Little Fighter

Look at this girl! She started out as a tiny 28 week-er, living in an incubator, hooked up to all kinds of monitors, oxygen, and IVs, eating from a tube, and wearing diapers the size of a saltine cracker. Well, watch out world, because Miss Sophie has other plans.

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29 weeks

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Sophie has a reputation for being "feisty." In order to keep her IVs from coming out, the nurses put a splint on her arm for about a week.
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Preemies are still quite immature when it comes to feeding. They can't really coordinate the suck/swallow/breathe reflex until around their due date. Sophie is learning how to take a bottle for a few of her feedings, but it's still overwhelming for her. She gulps it down so fast that she can't breathe. The goal is to eventually work up to nursing. Right now, I pump my milk and bring it in to the hospital, where they freeze it and use it for the feedings. .
The NICU keeps the babies on a strict three hour schedule for feedings, diaper changes, etc. The hospital is close to Brady's work, so he's able to visit her after work and on lunch breaks.

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They weigh her every night. Thankfully, she's been pretty consistent with her weight gain--about an ounce a night. The picture on the left was taken a week after she was born and she weighed 2.13 lbs. The picture on the left was taken this week and she weighed 4.9 lbs. (As of today, she's 5 lbs!)

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We're getting a few smiles in her sleep. (I think the nurses are photographers too, because they've taken some of our favorite pictures of Sophie.)
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34 weeks and already voicing her opinion--it's the fighter in her.
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Snug as a bug in a rug.
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I can't believe how quickly she is growing. In order for her to come home, she needs to take all of her feedings by bottle or nursing, and be apnea-free for at least one full week. We're not quite there yet, but as you know, she's a feisty little fighter, so I'm sure home is right around the corner.