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512264478782900306" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-AB8bpg7I/AAAAAAAAAUE/BRiywczO39o/s1600/Sophie+304.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-AB8bpg7I/AAAAAAAAAUE/BRiywczO39o/s320/Sophie+304.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512265239815095218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-AwtrlnyI/AAAAAAAAAUM/bb2Z2Hig8jk/s1600/Sophie+206.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-AwtrlnyI/AAAAAAAAAUM/bb2Z2Hig8jk/s320/Sophie+206.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512266043309268770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-BIgWmcnI/AAAAAAAAAUU/AoqqCflzShs/s1600/Sophie+259.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-BIgWmcnI/AAAAAAAAAUU/AoqqCflzShs/s320/Sophie+259.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512266452048441970" border="0" /></a></div></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-CKGmi9gI/AAAAAAAAAUc/JIgZ22wsijM/s1600/Sophie+245.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH-CKGmi9gI/AAAAAAAAAUc/JIgZ22wsijM/s320/Sophie+245.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512267579007366658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_CdhyRyGI/AAAAAAAAAUk/iPD32cr9WLo/s1600/6wks.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_CdhyRyGI/AAAAAAAAAUk/iPD32cr9WLo/s320/6wks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512338281466021986" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_EB-7EtuI/AAAAAAAAAUs/RAEvYsDTmiM/s1600/7wks.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_EB-7EtuI/AAAAAAAAAUs/RAEvYsDTmiM/s320/7wks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512340007274460898" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_KcIpgtTI/AAAAAAAAAU0/mkWRGs99RTU/s1600/8wks.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_KcIpgtTI/AAAAAAAAAU0/mkWRGs99RTU/s320/8wks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512347053631518002" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_K2Gy2dtI/AAAAAAAAAU8/BXILjLO-VPI/s1600/10wks.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_K2Gy2dtI/AAAAAAAAAU8/BXILjLO-VPI/s320/10wks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512347499810420434" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_Oh_R6AlI/AAAAAAAAAVM/RNvcqXo3CvY/s1600/IMG_2606.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_Oh_R6AlI/AAAAAAAAAVM/RNvcqXo3CvY/s320/IMG_2606.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512351552242319954" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_PdyG9mPI/AAAAAAAAAVc/_zxPCL4LJjQ/s1600/IMG_2715.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH_PdyG9mPI/AAAAAAAAAVc/_zxPCL4LJjQ/s320/IMG_2715.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512352579498907890" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-62015606134841446522010-05-30T23:41:00.000-07:002010-09-02T00:57:28.105-07:0011 weeks old...so near, yet so far!<span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message">Sophie has been on the move again and is now in special care, as of Saturday night! She looks really cute in her new cot and is now wearing wee cardigans to keep her warm, now that she's not in her heated cot any more. She's starting to look and act just like a newborn. She is now <span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">fullterm :-) She had her very first proper feed on Saturday, without getting a top-up through her tube, and she went to sleep after it until she woke up right on cue for her next feed!<br /><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9UEYUK6wI/AAAAAAAAAQk/aqbuYRWlIUc/s1600/Sophie+024.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9UEYUK6wI/AAAAAAAAAQk/aqbuYRWlIUc/s320/Sophie+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512216903148038914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie in her new home! Finally a proper cot<br />with hardly any tubes...looking like a newborn</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />We were told on Sunday that she would be getting her sleep study on Wednesday, and Alan and I were booked into the room for Tuesday night and Wednesday night so that I could start doing every feed, through the night as well as through the day. When she has passed a sleep study and can manage all her feeds and still put on weight then she is allowed to come home!</span><br /><h3 style="font-weight: normal;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><br /></h3><h3 style="font-weight: normal;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message">Special care is very very different from ICU and HDU! It's really just been a case of sitting watching Sophie waiting for her to wake up for her feed! She started doing demand feeding on Tuesday but we're not to let her go longer than 4 hours. She had two successful feeds on Tuesday<span class="text_exposed_show"> afternoon and she had to be woken up for both of them! Let's hope she is a good sleeper when we get her home!</span></span></span></span></h3><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">It is so lovely being able to pick Sophie up whenever we want, and do absolutely everything for her. She still had her feeding tube at the beginning of the week, but it was getting in the way when she was feeding, and they decided she didn't really need it any more so it was taken out.<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9UgRcU_4I/AAAAAAAAAQs/H_Ztx3KQ3AM/s1600/Sophie+004.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9UgRcU_4I/AAAAAAAAAQs/H_Ztx3KQ3AM/s320/Sophie+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512217382339542914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /><br />Her sleep study started out well on Wednesday morning with her numbers up above 94, but during her late morning feed she gave me a scare when she had a huge dip mid-feed and went grey and floppy and started to go blue round the mouth and eyes. I have never been so terrified in my whole life. The nurse rushed in and grabbed her from me, and started blowing on her and patting her on the back. I felt so helpless and was so wishing Alan was there but he was at work. The nurses said it was just because there is so much to think about when she is learning to feed and she just forgot to breathe. I knew this would mean she'd failed her sleep study but we did think all along that it was very soon to be doing the sleep study when she'd only come off CPAP last week and started demand feeding the day before after being tube fed for every feed up till then.<br /></span></span></span><h3 style="font-weight: normal;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span class="text_exposed_show">The feed after that was perfect and there were no dips at all but her heartrate continued to go up and down for the rest of the day. I was still really scared during the next few feeds, and Alan got up with me in the night to go along to do the feeds. The nurse looking after her overnight was lovely, and really got me sorted out with the feeding and helped me to relax with it. Sophie was up once during the night and once around 6.</span></span></span></h3><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9VVO_wl6I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/PEMG_kDxri0/s1600/Sophie+027.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9VVO_wl6I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/PEMG_kDxri0/s320/Sophie+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512218292215912354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Cuddles with Daddy...no tubes!</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The sleep study was arranged to be repeated on Friday night, and the nurses booked us into the room for another few nights so I could continue to do all the feeds. Alan had to come back home to collect some more clothes etc for us, as we'd only gone with enough for two nights!<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><br />Friday came and Sophie's sleep study was repeated. It had to be re-started at midnight because one of the night staff didn't realise the computer was being used for that, and she used it for something else. It was so frustrating! We were told on Saturday morning that Sophie was not yet ready to be going home and that she might have to go ho<span class="text_exposed_show">me on oxygen. It was one of the community nurses who had read the results of the sleep study and she seemed convinced that Sophie would be going home on oxygen. She was even going to order the cannister so that it didn't delay things as it would take a few days to arrive. She also wanted to arrange for me to go to visit another mum and baby who had just gone home on oxygen so I could see what the set-up was like at home, and she told us that Sophie would be at high risk of cot death. As soon as she said that it all just got too much for me and I rushed out in tears.<br /><br />I phoned Dona, who had little Archie at 27 weeks last year, and she told me not to rush into anything. She said to give Sophie another week in hospital and see what happened, and that often something just suddenly clicks and oxygen may not be needed. Sophie had needed a feed while all this was going on, and Alan had to give her some expressed milk by bottle - her first ever bottle feed.<br /><br />I eventually went back along to Special Care and had a cuddle with Sophie then Alan and I went for a cup of tea and talked about our options. We decided we'd rather even have her in hospital another two weeks than bring her home on oxygen for what could end up being a few months. Her saturation levels could improve a lot in a week, and the nurse did said she'd even seen a difference in Sophie that day. I even heard Sophie do her first proper loud cry that afternoon!<br /><br />I managed to find the mouse outfit again that she'd been wearining in HDU (my very favourite outfit!) and I dressed her in that so that cheered me up a little bit! I was surprised at how much better it fitted her than the last time she had worn it! She was a bit cold so we put a wee pink hat on her too and she looked so cute!<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9V-2AlhvI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/fHKKChTtqrg/s1600/IMG_2583.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9V-2AlhvI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/fHKKChTtqrg/s320/IMG_2583.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512219007063000818" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span class="text_exposed_show">It's been a stressful week - the most stressful since she was born - but maybe next week there will be good news about her coming home! We are really starting to feel the strain now. When she was first born, we knew there would be weeks and weeks stretching ahead - probably at least 13 if we were looking at getting her home around her due date - but now she is a couple of weeks from her due date and it's so hard knowing we are so close to getting her home but still so far.<br /><br />Here are a few more pictures of Sophie's first week in Special Care.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9WY_C9SZI/AAAAAAAAARE/3GG-Tw-7haY/s1600/IMG_2600.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9WY_C9SZI/AAAAAAAAARE/3GG-Tw-7haY/s320/IMG_2600.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512219456165464466" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9XcoMvvWI/AAAAAAAAARs/i-0CAKWASIw/s1600/Sophie+023.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9XcoMvvWI/AAAAAAAAARs/i-0CAKWASIw/s320/Sophie+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512220618263608674" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9XcJ5rzpI/AAAAAAAAARk/grVSaityiHs/s1600/Sophie+015.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9XcJ5rzpI/AAAAAAAAARk/grVSaityiHs/s320/Sophie+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512220610130595474" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9Xbatbn7I/AAAAAAAAARc/VfIYcS4syjk/s1600/IMG_2595.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9Xbatbn7I/AAAAAAAAARc/VfIYcS4syjk/s320/IMG_2595.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512220597462736818" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9XbPDjrvI/AAAAAAAAARU/5RZzrtQxFPo/s1600/7.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9XbPDjrvI/AAAAAAAAARU/5RZzrtQxFPo/s320/7.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512220594334314226" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9Xav07wkI/AAAAAAAAARM/AYGx6m0i-Lc/s1600/IMG_2590.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH9Xav07wkI/AAAAAAAAARM/AYGx6m0i-Lc/s320/IMG_2590.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512220585951478338" border="0" /></a>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-1422023776351294832010-05-23T13:45:00.000-07:002010-09-01T14:54:55.057-07:0010 weeks old and first attempts at feeding!We spent a few hours with Sophie on Sunday and she was wide awake and so alert! She looked very worried most of the time - she always has such a worried look when she opens her eyes, as if she is very suspicious about what she might find when she opens them! We both got cuddles, and Sophie was off her CPAP for 7 hours! Her daddy had to overcome his cotton wool phobia when Sophie was a bit sick and he had to wipe it up...I never ever thought I would see him pick up a piece of cotton wool! I started to wash Sophie's many clothes at the weekend, ready to go into her wardrobe when it arrives next week.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7JT6AvV1I/AAAAAAAAAQM/GsEZKvYdDn4/s1600/Sophie+216.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7JT6AvV1I/AAAAAAAAAQM/GsEZKvYdDn4/s320/Sophie+216.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512064337775122258" border="0" /></a><br />I visited another little baby on the unit, Anna, who is about a month younger than Sophie, then Anna's mummy came to see Sophie before we went for a cup of tea and a catch up. It's so hard to believe that Sophie was that size not so long ago.<br /><br />It was my birthday on Monday and I can honestly say it's the best birthday I've ever had. I spent the whole day with my little princess, and when I went in, there was a card in her cot and a present hanging on the end! She had given me a beautiful silver heart-shaped locket with "Mum" on it and the card was gorgeous too. What a clever girl getting out to the shops!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7HCp868_I/AAAAAAAAAPs/HFfurxxEw5A/s1600/Sophie+156.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7HCp868_I/AAAAAAAAAPs/HFfurxxEw5A/s320/Sophie+156.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512061842383107058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">My special girl with my special card</span><br /></div><br />Sophie and I had a brilliant day together. She had just come off her CPAP when I arrived at 9am, and had pulled her nose prongs out and was wearing them round her neck like a stethoscope! She had also pulled her feeding tube out! This meant that finally I could see her beautiful little face without any of the tubes that we have been so used to seeing. It's been a long, long wait but definitely worth it. You never expect to have to wait till your baby is 10 weeks old before seeing what they really look like.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7F4IsU3mI/AAAAAAAAAPc/UInYqPqWiqg/s1600/17.5.1020.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7F4IsU3mI/AAAAAAAAAPc/UInYqPqWiqg/s320/17.5.1020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512060562144812642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">First photo of our beautiful girl with no tubes!</span><br /></div><br /><br />The nurse, Anne, said that Sophie didn't need the nose prongs any more so she took them away altogether and Sophie had no tubes at all!! Anne had dressed her in her own tiny pink velvet trousers with feet, which we have been waiting for her to grow into since the week she was born. We thought we'd never see the day that she was big enough for those - even though they are very very tiny (up to 5lb). She looked soooo cute!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7GWtI5BRI/AAAAAAAAAPk/DrlbTA-c5FQ/s1600/17.5.1010.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7GWtI5BRI/AAAAAAAAAPk/DrlbTA-c5FQ/s320/17.5.1010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512061087324374290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Birthday cuddles for mummy :)</span><br /></div><br />Anne asked me if I was planning to breastfeed, and when I said I was, she said Sophie was ready to try! I got all set up with screens round the cot, and Anne said she would just leave us to it, just put Sophie inside my top, have cuddles and see if she did anything, and I was just to shout if I needed any help. Sophie latched on pretty much straight away and Anne was really surprised that she took to it so well immediately :)<br /><br />Sophie was allowed out for extra cuddles in the afternoon because of it being my birthday, then Anne and I got her all nicely dressed up and took some photos for <a href="http://www.babylink.info/edinburgh">Babylink</a>. Aunty Caroline visited, and Daddy came in at lunchtime and after work, when he had Sophie cuddles too. Definitely a great birthday!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7J9i5fCsI/AAAAAAAAAQU/uQdS0Or06CE/s1600/Sophie+173.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7J9i5fCsI/AAAAAAAAAQU/uQdS0Or06CE/s320/Sophie+173.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512065053125184194" border="0" /></a><br />On Wednesday, Sophie came of CPAP at 4am and was off ALL day until 5pm, then was only back on for 3 hours before getting grumpy with it and trying to pull it off herself! The nurse took it back off again - that's the best she has done yet! She had another successful feed in the afternoon - we weren't sure how much she had actually taken, so the nurse reduced her tube feed by 15ml and she seemed fine. She is still off oxygen altogether! She was wearing her own snuggly white suit that we'd bought her at the weekend, and Grandpa got his very first cuddles in the afternoon. He'd been longing to get cuddles too so was really happy!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7HxUF52pI/AAAAAAAAAP0/4x1B54FEGUA/s1600/Sophie+187.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7HxUF52pI/AAAAAAAAAP0/4x1B54FEGUA/s320/Sophie+187.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512062643969055378" border="0" /></a><br />When Sophie was weighed on Wednesday night, she was 5lb 2!! When we left the hospital on Thursday evening, she had been off CPAP for 24 hours....but the nurses were not telling Sophie in case she started acting up! They kept whispering to us about it! Sophie had another good feed and we were told if she stayed off CPAP for 72 hours it would be taken away altogether....! We were also told that it would be a miracle if she managed 72 hours off it. She was wearing her own wee babygrow again - newborn size - and it was actually fitting her quite well! The nurse looking after her told us that Sophie was really good natured compared to a lot of the other babies, who could apparently be quite crabby at times!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7IkTc8dBI/AAAAAAAAAP8/r9exLp877do/s1600/Sophie+200.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7IkTc8dBI/AAAAAAAAAP8/r9exLp877do/s320/Sophie+200.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512063519970587666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">In her own outfit, and trying to be on the move!</span><br /></div><br />When we phoned at bedtime to see how Sophie was, we were told that the CPAP had been taken away altogether!!! That child never ceases to amaze us.<br /><br />On Saturday, one of the community nurses came to chat to me about Sophie's progress, and she actually mentioned the H word...we'd got so caught up in visiting every day and watching her progress we'd somehow not realised that she is actually getting pretty close to being ready to come home! I was told that depending on how she was getting on over the weekend, they might put her into a normal cot at the beginning of next week - then they would be looking at her getting transferred to Special Care - the last nursery before home!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7I8_F_ZvI/AAAAAAAAAQE/JvyoXIRYgu8/s1600/Sophie+142.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7I8_F_ZvI/AAAAAAAAAQE/JvyoXIRYgu8/s320/Sophie+142.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512063944002332402" border="0" /></a><br />The nurse explained that Sophie would have to pass a sleep study before she would be allowed home. This involves her being hooked up to a machine so that they could monitor her oxygen levels and heartrate through various normal activities such as a deep sleep, cuddles, feeds, nappy changes etc etc. Her oxygen level has to be an average of 94 for her to pass. The nurse booked her in for a sleep study next week! It feels very sudden and soon for her to be getting it as she has only just come off CPAP and started breastfeeding but even talking about doing the sleep study is a big step closer to getting her home.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7KSwF5_4I/AAAAAAAAAQc/K8rQYBR6GrM/s1600/Sophie+174.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH7KSwF5_4I/AAAAAAAAAQc/K8rQYBR6GrM/s320/Sophie+174.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512065417444196226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Our gorgeous girl, looking more like a newborn every day</span><br /></div><br />We are feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment - yesterday was just a normal day and suddenly today they are talking about a normal cot, special care and home very soon! It's so typical, Alan had gone to sit in the canteen for a while (it gets very hot and intense in the room!) and he missed the whole chat so I was trying to take it all in myself! They booked us into the double room on the unit for a couple of nights next week so I can try to get the breastfeeding established and do all the feeds, rather than Sophie having to be tube fed when I'm not there.<br /><br />Again when we phoned on Saturday night there was a surprise for us - after being told if she was ok all weekend she would be going into a normal cot at the beginning of the week, she was already in a normal cot on Saturday night!! Special care, here we come....watch this space!Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-42964508863312492552010-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:002010-09-01T13:45:24.763-07:009 weeks old and lots of cuddlesThis has been quite a week! Sophie was in her own clothes for the first time, and her Granny (Sinclair) and Grandad (Baxter) got cuddles for the very first time - a moment they've been longing for.<br /><br />Alan and I didn't go up on Sunday to see Sophie as we are trying to have one day each weekend at home to try to catch up with things - hard though it is being away from Sophie, we really need a day at home once a week. Steph and Brian went to see Sophie on Sunday and she was in one of her own outfits for the very very first time! I can't believe I missed that, but Steph kindly took a photo for us :)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH65O0Ada7I/AAAAAAAAAPM/B74YaVYqLLQ/s1600/Sophie+130.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH65O0Ada7I/AAAAAAAAAPM/B74YaVYqLLQ/s320/Sophie+130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512046658077944754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie in her first ever "own outfit" - size of outfit: 3lb!</span><br /></div><br /><br />I spent all day on Monday in the neonatal unit with Sophie and she was doing really well. She managed 9 hours off CPAP and when the nurse put it back onto her, she was fighting with it so much it was taken off again! I was allowed to lift Sophie out of her cot myself for the first time which was a bit scary with all the wires and monitor leads, but I managed and had a lovely long cuddle with her. I also changed her babygro for the first time ever!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S_mSOv5yWdI/AAAAAAAAAOc/ulBCXgLBdIQ/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S_mSOv5yWdI/AAAAAAAAAOc/ulBCXgLBdIQ/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474567604120213970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Sophie had her immunisations that night and we were warned she might be a little bit off colour the next day. She wasn't too affected by them, but she did have to spend the day back on CPAP.<br />The day after that, she was back to spending 9 hours off.<br /><br />Granny had her first cuddles this week, and Sophie was in the cutest outfit I have ever seen in my life - a wee pink velvety babygro with mouse feet complete with ears! Grandad (Alan's dad) also got his first cuddles the next day. Grandpa's turn next week...<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH62WrtTFpI/AAAAAAAAAO8/VzAz1MqKtPI/s1600/Sophie+012.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH62WrtTFpI/AAAAAAAAAO8/VzAz1MqKtPI/s320/Sophie+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512043494754162322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Granny's first cuddle</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH63dbly8TI/AAAAAAAAAPE/Zho6tvZQDN4/s1600/14.5.101.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH63dbly8TI/AAAAAAAAAPE/Zho6tvZQDN4/s320/14.5.101.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512044710198440242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Grandad's first cuddle</span><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TENuAe4cBEI/AAAAAAAAAOk/5AtNzWXz5po/s1600/Sophie+002.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TENuAe4cBEI/AAAAAAAAAOk/5AtNzWXz5po/s320/Sophie+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495356924890973250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TENuAsZW4PI/AAAAAAAAAOs/IkC702lqu-o/s1600/feet.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 98px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TENuAsZW4PI/AAAAAAAAAOs/IkC702lqu-o/s320/feet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495356928518709490" border="0" /></a><br />Sophie's latest weight update is 4lb 10 and she is getting really good at sooking on her dummy while she is getting her tube feed! She wore another of her own outfits for the first time this week (thank you Nic and Rick!) and looked soooo cute in it! It's a "tiny baby" outfit but still pretty big on her! She's been a wee toerag pulling her feeding tube out all the time - even during a feed.<br /><br />Uncle Greig and Aunty Claire visited this week and saw a big difference in Sophie as they hadn't seen her since she was still in her incubator in intensive care. They were able to touch her for the first time.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH66DuI5ZiI/AAAAAAAAAPU/qg26r1JT1-8/s1600/Sophie+129.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/TH66DuI5ZiI/AAAAAAAAAPU/qg26r1JT1-8/s320/Sophie+129.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512047567035786786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Besotted aunty and uncle!</span><br /></div><br /><br />Sophie's daddy and I are allowed a lot more cuddles now which is amazing...she is really starting to feel more like "our baby"....Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-78309701813968335722010-05-09T12:04:00.000-07:002010-05-09T14:39:55.750-07:008 weeks old - clothes and a heated cot!Still 5 weeks to go till Sophie's due date and our little princess is doing sooo well :)<br /><br />I went up with Alan when he went to work on Monday and spent the whole day with Sophie for the first time. She had a lovely nurse called Roz looking after her, and Sophie was in a mischievous mood! By lunchtime, she had pulled two feeding tubes out, and the second time it took both Roz and me to get the new tube in because Sophie was wriggling so much! We ended up putting a mitten on her to stop her from being able to pull anything....or that was the idea, anyway!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cbZ7nYZvI/AAAAAAAAAMk/rnf64JL8iYM/s1600/03052010+028.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cbZ7nYZvI/AAAAAAAAAMk/rnf64JL8iYM/s320/03052010+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469370404778305266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This was how I left Sophie when I met Alan for lunch...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I met Alan for lunch, and left Sophie looking innocent, wearing her mitten. When we came back, she was still looking innocent, but the mitten was off, and the feeding tube was out once again! Roz said Sophie was getting an ASBO!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-ccEJBEmpI/AAAAAAAAAMs/0SVLaYzi0yQ/s1600/03052010+029.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-ccEJBEmpI/AAAAAAAAAMs/0SVLaYzi0yQ/s320/03052010+029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469371129930226322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Left alone for half an hour...mitten off, feeding tube out!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We had been noticing over the previous few days that Sophie had been sucking on her feeding tube, so Roz decided to try her on a dummy to see if she could learn to suck while her milk was going through the tube. She instantly knew what to do as soon as she was given the dummy - and even when it fell out of her mouth, she pushed it back in herself!<br /><br />After I'd done Sophie's feed and nappy change after lunch, I was allowed her out for cuddles, and she was out all afternoon!! She was still out when Alan came in after work :) We had such a lovely afternoon together and I told her all about our plans for her nursery!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cc8yNvnWI/AAAAAAAAAM0/Vs5rHszPDHg/s1600/photo3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cc8yNvnWI/AAAAAAAAAM0/Vs5rHszPDHg/s320/photo3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469372103061904738" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Lovely cuddles with mummy<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br />On Tuesday, I went up with Sophie's granny and grandpa, and when we were still washing our hands, my mum noticed that Sophie was in a heated cot!!! Woohoo! I'd gone in half expecting to see her in the middle of a blood transfusion, because she was slightly anaemic again on Monday and there was talk of her getting another transfusion, so it was a brilliant surprise to find her in a heated cot. The next piece of excitement was that I noticed she was in a wee outfit - a little pink body suit - and then Roz told us that she had reached 4lb! It was so lovely to see Sophie in an open cot rather than the incubator, and wearing clothes. I didn't tell Alan before he came in, as I wanted to see his reaction - and it was well worth waiting for. My mum and dad were able to touch Sophie for the first time. She was making her grandpa laugh by opening her eye with a very worried look on her wee face - she always looks so worried when she opens her eyes!<br /><br />When Alan came in, Roz showed us how to change the monitor lead on Sophie's foot to the other foot - this has to be done each time she gets a nappy change, and we have to give her foot a wee massage! When Roz showed us how to massage her foot, it must have been tickly, as the foot was drawn swiftly in!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-celh7O4NI/AAAAAAAAAM8/mYarvKjX5qg/s1600/IMG0043A.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-celh7O4NI/AAAAAAAAAM8/mYarvKjX5qg/s320/IMG0043A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469373902575558866" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Very proud grandparents</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-celxNqYNI/AAAAAAAAANE/0WCZRiBibg4/s1600/IMG0046A.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-celxNqYNI/AAAAAAAAANE/0WCZRiBibg4/s320/IMG0046A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469373906679390418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Clearly a bit worried about what she will see when that eye opens! </span><br /></div><br />I went to see Sophie again on Thursday with her other grandad, and he finally got to hold her little hand which he has been longing to do for ages! Aunty Gail also visited, and Alan was allowed Sophie out for cuddles. It was so sweet, every time he spoke, Sophie was looking up at him. I did my first nappy change with Sophie in a babygro, which was so different from changing her nappy inside the incubator! It was a bit of a joint effort with Aunty Gail's help. It's nice not having to do the nappy changes through the two holes in the side of the incubator although we had got quite used to that!<br /><br />I had washed a few of Sophie's tiniest clothes to take up to the hospital, as she is allowed to wear her own clothes - so I took those up on Thursday. I hope none of them go missing! They looked soooo cute drying on the radiator!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cmMtKv45I/AAAAAAAAANs/xQ1Jln_9XEY/s1600/IMG0052B.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cmMtKv45I/AAAAAAAAANs/xQ1Jln_9XEY/s320/IMG0052B.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469382272189719442" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cjHcUWSeI/AAAAAAAAANU/ktqFFLlFYXg/s1600/03052010+067.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cjHcUWSeI/AAAAAAAAANU/ktqFFLlFYXg/s320/03052010+067.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469378883232352738" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Grandad's not smitten at all......!!!!</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cjG8t1x4I/AAAAAAAAANM/85wCC95HGn4/s1600/03052010+045.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cjG8t1x4I/AAAAAAAAANM/85wCC95HGn4/s320/03052010+045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469378874749339522" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">...and neither is Daddy!</span><br /><br /></div><br />On Friday, we didn't go to see Sophie, as Alan took a day's flexi and he and his dad worked in the garden all day, making it Sophie-friendly. It used to just be all minging gravel and was sooo boring but we now have grass, nice fences, plants, flowers, and a nice little sitting area with a table and chairs. Sophie will now have a lovely place to play when she gets bigger - it's only taken us three years, and Alan's dad says it's taken us having a baby to make us get the garden organised! It's looking great though, and such a difference from how it looked on Friday morning before they started.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-clTi_TzzI/AAAAAAAAANk/jzgyv5a5OvY/s1600/IMG0065A.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-clTi_TzzI/AAAAAAAAANk/jzgyv5a5OvY/s320/IMG0065A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469381290204843826" border="0" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-clTU8XUrI/AAAAAAAAANc/x2iLgBQnutg/s1600/IMG0063A.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-clTU8XUrI/AAAAAAAAANc/x2iLgBQnutg/s320/IMG0063A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469381286434394802" border="0" /></a></div><br /></div></div>So we are finally getting organised for little Sophie coming home...her grandad painted the nursery earlier in the week and it's looking great, the curtain material has arrived, the border has been ordered and her other grandpa is going to do some Beatrix Potter pictures for the walls as he is brilliant at drawing and painting.<br /><br />Yesterday Sophie was started on the proper cycle of coming off CPAP. She was taken off it at 1pm when I first went in, and then she came out for cuddles. It was so lovely cuddling her without her hat and mask, and wearing a little babygro! She has found her voice in the past week and was doing all sorts of cute little baby squeaks all afternoon. Alan also got cuddles because Dona, who I met through a pregnancy/baby forum and who had her little baby Archie in the neonatal unit in ERI last year came in to say hi, and she introduced me to Archie so while I was away meeting him, I handed Sophie over to Daddy :) Archie is absolutely gorgeous, and such an inspiration - he was born at exactly the same gestation as Sophie and is now fifteen months old.<br /><br />Sophie also met Aunty Stella and Uncle David for the first time yesterday.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-coRsMiZYI/AAAAAAAAAN8/anRXUE-XRqE/s1600/9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-coRsMiZYI/AAAAAAAAAN8/anRXUE-XRqE/s320/9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469384556851389826" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-coRFJy3oI/AAAAAAAAAN0/7AqGDYHIrjI/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-coRFJy3oI/AAAAAAAAAN0/7AqGDYHIrjI/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469384546370903682" border="0" /></a><br />Sophie has the hairstyle of an old man at the moment, as the CPAP as worn away all the hair at the front, so she just has hair round the sides and the back, poor wee soul! She still looks very very cute though! The hair at the back is all fluffy and sticking out and looks so sweet.<br /><br />She has been doing really well off the CPAP since they started the cycle - she had seven hours off yesterday afternoon, six hours off overnight and another seven hours off this afternoon. She is on very little oxygen, and at some points has been on no oxygen at all, so she is doing very very well. We can't believe how much progress we have seen this week, considering she started the week in an incubator on the verge of having another blood transfusion and has ended the week in a heated cot, clothes and coming off CPAP - and has reached a whopping 4lb 7.5oz!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cpzvbUm5I/AAAAAAAAAOU/5CJ6PqruEH8/s1600/8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cpzvbUm5I/AAAAAAAAAOU/5CJ6PqruEH8/s320/8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469386241345887122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cpzEpQr0I/AAAAAAAAAOM/EtC6A_nXHlg/s1600/12.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cpzEpQr0I/AAAAAAAAAOM/EtC6A_nXHlg/s320/12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469386229861625666" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cpy5Gxe_I/AAAAAAAAAOE/-XBN9snoVLA/s1600/11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S-cpy5Gxe_I/AAAAAAAAAOE/-XBN9snoVLA/s320/11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469386226764184562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Next week: Sophie in her very own clothes for the first time....Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-2884772279355969382010-05-02T13:52:00.000-07:002010-05-02T14:58:30.255-07:007 weeks old and Sophie has moved house - twice!Young Sophie is now 7 weeks old (or 34 weeks). When Alan took her milk in to her usual room on Monday morning, he was told she had moved into a new little nursery with just two cots! The nurse told him that Salisbury, the intensive care nursery where she was from when she was born, is just for very young and/or very sick babies, and that Sophie is neither of those :) She had also been weighed and was 3lb 10.<br /><br />Sophie's grandad and I visited her in the afternoon and the nurse asked if I would like her out for cuddles - I wasn't expecting more cuddles, as she had just been out on Saturday!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93m5Zqhg4I/AAAAAAAAAL0/W878uS0WJPw/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93m5Zqhg4I/AAAAAAAAAL0/W878uS0WJPw/s320/003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466779396513825666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie is good at the worried look!<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br />After grandad had left, I was told it was time for a nappy change. I had just filled the bowl with water, when the nurse came back in saying the nappy change would have to wait, as Sophie was being moved through to the high dependency nursery, Braids! She did make me promise that the nappy change would be the very first thing I did when we got through there, as little Miss Baxter was a little bit whiffy!<br /><br />They unplugged all her tubes when they were happy that she was stable enough, gave her a little whiff of oxygen, and said they would "wheech her through so fast she wouldn't even notice!" The nurses loaded me up like a packhorse with Sophie's belongings - her nappy bowl, cotton wool, several bottles of milk, her file with her notes in it etc and off we went, with me trotting dutifully behind the incubator and all the intensive care nurses laughing at us!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93tVtwGrbI/AAAAAAAAAMM/p_ObpHwnebM/s1600/2642010hdu+007.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93tVtwGrbI/AAAAAAAAAMM/p_ObpHwnebM/s320/2642010hdu+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466786480012045746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Tired out after all that moving!</span><br /></div><br /><br />As soon as Sophie was settled, I did the dreaded nappy change and gave her a feed and then the poor lamb was tired so she went off to sleep. I texted Alan to tell him we were off to Braids, and got a "What, NOW?!" text back! We knew she would probably be going there within the next few days but hadn't expected it to be the same day that she was moved to the small nursery!<br /><br /><br />On Tuesday I went up to see Sophie with her Granny and Grandpa, and they saw her off the CPAP for the first time. That was the first time they had ever seen her without her hat and mask, and they finally got to see her beautiful little face :) They hadn't seen her for just over a week and couldn't believe the difference in her size.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93oyOCdsOI/AAAAAAAAAL8/aBgrqBZI1FA/s1600/6+weeks+old.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93oyOCdsOI/AAAAAAAAAL8/aBgrqBZI1FA/s320/6+weeks+old.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466781472157184226" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She has not been coming off the CPAP so much this week even though they had started to cycle her off it in intensive care the previous week. I had started thinking she was taking a step back, but later found out that they just like to see for themselves what she can do when she moved to HDU, as they hadn't worked with her before. The nurse who was looking after her on Tuesday started teaching me everything from scratch, eg nappy changes which I have been doing for weeks! However on Thursday she completely left me to do everything unsupervised - including turning Sophie over, which she had only shown me for the first time on Tuesday. It was a little bit scary turning her over without any help and without anyone even watching - I was scared in case I hurt her - but I managed ok.<br /><br />Aunty Gail visited on Thursday and brought her two gorgeous little pink outfits. Last week she brought her a lovely Jemima Puddleduck which will be perfect in the nursery, which we have decided to decorate with a Beatrix Potter theme - that means that last week's picture of the border we were planning to get is now out of date!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93svtet_wI/AAAAAAAAAME/ph7KoUlfvso/s1600/jemima.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93svtet_wI/AAAAAAAAAME/ph7KoUlfvso/s320/jemima.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466785827104096002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Jemima Puddleduck</span><br /></div><br /><br />We have finally picked a colour for the nursery walls - a very pale pink (called Nursery, funnily enough!), and chosen our curtain material - pink background with Benjamin Bunny, Tom Kitten and Mrs Tiggywinkle. Stella next door is going to make the curtains for us, and Alan's dad is going to paint the room. Aunty Gail is on the case trying to find a Beatrix Potter border, as she is the queen of sourcing items on the internet! My dad is brilliant at drawing and painting and is going to do us some pictures of Beatrix Potter characters for the walls....so it's hopefully all coming together!<br /><br />We visited Sophie again on Saturday and asked if we could get her out for cuddles, as all the other babies in the nursery were out! The nurse said she was happy for Sophie to come out for a whole hour, because she is always stable when she is out for cuddles :) She ended up out for over an hour and she had no dips at all when she was out...she just lay cuddled into me and slept!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93uRvSL-AI/AAAAAAAAAMU/NWaMCXlYJrs/s1600/photo5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93uRvSL-AI/AAAAAAAAAMU/NWaMCXlYJrs/s320/photo5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466787511215585282" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She seems to be used to all the noise that's constantly going on around her - I've been told that premature babies end up sleeping through anything! It's certainly a very different atmosphere in HDU - alarms going all the time with nobody rushing to switch them off because the babies are expected to sort themselves out eventually, babies crying, and many more babies in the room than there were in ICU. We were even told yesterday that if Sophie's alarm is going and we can see she is ok, then we are allowed to silence it ourselves! We have been used to a nurse rushing in to check if she is ok and switching the alarm off so it's going to take a bit of getting used to. It's definitely good progress though. We will miss our favourite ICU nurses but will hopefully get some new favourites through in HDU!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93vQNxJ1cI/AAAAAAAAAMc/-YEaOVWNQMU/s1600/photo10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S93vQNxJ1cI/AAAAAAAAAMc/-YEaOVWNQMU/s320/photo10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466788584550421954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Tucked back in her nest after cuddles<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">Sophie was weighed again at the end of last week and is now 3lb 13 - woo hoo! That's a whole two pounds heavier than her birth weight! Four pounds here we come! She is now onto two hourly feeds as of today, and tolerating it well - she is now getting 25ml per feed.<br /><br />She has also been starting to suck her feeding tube and sucking her fingers and the nurse said that's a really good sign! We also talked to the nurse yesterday about clothes - she said if we have any clothes that we want Sophie to start wearing while she is in there, if we name them we can take them in for her and she might soon get to wear something. She will start with little vests and progress from there. She's not quite there yet but hopefully she will be soon. She has some teeny bodysuits and the tiniest pair of pink trousers we have ever seen, so they will all be going in! I can't wait to see her in the tiny trousers - they are just sooo cute :)<br /><br />Hopefully by next week's update, Sophie will have reached the 4lb mark and we might have some nursery (work in progress!) pictures to put up!<br /></div><br /></div><br /></div></div>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-70890055968098361342010-04-25T12:14:00.000-07:002010-04-25T13:21:23.848-07:006 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!<br /><br />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 :)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SWZbbdzRI/AAAAAAAAAKc/MJJ03hlLGHc/s1600/photo7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SWZbbdzRI/AAAAAAAAAKc/MJJ03hlLGHc/s320/photo7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464157611511106834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Very worried little face!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />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.....<br /><br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SYxQA8qBI/AAAAAAAAAKk/iQqtJ1oZ6WQ/s1600/photo23.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SYxQA8qBI/AAAAAAAAAKk/iQqtJ1oZ6WQ/s320/photo23.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464160219787208722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Chin strap successfully removed by young Miss B<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br />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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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 :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SabXoxq4I/AAAAAAAAAKs/R1Vht1KOF5k/s1600/photo13.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SabXoxq4I/AAAAAAAAAKs/R1Vht1KOF5k/s320/photo13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464162042899442562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The dreaded chin strap is back...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>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.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9ScIchGKQI/AAAAAAAAAK0/ZNiibmlENDk/s1600/photo3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9ScIchGKQI/AAAAAAAAAK0/ZNiibmlENDk/s320/photo3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464163916815149314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Our gorgeous girl off the CPAP<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SfPBWwkWI/AAAAAAAAALM/Eh9gwxXr7iM/s1600/24042010+033.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SfPBWwkWI/AAAAAAAAALM/Eh9gwxXr7iM/s320/24042010+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464167328318001506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie 'helping' daddy with the nappy change</span><br /></div><br /><br />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!<br /><br />Uncle Greig and Aunty Claire visited in the afternoon and brought Sophie her first Tatty Teddy. Every baby needs a Tatty teddy :)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9Sf061SuwI/AAAAAAAAALU/EQTUxm-NJNE/s1600/24042010+030.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9Sf061SuwI/AAAAAAAAALU/EQTUxm-NJNE/s320/24042010+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464167979402050306" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9Sf1SJqf_I/AAAAAAAAALc/Fd_1J81fY6w/s1600/24042010+037.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9Sf1SJqf_I/AAAAAAAAALc/Fd_1J81fY6w/s320/24042010+037.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464167985661509618" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">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.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9Sg-epApqI/AAAAAAAAALk/L4SPqHqlkUQ/s1600/Border+for+nursery.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9Sg-epApqI/AAAAAAAAALk/L4SPqHqlkUQ/s320/Border+for+nursery.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464169243144660642" border="0" /></a></div></div><br /><br /></div></div>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SisfbV3HI/AAAAAAAAALs/-vVmeTYphzo/s1600/IMG_2200.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S9SisfbV3HI/AAAAAAAAALs/-vVmeTYphzo/s320/IMG_2200.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464171133141376114" border="0" /></a>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-20596105009750512872010-04-18T13:24:00.000-07:002010-04-19T14:13:21.525-07:005 weeks old - 2lb 14 and daddy's first nappy!Sophie is now 5 weeks old - or 32 weeks if that's how you prefer to look at it, and has reached 2lb 14 oz which is over a pound more than when she was born!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zE_QSyW-I/AAAAAAAAAKE/ANt9T0NRmL0/s1600/Sophie+day+14+314.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zE_QSyW-I/AAAAAAAAAKE/ANt9T0NRmL0/s320/Sophie+day+14+314.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461957039078136802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zCdsk_0UI/AAAAAAAAAJc/cioLw0IEVWU/s1600/Sophie+day+14+007.jpg"><br /></a>She was slightly anaemic on Tuesday and had to have a blood transfusion, but the nurse assured me that almost all the premature babies have to have one sooner or later. They were just setting it up when I arrived to see her that afternoon, and had to get a doctor to come to put the cannula in her tiny hand. I couldn't watch that being done and waited in the corner till it was done, only to find out it hadn't worked and they had to re-do it in the other hand :( Then that didn't work either so they finally got it to work in her foot. It was too horrible knowing that all those nasty things had been done to our tiny little baby!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zC5FkpAFI/AAAAAAAAAJk/dXOtNz57nUA/s1600/Sophie+day+14+311.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zC5FkpAFI/AAAAAAAAAJk/dXOtNz57nUA/s320/Sophie+day+14+311.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461954734097760338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">A fat-cheeked Sophie getting her blood transfusion</span><br /></div><br /><br />The blood transfusion did at least do its job, and Sophie was much better on Wednesday and looking a lot less peaky again.<br /><br />Sophie received some really cute tiny little pink bootees as a present, and Alan took them in because they are small enough to fit her just now. They ended up on her hands though, as they were the only thing that the nurse could find that would stop her pulling her tubes out! Sophie looked as if she was feeling very silly with those on her hands :) She managed to wriggle out of them a few times....<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zDN24JikI/AAAAAAAAAJs/O1cf7nneAwY/s1600/Sophie+day+14+305.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zDN24JikI/AAAAAAAAAJs/O1cf7nneAwY/s320/Sophie+day+14+305.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461955090930305602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie with her bootee on her hand...</span><br /></div><br /><br />I have been getting much better at the nappy changes and can now do them completely unsupervised and fairly quickly, despite the fact that Sophie really doesn't make it easy with all the wriggling and kicking that she does! She likes to fix me with her beady eye while I'm changing her nappy, which is so cute.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zEAyD0_LI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/iMq7Dhn4PMI/s1600/Sophie+day+14+291.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zEAyD0_LI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/iMq7Dhn4PMI/s320/Sophie+day+14+291.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461955965810441394" border="0" /></a>Watching mummy...<br /></div><br /><br />She has been getting eye drops since the end of the week, to treat a wee eye infection that has possibly been caused by the CPAP - again something that is common in the babies.<br /><br />Daddy got to pick Sophie up inside the incubator on Thursday and we were also shown how to pick her up and turn her over, by putting one hand under her head and the other under her bottom and just turning her with the hand that's under her bottom - looks very slick when the nurse does it but it'll be a while till we are brave enough to try it ourselves!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zGtXymOcI/AAAAAAAAAKU/Kz83iqff5fs/s1600/Sophie+day+14+307.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zGtXymOcI/AAAAAAAAAKU/Kz83iqff5fs/s320/Sophie+day+14+307.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461958930876217794" border="0" /></a>Waiting for a nappy change<br /></div><br /><br />Daddy also did his first nappy change on Saturday, which I missed :( Somehow, he managed to get one that wasn't too minging! Paul, the nurse who was looking after Sophie earlier in the week had suggested that I should keep a chart of how many nappies we each do in the hospital, and their content, and make sure that Alan catches up when we get home...I think that's not a bad idea!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zGD4l4RRI/AAAAAAAAAKM/oPdcQj00Vi4/s1600/Sophie+day+14+298.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zGD4l4RRI/AAAAAAAAAKM/oPdcQj00Vi4/s320/Sophie+day+14+298.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461958218126738706" border="0" /></a>Sophie's new shoes :)<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8zE_QSyW-I/AAAAAAAAAKE/ANt9T0NRmL0/s1600/Sophie+day+14+314.jpg"><br /></a>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-37310082058883219712010-04-11T15:36:00.000-07:002010-04-18T16:06:12.589-07:00Four weeks old - daddy's first cuddle, and the first time we saw Sophie's face!<div align="left">Phew, what a week this has been! Cuddles with daddy AND us seeing her without her mask and hat for the first time :)<br /><br /></div><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461613425072978098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uMeSX6uLI/AAAAAAAAAIc/yZGlaf488AM/s320/Sophie+day+14+156.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Daddy doing some cheek-stroking!<br /></p></span><p align="left"><br />Sophie is now being weighed every three days and is putting weight on steadily. She is now 2lb 6oz which seems really big compared to her birth weight of 1lb 13.8oz. It's really nice to see her past the 2lb mark.<br /></p><p align="left">She has been a bit of a toerag this week and has been trying to pull all her tubes out, so she has been wearing some mittens that are far too big for her to stop her from doing that! </p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461613847456121810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uM2336A9I/AAAAAAAAAIk/CZOBv567w4A/s320/Sophie+day+14+248.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">On Thursday, it was a lovely nurse looking after Sophie, so I asked her when Daddy might be allowed cuddles with Sophie. She asked what time he would be coming in and when I said he'd be in just after 5pm, she said he could get Sophie out that night!! I was so excited that he was finally going to get to cuddle his baby - probably nowhere near as excited as he was when I texted him to tell him, but excited nonetheless!</p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461614230377231794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uNNKXadbI/AAAAAAAAAIs/rZffBWdDbG0/s320/Sophie+day+14+332.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">Alan's colleague Dougie was in to meet Sophie that night, and he took so many photos of the first cuddles :)<br /></p><p align="left">Daddy absolutely loved his cuddles with Sophie - he'd had a horrible day at work, but cuddles with his little daughter made everything alright again. It was so sweet to see them snuggled together and they both looked so happy.</p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461614418286358562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uNYGYcMCI/AAAAAAAAAI0/_acRdm1A1sU/s320/Sophie+day+14+338.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">One of our first family photos...</span></p><p align="left"><br />On Saturday when we went in to visit Sophie, the grumpy nurse barged Alan's dad out of the way and grumped "Let mum in"! I thought she was just being her usual grumpy self - especially when I started asking her if she wanted me to put the milk in the fridge or the freezer and she barked "Just look at your daughter"! When I turned round and looked at Sophie, there she was without her mask covering her face - she was off the CPAP and only had her feeding tube and another little tube under her nose! It was so amazing to finally see what our baby looked like after four whole weeks - and she is gorgeous! She had been off the CPAP for a whole hour and was about to go onto it again but the nurse had actualy kept her off till we got in and saw her without her mask - surprising, when it was the grumpy one! </p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461615203607959410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uOFz7s13I/AAAAAAAAAJE/47vF-Sf_pdI/s320/Sophie+day+14+274.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Finally seeing Sophie's face</span></p><p align="left"><br />The next day when we went in, the nurse took the CPAP off and also took her hat off and we finally got to see what she properly looks like! She has a lot of very dark hair and she is just beautiful. We finally saw her looking like a proper little baby - it's been so hard wondering what she looks like all these weeks and impossible to imagine her ever looking like a full term baby, but she actually does look like one - just really tiny! We have seen so little of her face up till now - we could see she was cute but we had no idea just how cute! </p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461615953425740338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uOxdOMMjI/AAAAAAAAAJU/0QB-R_M9XRY/s320/Sophie+day+14+286.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461615947255048018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uOxGO-51I/AAAAAAAAAJM/agBU-UoQ_D0/s320/Sophie+day+14+285.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Our gorgeous girl</span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-82736139074870135842010-04-04T14:56:00.000-07:002010-04-18T15:35:35.425-07:00Three weeks old - mummy's first cuddleSophie is three weeks old today - and would have been 30 weeks if she had stayed put! She has been weighed for the first time since just after she was born, and is now 2lb 4oz, which is great :) It's lovely to see her putting weight on and getting little podgy cheeks. Her feeds are being increased pretty much every day. She has been taken back off the ventilator and put back onto CPAP again but does have to get a funny chin strap on sometimes, to stop her from opening her mouth and letting all the air back out again!<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461605483807497298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uFQC2r3FI/AAAAAAAAAH0/8SmovzXIGvY/s320/Sophie+day+14+077.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Lovely chin strap....!</span><br /></p><br /><br />Daddy has been going into the hospital every morning before work with the milk delivery, and I've been going up every other day through the week with Alan's dad and/or my parents, and both days at the weekends.<br /><br />All Sophie's doting grandparents visited her on Thursday and they are all absolutely besotted with her - it's impossible not to be!!<br /><br /><br /><p>I had a particularly nasty nappy to change on Thursday - I won't go into too much detail but let's just say little Miss Baxter was not very ladylike, had the trots in her nappy and then again when I was taking the nappy off her....and then put her foot in it, literally! It was meant to be my first unsupervised nappy-change but I had to get the nurse to come and help me because she still had various wires attached to her foot so it wasn't just a case of washing her foot!<br /></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461605873752449138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uFmvgzoHI/AAAAAAAAAH8/ujCGQfzll44/s320/Sophie+day+14+070.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">My first time lifting Sophie</span><br /></p><br /><br />The upside of the trots incident was that Sophie had to get a clean sheet, so I was asked to lift Sophie up while the nurse changed her bedding :) She told me I wasn't allowed to keep telling Sophie to poo just so that I got to do that!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Sophie's Uncle Michael and Aunty Lesley visited on Saturday and fell in love with their little niece. I had the best surprise ever when I arrived that afternoon and Jane, the nurse, asked if I wanted Sophie out for cuddles!! That was the first time I had ever held her and it was absolutely amazing. Jane put her inside my top so that we had skin to skin contact (or kangaroo care, as it's called) and she was in there for a whole hour. She was soooo snuggly! She cried a tiny little bit when she was first brought out of her incubator, but soon settled down and seemed really content just to snuggle with mummy.<br /></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461606264858813650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uF9gf1JNI/AAAAAAAAAIE/Z4Ck2RzfD8I/s320/Sophie+day+14+052.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Very first cuddle with mummy - a special moment</span></p><p></p><p><br />Uncle Michael and Aunty Lesley got to stroke her cheek, which they wouldn't have been allowed to do if she was in her incubator. I felt so bad that Alan didn't get a turn at holding her and can't wait for him to get his turn. Jane held Sophie up for me to kiss her cheek for the first time before she went back into her incubator. It was the best afternoon ever!!</p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461606611669059490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uGRsd1h6I/AAAAAAAAAIM/W5LzNzm3pYo/s320/Sophie+day+14+054.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meeting Uncle Michael</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><p></p><p><br />We are being allowed so much more to do with Sophie now, and she is really responding to us. You can see the difference when it's Alan or me touching her - she stretches out and wriggles as soon as we touch her and she still loves to grip our fingers or stroke our hands. Daddy has still escaped all nappy changes....</p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461607439575765298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8uHB4qLUTI/AAAAAAAAAIU/4S1XHzW-YuM/s320/Sophie+day+14+056.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p> </p><p>Sophie now has two toys in her incubator to keep her company. I spent ages raking the shops looking for a special toy for her - it's the first thing I have bought for her that is just from me, so I wanted to be really special and it took me a long time to find just the right thing. I ended up getting her a pink Miffy which is the perfect size for her incubator - and it's even better that it's pink! And for Easter, Granny and Grandpa gave her a Peter Rabbit. Let's hope she likes rabbits!</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-613381987435513302010-03-28T13:08:00.000-07:002010-04-18T14:45:04.907-07:00Two weeks old and we have a little piglet!Saturday night was my first night back home, and my first night far away from Sophie. It was really awful not being able to just go downstairs to see her whenever I wanted to, but at the same time was lovely to have a night in my own bed for the first time in over a week!<br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461581940949078722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8tv1q31UsI/AAAAAAAAAGE/IQKNwG_xUS0/s320/Sophie+day+14+027.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie aged 2 weeks, with the lovely Jane in the background - the first nurse who looked after her</span><br /></p><br /><br /><p>There was a missed call on both our mobiles on Sunday morning, and we found out the number was the hospital but it didn't accept incoming calls! We were panicking in case sometime was wrong with Sophie. Eventually we managed to get hold of the number for the neonatal unit, after ringing the maternity ward and various other numbers that we had, and it turned out it was just Moira, the nurse who was looking after Sophie that day, wondering if we were going in with some more milk, as she was being a wee piglet! What a relief.</p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461593423329497666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8t6SCEqEkI/AAAAAAAAAHc/tLq4Gf9mwuQ/s320/Sophie+day+14+032.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br />Alan has been on paternity leave last week and this week, so we have gone up to the hospital every day this week. We've had to go to see the midwife every morning on the way there and seem to have got into a little routine of seeing the midwife late morning, buying some lunch somewhere on the way up and having it in the hospital canteen before going in to spend the afternoon with Sophie. She has had loads of visitors and is turning into a very popular - and very spoilt! - little baby!</p><p align="left"><br />Sophie is getting better every day and we can already see a difference in the way she looks. We were told that during the first ten days or so, her skin would mature to the same stage as a full term baby and become much less red, and we saw that happen this week. She seems to be filling out a bit already as well. </p><p>On Monday I got to change my first nappy! I was quite scared in case I hurt Sophie but the nurse helped me and showed me what to do. I couldn't believe the power in those tiny legs - she was able to push me off when I was trying to take her dirty nappy off! It's not easy trying to change a tiny nappy through two holes in an incubator, but I will no doubt get the hang of it soon enough.</p><p><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461584514850477426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8tyLfZv1XI/AAAAAAAAAGc/LIc4HvyCRBY/s320/Sophie+day+14+131.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><br /><p>Young Miss Baxter decided half way through the week that this breathing lark is just too much hard work and had fun winding mummy and the nurses up by constantly dropping her heartrate and setting her alarms off. Eventually they decided to put her back on the ventilator for a while, as she is still very little and her lungs are really immature so she just needs that little bit of help for a few days. She has done well to be on the CPAP for so long at her age.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461593751892308866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8t6lKEIs4I/AAAAAAAAAHk/2i5RQx_eKNQ/s320/Sophie+day+14+036.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><br />Sophie's feeds increased to 2.5ml every hour on Wednesday which is a lot more than the 0.5 every three hours that she started out on just a week ago. She opened her eyes for the first time (that we had seen, anyway!) on Tuesday and looked sooo cute keeking at us!<br /><br />She is also off all the antibiotics that she has been on, and generally doing really well. The nurse showed me how to wrap my hands round her to make her feel as if she is still in the womb - it makes them feel secure. Sophie loved it and so did I - it was the closest thing I've had to a cuddle. She has started reaching her hands out to touch us when we stroke her, and she also grips our fingers - she has such a tight grip! I feel much more like her mummy now that we are having a bit more contact with her and I've changed a nappy and been allowed to feed her through the feeding tube. <p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461588861015996242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8t2IeIWt1I/AAAAAAAAAHM/nvaCKgcpitg/s320/Sophie+day+14+034.jpg" border="0" /></p><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophie's monitor with the alarms she loves to set off!</span><br /><br /></div><p><br />All the nurses keep telling us how feisty Sophie is, and how she knows how to tell them if she doesn't like something! I saw her kicking a nurse when she didn't want her nappy changed at the beginning of the week, and when the nurse moved Sophie's leg onto her blanket, Sophie pushed her off with her foot and put her leg right back where she wanted it!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461594537095769554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8t7S3LOrdI/AAAAAAAAAHs/A1MQ26y46KU/s320/Sophie+day+14+115.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Granny and Grandpa ordered Sophie's pram this week and it arrived on Wednesday - much quicker than expected! It somehow makes it all seem so much more real having a pram sitting in the living room! We will need to learn how to put it up and down and find out all the things it does - plenty of time for that though. We just can't wait to have Sophie home to put in it now.<br /><br />It's getting harder and harder to leave Sophie, the more time we spend with her :(<br /><br />I'm recovering well from the c-section although still feeling really tired and the painkillers and blood pressure tablets are making me feel quite horrible. I've worked out that's what is making me fall asleep half way home from the hospital every night!</p><p></p><p></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461589590842171426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8t2y88eYCI/AAAAAAAAAHU/3pv11lPrc9k/s320/Sophie+day+14+127.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Daddy giving a feed</span></p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-2996182837222386942010-03-21T14:44:00.000-07:002010-04-18T16:27:36.607-07:00One week old (or 28 weeks!)Well, that's young Miss Baxter's first week in, and she is doing really well.<br /><br /><p>When she was born, she weighed 1lb 13.8oz and was 13 inches long. She breathed on her own for the first 30 minutes before getting tired, and she was then put on the ventilator for a while just to give her a bit of help.</p><p><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461232745302545682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8oyPzt9VRI/AAAAAAAAAFU/qQK_O0PgHao/s320/Sophie+day+14+168.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center">A<span style="font-size:85%;"> slightly jaundiced Sophie under the UV lamp, day 2</span><br /><br /></p><br />I was finally allowed to see her on the Monday lunchtime, when she was around 21 hours old. I'd been given a hideous bed bath just before that (the most humiliating thing I've ever experienced!) and had to get myself out of bed and into a wheelchair, which was not fun at all, and very painful! Alan wheeled me to see Sophie, and I couldn't believe how tiny she was. She was very red and thin, and when the nurse told me to touch her, I was scared to! I touched her with one finger very quickly and came straight back out of the incubator again. She just looked so tiny and fragile. I only lasted about 5 minutes before starting to feel faint and dizzy, as I was due painkillers and it's so hot in the neonatal unit.<br /><br /><br />In the afternoon, Sophie's grandparents came to visit. My mum and dad brought a lovely rabbit for her, and Alan's dad brought me a cuddly cat in case I was missing Jessicat :) They all fell instantly in love with their tiny granddaughter.<br /><br /><br /><p>Later that day I was moved back up to a side ward and the next day I was up for a shower and spent longer with Sophie.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461433090851755042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8roddDIVCI/AAAAAAAAAF0/dOaUFskdzRQ/s320/Sophie+day+14+152.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><br />Sophie was slightly jaundiced early in the week and had to go under a UV light. She looked so cute in her little mask! She had lots of visitors in her first week, and got so many pink and fluffy presents! She has been getting so many lovely pink outfits - even the ones for tiny or premature babies are too big for her!<br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461232757347802082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8oyQglxW-I/AAAAAAAAAFk/hWoasdb_pU0/s320/Sophie+day+14+165.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Just a few of Sophie's gifts!</span><br /></p><p><br />I have been learning how to express milk for her and on Tuesday night she started out on 0.5ml of breastmilk every three hours. She gets it through a tiny syringe into a feeding tube and is tolerating it well. I have to wake up every three hours in the night and take the milk out to the midwives when I'm done. On the Wednesday morning at 5.30, one of the midwives suggested I might like to take the milk down to her myself, so she took me down to the neonatal unit in the wheelchair! I got to stroke Sophie and talk to her and I spent about half an hour with her. The nurse looking after her told me that she was already beginning to respond differently to me to how she responds to the nurses! She must know I'm her mummy already :) </p><p><br /><br /></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461232753430426994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8oyQR_y9XI/AAAAAAAAAFc/aDeY74eRkzU/s320/Sophie+day+14+158.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">By the end of her 1st week, Sophie's skin was already maturing</span><br /></p><p align="left"><br /><br />Sophie's daddy has of course been coming in all day every day and we've been spending time with Sophie as well as getting lots of visitors. Alan and I are allowed in the neonatal unit between 9am and 10.30pm but we have to also work around visiting time in the unit (3-7.30pm and visiting time on the ward (2.30-4pm and 7-8pm). Young Sophie needs a secretary, as we have four visitor passes per day for her and so many people wanting to come and see her! My room is absolutely full of flowers, balloons and pink gifts, and Sophie already has a much better wardrobe than I have.</p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461433547133474338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8ro4A1K1iI/AAAAAAAAAF8/hVr3slaREjw/s320/Sophie+day+14+154.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Snug as a bug in a rug</span></p><p align="left"><br />I am still getting monitored for my blood pressure etc and was allowed out of hospital on Saturday (6 days after having Sophie). It was touch and go as to whether they were going to let me out, as my temperature was slightly up when it came time to go! They did let me but I have to get checked by the midwives in Berwick every day. When I saw the midwife on Saturday night on the way home, she nearly sent me back to Edinburgh as my bp was higher than she would have liked but luckily she put it down to a long stressful day!</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-37825951194576184592010-03-14T13:52:00.000-07:002010-04-18T16:58:19.948-07:0027 weeks and the dramatic arrival of baby Sophie Mary Anne!<div align="left">What a whirlwind of events have happened since I last updated this blog.<br /><br /></div><div align="left"><br />At 26 weeks and 5 days I was admitted to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, having been sent to an appointment there for monitoring. It's never a good sign when you are asked to fill in a menu card shortly after arriving! They decided that they would probably need to keep me in until Baby B was born, which really scared me. At least I was put into a side ward after spending the day being monitored in a ward along with someone who had already had her baby by c-section the previous day and someone else who was in for monitoring.<br /></div><div align="center"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8oghbxTD2I/AAAAAAAAAEM/gycta9ObcaU/s1600/Sophie+day+14+177.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461213256902446946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8oghbxTD2I/AAAAAAAAAEM/gycta9ObcaU/s320/Sophie+day+14+177.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div align="left"><br />Once I was settled in the side ward and Alan had fixed up the phone/TV/internet package things started to become more bearable! Alan stayed with me all day and I had lots of blood tests, urine tests, blood pressure monitoring, time on the CTG machine to monitor the baby's heartbeat and movement and a scan which showed that the baby was still doing ok.<br /><br /></div><p align="left">That evening we were given a tour of the neonatal unit and the chance to speak to a paediatric doctor to discuss what would happen when the baby arrived.</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">The next day was just more of the same and during the night on the Saturday night, I woke up feeling really ill. I had the worst - and weirdest - headache that I have ever had in my life...so painful when I was lying down that I just could not bear to lie down at all....and my fingers were so swollen that I could not bend them. The thing that had actually woken me in the first place was baby B going absolutely nuts leaping around in my stomach - my whole stomach was jumping from the outside ...typical that it was the first time it was really doing that properly when Alan was not there to feel it! At least I knew baby B was still doing ok though. A midwife came in at 6am to take blood (lovely start to the day!) and found that there was not a single place left in either arm where she could take it as I was so mutilated! She got a doctor to come and put one of those hideous things in my hand so they could take blood that way :( Then the dreaded blood pressure check and it was through the roof...I had about 4 doctors in trying to work out how to get it back down again and they gave me some different medication.</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">I felt much better after that and went in the shower, only to feel as if I was about to faint. I have never had such a fast shower in my life! When they came back to check my blood pressure again, it had dropped worryingly low, which was why I almost fainted, and this was the start of things going very wrong.</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">I was put on the CTG monitor again for an hour, and was then told that I was being sent for a scan. I didn't have time to get Alan up to the hospital for the scan, and ended up sitting in the waiting room on my own along with loads of couples who were there for scans. I have never felt so alone or so scared in my life. While I was sitting there waiting I started to get really weird flashing lights in front of my eyes, which is another of the symptoms I'd been told to look out for, and the headache was getting worse and worse. Alan was later told that I was just an hour away from organ failure...</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">The woman who did the scan was so horrible, using lots of medical terms that I did not understand at all. She then said to me "Of course, you know from Friday's scan that the baby is not doing at all well"! I went straight back to the ward and burst into tears on the poor doctor and midwife but they were really lovely with me. The doctor explained that she had decided to do an emergency c-section that afternoon because things had started to become dangerous for me and for the baby.</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">I phoned Alan and 7 minutes later he came flying into the room! I was feeling really ill by this point and was just lying on the bed feeling horrible! By all accounts I didn't look all that great either! The anaethetist came to talk to me about whether I wanted a spinal or general anaesthetic (I decided on a spinal so I'd be awake for the birth and Alan would be able to be there) and then I was given a lovely stylish gown to change into and eventually was taken along to the operating theatre. I was absolutely terrified when I was getting the spinal but once it was over, I was fine. I just kept saying to Alan "I'm going to be a mummy TODAY!"</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">There were soooo many people in the room, including quite a big team of paediatricians ready to whisk the baby away as soon as it was born. There was a very strange moment when I was lying on the operating table and they went round everyone in the room introducing themselves! The spinal felt really weird and I was convinced my legs were in the air but Alan assured me they were flat on the table. Alan was allowed to sit up beside me and he held my hand all the way through. The doctor told us when she was about to lift the baby out, which was about five minutes after they started, and we heard crying, which was amazing because we'd been told not to expect to hear the baby cry at that gestation. We both had tears in our eyes!</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">The doctors were trying to get Alan's attention to go and see the sex of the baby but they didn't manage to get him quickly enough so they told us it was a girl, and took her straight away to the incubator. She was born at 14.44. We decided to name her Sophie Mary Anne - the middle names are after her two grannies. It was the most amazing feeling in the world when she was born, and knowing she was ok after all the stress and worry. It was so difficult not seeing her though.</p><p align="center"></p><p align="left">By 15.15 I was in the high dependancy ward with a lovely midwife called Betty looking after me for the whole afternoon. Alan started making the phonecalls to let people know that Sophie had arrived, and after about two hours he was allowed to go and see her. He took a photo of her to bring back to show me.<br /></p><p align="center"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461221011820310930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8onk1Fy8ZI/AAAAAAAAAEk/S_k9NCgobAo/s320/Sophie+day+14+175.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">First photo of Sophie, 2 hours old</span><br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p>Daddy's first gift to Sophie was a beautiful pink rocking horse, and he also brought in a pink teddy bear from her granddad, so even though my baby wasn't with me that first night, there were still signs around my bed that I'd had a baby girl. It was so hard not even getting to meet her that night, especially when they brought a woman into the ward with her baby who had just arrived at full term, and her husband who was very loud and jokey.</p><p></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461222557389126642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S8oo-yyHe_I/AAAAAAAAAEs/qNmYI35MlKY/s320/Sophie+day+14+166.jpg" border="0" />Sophie's first gifts</p><p></p><p></p><p>Sophie was born on Mother's Day, which was very strange, as her daddy was also born on Mother's Day. Her birth was a very happy occasion but also sad, as Alan's mum is not here to see her granddaughter, and we miss her very much - but we still feel she is very much around to watch over her beautiful granddaughter and we are sure she had a hand in Sophie's safe arrival.</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-22363397722386343422010-03-08T10:37:00.000-08:002010-04-18T16:18:13.693-07:0026 weeks...the mother of all weeks!<p>Firstly I would just like to apologise for the lateness of this post - but what a scary week this has been. We went to the midwife on Tuesday morning for my 25 week check, and my blood pressure was very high. All the other tests she did were fine but she was concerned about my blood pressure. She asked me to lie down in a dark room for half an hour and she checked it again and it was still high so she phoned the Borders General, where I will be giving birth, and they suggested that I go home for the rest of the day and have complete rest, then get it checked again in the morning.<br /></p><p></p><p>I followed her orders, and on Wednesday morning it was still very high, so BGH said I should go up there for monitoring and that I should take an overnight bag just in case. I have a terrible fear of hospitals, so this did not go down well!<br /></p><p></p><p>Off we went to the hospital, and I was put onto a monitor that measured my blood pressure every 5 minutes. I also had to have a blood test (another huge fear of mine!) - little did I know, this would be the first of many blood tests this week! The monitoring showed that my blood pressure was still very high but my blood tests came back normal. The doctor had a chat with us and decided to send me home, as she said it would be less stressful for me than having to stay in overnight. I definitely agreed with her on that one!<br /></p><p></p><p>I had to see my own midwife at Berwick on Friday again for a blood pressure and urine check. She was meant to come out to the house, but there was a breakdown in communication somwhere between BGH and Berwick, and when nobody had turned up by early afternoon, I phoned and was asked to go in, as she didn't know she was supposed to come out! When she did my blood pressure it was still very high and by this time there was a trace of protein in my urine sample which is never a good sign. She felt and measured my stomach and listened to the heartbeat, and everything was absolutely fine there. Once again I was packed off to BGH because of my blood pressure but this time they said I wouldn't need an overnight bag...famous last words! I did get myself worked up into quite a state before leaving the maternity unit - just a fear of what was going on, what was going to happen when I got to BGH etc. The two midwives, Rixt and Lesley, were absolutely lovely and reassuring and provided me with tissues and hugs! My mum and dad had to take me up to BGH as Alan was at work.<br /></p><p></p><p>On arrival at BGH I was put into a delivery room in the labour suite - eek! I was surprised at how lovely and calm it was in there, after weeks of tip-toeing past, pretending it did not exist! I saw a lovely midwife who hooked me up to a CTG monitor to listen to Baby B's heartbeat and I had a wee gadget to press every time I felt movement. The heartbeat was very regular and well within the rates that are normal for this stage and there was plenty movement. I had yet more blood tests and another urine sample, and this time the blood tests came back with "some markers" in them...we still don't know what this meant....and the urine sample had slightly more protein. As for the dreaded blood pressure - still high! By this point with the blood pressure and the trace of protein in the urine sample, they were starting to look at the possibility of pre-eclampsia.<br /></p><p></p><p>While we waited to see the doctor we were allowed away for something to eat, then eventually about 8.30 a doctor came round and did all sorts of tests on me for my reflexes etc. She seemed happy with everything then a registrar came round and said they were admitting me!! I had absolutely nothing with me and was so stressed out at the thought of having to stay in hospital. Luckily I have a good friend who lives nearby and she went to the 24 hour Asda and bought me everything I'd need for overnight! There was nothing she didn't think of :)<br /></p><p></p><p>I was admitted onto ward 17 where there was already one other person. More on her in a minute! Another two midwives came to see me and checked my blood pressure again and explained that there are actually things they can do for pre-eclampsia which was a relief, because from everything I'd read, I thought that the only possible option was delivery of the baby. I was told that I would be woken at 2am and 6am to have my blood pressure checked and was then left alone for the time being. After Alan left I felt sooo lonely and miserable!<br /></p><p></p><p>I got pretty much no sleep that night, due to the strange environment, worry, noise, lights, blood pressure monitoring and most of all, Huffy Pufferson in the next bed! She spent all night sighing, huffing and puffing, wandering around, burping, sighing, rumbling around in the bed...and did I mention sighing? This was still going on in the morning when Alan came in so at least he could see what I had been bleating on about!<br /></p><p></p><p>First thing in the morning they were back wanting to do more blood tests and blood pressure monitoring - great things to do together on a person who is scared of blood tests! We had a long hang on waiting for seeing the consultant and when he came round he really scared me. He felt my stomach and asked how far along I was, and when I said 26 weeks he looked worried and said the baby should be higher up for 26 weeks.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>He whipped me off to do a quick scan, and told me that the baby was measuring 25 weeks instead of 26, that there was less amniotic fluid than there should be and less blood flow going to the baby than there should be. Of course all this really worried me but he wasn't really up for answering any questions and we got no information out of him. When we got home, my head was just buzzing with questions and I was still scared the next day so we decided to go up to the midwife at Berwick for a chat about all the questions we had. She answered the best she could but then said maybe we should go back up to BGH for a chat with some of the staff up there, and my blood pressure was still high so she wanted me to be monitored up there.<br /></p><p></p><p>By the time we got up there and had been seen - more blood tests, more monitoring on the CTG for the baby's heartbeat and more blood pressure checks, it was all just starting to get too much for me and I ended up having a good howl in the toilets. I was just at the point where I was thinking I just could not take any more of this. I was also told they were keeping me in again and I really do have such a fear of staying in hospital. At least this time I'd taken a bag with me so I did have everything I'd need for an overnight stay. The midwives were so understanding and said I could have a side room this time if it made it easier for me, but as it happened there was no one else due on the ward that night so they said I could just stay there and they'd move me if anyone came in during the night.<br /></p><p></p><p>They started me on blood pressure tablets on Sunday night and by bedtime my bp had gone down quite a bit but on Monday morning it was higher than ever, so they decided to double the dose. They also put me on a low daily dose of aspirin. I had a scan on Monday morning to check for the amniotic fluid and blood flow to the placenta and although it was very slightly reduced, the consultant (a much nicer one this time!) said that although the baby was slightly small, it wasn't absolutely tiny, but was what they'd expect for the size of a baby with a mum who had pre-eclampsia. The baby is currently weighing 1lb9oz.<br /></p><p></p><p>The same friend who sorted me out with things for an overnight stay on Friday night came to sit with me all morning on Monday and went to the scan with me, as Alan was not able to be there till lunchtime. I was so glad she was there, as she was so supportive and asked loads of questions I'd not have thought to ask! She was also the one who noticed that the scanner machine actually shows the weight of the baby - the consultant said he'd been using that machine for a whole year and had never noticed that it told the weight!<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>The outcome of the scan was that the consultant will have to scan me every 1-2 days and he will need to make a decision when the time comes that the baby is safer and better out than in. He said it will definitely not make it to full term, and he would like to get me to 30 weeks if possible. That really scared me so much and once again I burst into tears when I came out of the scan. It was just such a shock after having such an easy pregnancy up till a week ago. The baby could come any time from now - I just so hope he or she hangs on in there for another few weeks.<br /></p><p></p><p>They also decided to give me steroid injections into my hip, which hurt like crazy (and I can still hardly walk today!) - these are to help mature the baby's lungs ready for early delivery. Apparently they do make a huge difference. If the baby comes before 32 weeks I will have to be transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or Newcastle as they are more specialised for very premature babies. It just depends where there is a cot free. We would much rather have Edinburgh because it would be nice to be on familiar ground at a time like this, plus we have a friend who's a nurse in ERI who has said we can stay with her rather than trailing up and down every day for weeks and weeks. That's a big weight off our minds.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>We were back up at BGH yesterday for another scan and more blood pressure checks and the good news is that my blood pressure had gone down dramatically, plus the scan showed no change at all since the day before which is a good thing. They gave me my second (and hopefully final) steroid injection which hurt more than the previous day's one! I am very glad that the sorer one was the second one, because I'd have been more worried about getting the second one had the first one hurt like that! They decided that I could wait 48 hours for my next check so we are back up there tomorrow. Fingers crossed things are still ticking along just the same. Every day that passes now is a bonus.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Today we went into my office to sort out my maternity leave etc and I'm now finished at work - I have holidays to take first then officially start maternity leave on 15th April. I did a short handover with a colleague so now I don't need to worry about any outstanding work that I might have sitting in my tray. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>I have also been advised to pack a hospital bag to put in the car for every time I go to an appointment, just in case they decided that the time has come to deliver the baby. The midwife said it doesn't necessarily mean that they think the baby is going to come immediately, but she said from a practical level it's good to have another thing ticked off my list and something else that I don't need to worry about. It felt all wrong being in Boots buying everything I needed when I should be doing that for another couple of months at least - it should be an exciting time but it just feels so sad and scary.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Alan has been absolutely amazing and I don't know what I'd do without him. He has managed to get this week as holidays and is looking after me so well. I am not allowed to lift a finger!<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>We are back up at BGH tomorrow and I will try my best to update again on Sunday as usual.</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-29077013907967534742010-02-28T05:45:00.000-08:002010-04-18T03:58:42.374-07:0025 weeks....serious back pain and a white dog!<p>Here we are at 25 weeks today and it's been quite a week. I am yelping every time I move! I have had a hideously sore back for the past week, going right down into my leg and even my foot and it is agony. Even to turn over in bed, I have to actually haul myself into a sitting position and get out of bed, then back in on my other side! Poor Alan has been getting woken up by yelps of pain every time I attempt to move. I haven't yet got stuck in the bath but have been stuck on the floor a couple of times. I must be a slow learner, as I still keep sitting on the floor and having to be hauled back up again! </p><p> </p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443378161157633346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4rDmOnrdUI/AAAAAAAAADU/eqr3CqWr1sU/s320/bump+%40+25+013.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p> </p><p>My fingers seem to have got a bit swollen too and I keep having to take my wedding and engagement rings off in the middle of the night. They are not even comfy through the day today :(</p><p> </p><p></p><p>I also had another scare early on Tuesday morning after Alan had gone to work and had to get our nurse neighbour in again to listen for the heartbeat and check that everything was ok. Fortunately she could feel the baby moving as soon as she felt my stomach, and she eventually found the heartbeat, although Baby B was wriggling so much it took a little bit of locating! The baby gave the doppler a hefty kick at one point and deafened poor Stella! S/he doesn't like being poked at with a doppler - the same happened to the midwife last time she used it! I got to hear the heartbeat too after Stella had found it, and it was loud and strong and much easier to hear now that Baby B is getting so much bigger. I was still ordered to sit with my feet up for two days and had to stay off work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Those of you who know me well will know that I don't do resting, and it was driving me crazy by Tuesday evening! I just wanted to be busy....</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443378721382264706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4rEG1no74I/AAAAAAAAADc/ZGKc4Sp98ns/s320/bump+%40+25+012.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>Baby B was very quiet all day on Tuesday which made me a little bit worried, but s/he more than made up for it on Wednesday and was up almost all day. I was woken by a feeling of being punched and kicked at the same time and when I put my hands on my stomach, I could feel it moving at both sides at the same time! This kind of behaviour went on all day but I have to say I was very reassured to feel it so much. </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443379317396790690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4rEph8k3aI/AAAAAAAAADk/V_F8_pt-BTU/s320/bump+%40+25+007.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p>We now have a small white bundle of energy staying with us, in the form of Sammy the dog. She is here for two weeks while Alan's dad is on holiday and she is one hyper animal! The first night she was here, she kept insisting on leaping onto my bump so we had to put a stop to that pretty sharpish and I now have to protect it with a cushion when she starts flying around! For a small dog she certainly has more than enough energy and despite two long walks on the beach yesterday, she was still going strong at bedtime. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>The poor cat is a bit traumatised and is currently living upstairs. He has moved there properly for the time being and has taken all his belongings with him...his food, his litter tray....he has forgotten his beanbag though so maybe we should take that up for him. He has occasionally ventured half way down the stairs and stuck his head through the bannisters to have a look at this new white animal that has invaded his home but as soon as Sammy moves, Jessicat starts baring his fangs and hissing, and his tail puffs up into a massive furball! I just hope he reacts a bit better to Baby B! The rabbit is not reacting at all to Sammy, even though she leaps up and down at his hutch as if she is on a trampoline every time we let her into the back garden. He just sits in his hutch thinking "Lalala, nice day today, oh there's a white dog, ho hum, lalala". </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443380010532374322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4rFR4E-hzI/AAAAAAAAADs/WBVTCPotnHI/s320/bump+%40+25+006.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>I think I have sorted my maternity leave out now, which is good. It's nice knowing roughly when I am working towards! I'm looking at finishing at the end of April and using up my holidays before starting maternity leave mid-May. I have to get my letter in to them this week confirming when I want to start but I did discuss it with my boss last week so at least unofficially have a rough idea of when I'll be starting it.</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I have ordered a maternity swimming costume from Next so as soon as that arrives I will be down to the pool...hopefully some gently swimming might help this hideous backache...</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's just suddenly starting to dawn on us that we are actually going to have a baby in a few months...up till now we've just been thinking about me being pregnant but we were talking yesterday and saying how we both are suddenly beginning to think about how there is going to be an actual baby living in this house very soon....one that is our very own! It's a very exciting thought, but at the same time a little bit scary that we are going to have this huge responsibility. I started panicking the other day because I have never really had anything to do with newborns, let alone changed a nappy! I'm sure we will pick it up soon enough when we are thrown in at the deep end. I've also started to get quite scared about giving birth, after trying not to think about it up till now. It may have something to do with the fact that I finally plucked up the courage to watch "One Born Every Minute" which is currently on every Tuesday! Maybe that was a mistake...</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443380416540698386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4rFpgk55xI/AAAAAAAAAD0/5LXscp59e0E/s320/bump+%40+25+015.jpg" border="0" />My feet are definitely gone for now...!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>I have my 25 week appointment with the midwife on Tuesday morning so will be reporting back on that next week...</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-71600518535923164052010-02-21T11:23:00.000-08:002010-04-18T03:56:08.517-07:0024 weeks and daddy's first kick :)<p>24 weeks pregnant today - a bit of a milestone for baby B as he/she has reached viability. S/he has been very active this week and the kicks have been getting so strong, which is lovely. Daddy-to-be finally felt his first proper kick on Saturday night, and it was so strong it actually made his hand jump on my stomach! For days and days, he tried putting his hand on my stomach every time I said the baby was kicking, but as soon as he put his hand there, the wee toerag moved or stopped kicking! But finally on Saturday night we were lying on the bed watching TV and I felt two really hefty kicks, got Alan to put his hand on my stomach and baby B co-operated at last! It was amazing. It does feel funny if I am sitting with my legs curled up against my stomach and I can feel the kicks on my leg. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440781442604430434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4GJ5UL5dGI/AAAAAAAAACs/OmaE9lJ6n78/s320/St+Andrews+weekend+February+2010+009.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">We have had a weekend away in St Andrews this weekend - one of our favourite places as it's where Alan proposed, and also where we got married, not to mention where I spent my four years as a student! </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">We had such a lovely time re-visiting old haunts, raking the shops, catching up with people and just spending quality time together, which we don't seem to have had much of lately. We definitely plan to take Baby B up there for holidays - it's such a beautiful place and so many nice walks and things to do. </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440794678169592114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4GV7ugiYTI/AAAAAAAAADM/llc33A3cUJo/s320/St+Andrews+weekend+February+2010+030.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">Baby B is giving me a lot of backache at the moment....according to our nurse neighbour, s/he is sitting on the sciatic nerve and making my right leg and foot go numb! It really hurts when I try to stand up or bend down as well - but all worth it in the end. </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">We haven't been able to resist looking at baby clothes every time we are in the shops - such cute little outfits all over the place. </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">I've been trying to get a lot of early nights as I've been feeling a lot more tired after work. Alan has decided that my usual chair is closed until further notice and I have now been moved to the couch which is much comfier. </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440792444553690370" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4GT5tpAfQI/AAAAAAAAADE/ZC59Vue9MsY/s320/St+Andrews+weekend+February+2010+020.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="left">I still have baby brain and I'm sure it's getting worse! This week's best baby brain moment was when I took all the work mail to the post office, bought 200 first class stamps, stuck the stamps onto the mail that I had with me and went back to the office only to discover that I was still clutching the pile of mail in my grubby paw! I also said to Alan "For a Hibbee you have a lot of friends who are Jambos...." - the ultimate insult, calling a Hearts supporter a Hibbee...oops! I totally meant to say it the other way around but it just came out all wrong! </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">I'm getting even worse than usual for starting a sentence in my head and finishing it out loud, leaving poor Alan completely confused, and this morning I came out of the bathroom and triumphantly said "uptight!!!"....having just remembered a word I was looking for on Friday! </p><p align="left"> </p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440786313319562306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S4GOU1A4PEI/AAAAAAAAAC0/81W3uh0CZmI/s320/St+Andrews+weekend+February+2010+041.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">The nesting instinct is definitely setting in already. We have spent the afternoon since we got home doing a huge clean of the living room and moving the furniture and cleaning in all the corners. We haven't done any more with the nursery but still plenty time for that....</p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left">At the end of this week we are getting Alan's dad's dog, Sammy, to stay for two weeks. She loves to sit on my knee and put her paws on the bump, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when she gets her first kick...watch this space! </p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-72413177981795055162010-02-14T10:29:00.000-08:002010-04-18T03:54:51.085-07:0023 weeks...and glove feet??23 weeks pregnant today, and baby brain hit with a vengeance this week! I put my coat on the other morning, picked up my bag and my gloves and went out to the hall to put my boots on. Lifted my foot up and put my boot on then realised it didn't feel quite right. Looked down....and I had a pink stripey glove on my foot!!! I ended up laughing like a lunatic all on my own!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438175879066158514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S3hIJjnWBbI/AAAAAAAAACU/EKPOVF2GfDM/s320/Baby+bump+23+weeks+002.jpg" border="0" />My new shoes :)</p><p></p><p></p><p>Later that day, my boss gave me some money to go and buy some biscuits for the office. I went out, bought some other bits and pieces that were needed and came back. A while later, she asked me where the biscuits were. "Biscuits?" I said, looking slightly vacant. "Yes, the biscuits I asked you to get earlier. I even gave you money." Then it slowly dawned....I had managed to come with dog biscuits but without the human ones! I definitely need to start relying more on lists!</p><p></p><p></p><p>I am feeling a lot more movement and kicking this week, and one night when I was in the bath, felt constant kicking from the outside! Unfortunately, Baby B is still very speedy and Alan has still always been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the kicking starts. It's usually as soon as Alan goes to sleep at night! One of these days he will hopefully feel it....there is getting to be less room in there all the time, so soon enough Baby B won't be able to dart about quite so swiftly.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438176433244891058" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S3hIp0F2Z7I/AAAAAAAAACc/3HbhnTzIl3Y/s320/Baby+bump+23+weeks.jpg" border="0" />I have been less hormonal this week than the past two weeks but still just a touch emotional if I get over-tired! I ended up howling on the phone to my poor mum on Thursday night - there's nothing like your mum asking if you're sure you are ok to set you off howling when you're feeling a bit hormonall! I didn't even know what was wrong with me, I just wanted to howl! </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm starting to have real trouble bending down to pick things up, and I can definitely see me starting to use my feet more for that. Maybe it's just as well I put my gloves on my feet if I'm going to be using them as hands :)</p><p></p><p></p><p>I was told this week "My goodness, you STILL don't have much of a bump, do you?!" Erm...hello? I just have a cushion stuffed up my top, that's all. No bump. The same person went on to have a good paw at my non-bump, even lifting my cardigan up....she definitely has personal space issues! </p><p></p><p></p><p>I still don't feel particularly pregnant, (apart from the kicking and tiredness), and that is still causing me to misjudge spaces - and also to race around like a lunatic doing all sorts of jobs around the house without sitting down for hours on end, then all of a sudden the backache sets in and I realise I've been on my feet too long! Getting out of the bath is getting interesting now but I have worked out quite a neat little move for that. We'll see how long that lasts before becoming impossible....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438177131459433282" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S3hJSdJK00I/AAAAAAAAACk/YcC8Nn7wFsA/s320/Baby+bump+23+weeks+001.jpg" border="0" />I bought some really cute little scratch mitts yesterday after a friend reminded me that would be something we'd need when the baby is born. They are so small and it's hard to imagine that someone will be wearing those in just a few months! We were looking at little outfits yesterday in Boots....if only we knew what we were having I'd definitely have been tempted! </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Alan made a start on the nursery-to-be this weekend and dismantled the bed at last. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There is still quite a lot of stuff to be gone through but at least all my pregnancy books turned up along with a few missing items of clothing and we can now see our way to creating a lovely nursery for Baby B :)</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6437370544126566270.post-13168355658274431932010-02-07T10:36:00.000-08:002010-04-18T03:50:42.078-07:0022 weeks - kicks, baby clothes and the dreaded hormones!22 weeks today and the dreaded hormones hit with a vengeance this week! I have been feeling really exhausted by the evening after work - I don't know if it's just because we've had a busy few weeks as well as the emotional upset over Granny Sinclair passing away, or if this is the start of things to come. I have been ready to howl over the slightest little thing for most of the week but I'm glad to say I've been feeling much better over the weekend! I was reading today that this is the point at which mood swings often start...and the article comfortingly informed me that these are just temporary and usually disappear late in the third trimester or shortly after giving birth... ho hum! Sorry Alan :( <br /><br /><p>Baby B is now apparently around 10.5 inches long and weighs around a pound. Scary thought that his or her weight will probably still increase by another 6 or 7 pounds (hopefully not too much more than that!) by the time s/he appears. I am already aware of the extra weight at the belly if I've been on my feet a while and dread to think what it's going to feel like by the end! At the same time though, when I see the photos of how big the bump is, I would expect to be more aware of it than I actually am! Bending to pick things up is getting harder now and I actually got stuck in a space at work, which was the cause of a lot of hilarity! I was trying to squeeze between the back of a chair and a partition - a space I'd definitely have been able to get through a couple of weeks ago - and my belly got stuck against the back of the chair! I think I need to judge spaces a bit better before I try to get through them now - I just forget that I have that extra bit at the front! I am very glad that I have the useful talent of being able to pick things up with my foot - I can see that coming in very handy over the next few months. </p><p> </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435582765815403714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S28Ruf-plMI/AAAAAAAAACE/xZuXY6Wc6y8/s320/baby+bump+22+weeks+003.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p>The kicks are getting stronger all the time and it's still such an amazing feeling. Baby B is very active, especially any time I have anything to eat or drink. I still can't feel much from the outside yet - I've felt one kick so far and daddy-to-be has felt one, but Baby B moves so fast it would take a LOT of time and patience waiting for another kick at the place I'd just felt one! He or she often seems to think my bladder is a trampoline these days as well. I can actually feel Baby B flipping around and moving from one side of my stomach to the other as well as poking and kicking me. S/he is still at his or her most active at bedtime - probably preparing us for when s/he is actually here. Still plenty room to move around in there - hope s/he is making the most of it...it won't last!</p><p> </p><p>Alan has been my personal shopper this week, tracking down some maternity tops for me. I now have two and definitely look more properly pregnant in them than in normal clothes. I had a bit of a stressy moment in the Metro Centre last week when my normal size clothes would not stretch over the bump and I couldn't find any nice maternity clothes - followed by a hormonal, teary moment in the car on the way home! However, with the help of my mum trawling the internet and Alan phoning around various stores in Edinburgh I managed to get hold of two nice tops. At least that's a start! I think I am definitely into my last week or two in my nice pink coat, which I am quite upset about. </p><p> </p><p>We've been trying to work out what basics we are going to need for the baby coming and have come up with a list of sorts but there's so much out there it's really hard to know what we actually need. We bought our first clothes today - a pack of five little bodysuits...so cute!</p><p> </p><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435584073111508274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N40568HCw6M/S28S6mCVFTI/AAAAAAAAACM/jCAByKaWwQc/s320/baby+bump+22+weeks+001.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p>It's so hard to believe that in just four months we will have someone who will be wearing those. It's started to hit us this week just how close we are now to getting a baby. When you think of it in terms of how many pay days there are to start buying things for the baby there are really not that many! I was also counting up that I will fit in another two haircuts then the next one after that will be about a week before my due date - scary! I keep forgetting how pregnant I actually am until I catch sight of myself in the mirror and get a fright...<br /><br /></p><p>Apparently the nesting instinct can start as early as the fifth month, which could explain why I have been cleaning like a fiend this weekend. Our kitchen has never been as sparkling as it is right now! I have also spent the afternoon cooking like a fiend, stocking the freezer for the next couple of weeks. </p><p> </p><p>My memory is absolutely shocking now and I'm relying on lists all the time. It's a worrying thing that Alan's memory is actually better than mine at the moment - he is notorious for his terrible memory! </p><p> </p><p>Cravings are still the same....especially orange juice which I just can't get enough of (thank goodness for Costco!) and apples together with cheese. Separately just won't do! I wonder if Baby B is going to be a cheese fiend...</p>Baby B's mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11915617988014919846noreply@blogger.com0