It's been a while since my last post. Things took an unexpected turn and we have been somewhat busy since then. Our little girl Sophie was born at 12.06 on Tuesday 4 September, six weeks and two days early, weighing 3lb 14oz at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. She arrived in a hurry, came out screaming, stayed in hospital for ten days, and has been bringing joy and night wakings to us ever since! We have been overjoyed to see her grow and progress. She's more or less doubled in size since she was born, and she gets more beautiful each and every day. Nick and I absolutely adore her and she is starting to show signs of adoring us, which makes my heart feel like it will burst.
The first few weeks at home with a tiny baby who could not breastfeed consistently were very hard. Sterilising bottles and expressing breast milk on a four-hourly routine was laborious, tiring, time consuming and a bit soul destroying. But seeing our Sophie grow and thrive made it all worthwhile. We have been blessed with amazing help from family, friends, and some wonderful professionals who have made all the difference to us. I am certain that I would have given up breastfeeding had I not had such help and encouragement. Happily Sophie is now fully breastfed and although we don't get it absolutely right each and every time, she is growing and is for the most part a happy baby. Parenthood is easy, broken sleep is hard, but we are getting through it as a team and we are so thankful for our gorgeous girl.
