6 weeks!

Wren is 6 weeks old today!  She is one active little peanut!  I call her my little firecracker!!  She may be a little spoiled already... as she loves to be held! ;)  On Friday, I noticed she had a red bumpy rash across her chin and neck.  It lasted a couple of days, so yesterday I took her to see Dr. Emm.  He said it was just baby acne and that it happens often to summer babies, due to the heat.  It was a relief to know it didn't involve an allergy of some sort (I am still on pins and needles hoping a lactose intolerance doesn't pop up).  Wren was weighed by the nurse when we got there... she is now 8lbs 1oz!!  I am excited to watch her grow and to know I'm doing it all on my own!! (Jude was breastfed for 3 months until he had to go to soy formula, but I was always supplementing with him, since I wasn't producing enough breast-milk for his big appetite.)  I pride myself on being able to fed our daughter, plus pump extra each morning and night!! :D

Each week I would like to at least post some Wren characteristics as I come across them!

* Wren wakes up every morning and gives both Bryan and I big smiles!!  I remember Jude doing that now... and it makes me sad how quickly I've forgotten Jude at infancy! :/

*Wren is a great eater and a pooping MACHINE!!

* She would love it if she could be glued to my chest!

* Wren is incredibly strong!!  She is always lifting her head, and trying to roll over!

* Wren keeps eye contact so well for a 6 week old!  She will smile at me and she even tries grabbing at my face!! :)

* She loves to be swaddled when she is tired.

* Wren will take a pacifier, but does not like to fall asleep with it in her mouth.  She spits it out just before closing her eyes.  Sometimes the swaddler, or blanket, is in the way, but she is never too tired to fight to get it out by turning her head back and fourth!  Sometimes Mommy is there to help! :D

* She has days where she is up for 6 hours straight in the afternoon and evening!  It's so bizarre when that happens... I've never known an infant to stay awake for that long... especially my first born!!!  Jude wanted to sleep every 3 or 4 hours up until he was ONE... maybe even later!!

* Wren is a great sleeper through the night!!............... As long as she is next to Mommy.....

Funny side note:

When laying on her back, Wren is always flailing her arms and legs, (hence the need for the swaddler, and why I felt like a constant punching bag the last half of my pregnancy!) so THREE times now, when I come over to her fussing, she has her head turned to the side, her arm up behind her head, and has a death grip on a chunk of her hair!!!  I feel so bad for her because she doesn't have the sense that SHE is pulling her hair, which causes her pain!  All she knows is.... "I'm holding something!," "There's no way I'm letting go!," and "My head hurts!"  "MOMMY HELP!!"  Haha it's funny, sad, and cute, all in one!!!

Mommy and Daddy adore you, Wren!  We can't wait to see more of your personality come through as you grow bigger, stronger, and smarter!! XOXO

Gramps was here to visit last week!

Concerned?

Auntie Erica will be having a little girl like Wren at the beginning of next year!  Kinley and Wren are sure to be really close friends! :)

Nana's birthday was yesterday!  Happy 50th, Nana!!!

Daddy and Wren

She sleeps really well on Daddy's chest!

4 weeks old already!

Wren will be 4 weeks old tomorrow!  Even though I feel like we have had her awhile.... a month seems too long.  So far, she is an excellent baby!  She is a good eater... even though I'm still forced to pump occasionally.  I make around 4 or 5 extra ounces a day, which is nice to have for a sitter. Wren has to be the most alert newborn I've ever seen (and I've seen A LOT of newborns)!  She will stay awake for 3 or 4 hours at a time.  When she is awake, she enjoys being held so that she can look at your face... she is very interested in what we are doing.  We are prepared for her to be the opposite of her brother, who is a bit reserved and quiet.  She is already trying really hard to roll over!!  As if that wasn't impressive enough, she is also sleeping through the night!!!  Last night she fussed just slightly, which woke me up.  I then realized I needed her to nurse.  I got her to latch, but not sure how much she really ate, if anything.  Jude wakes me up in the morning... not our newborn daughter, how crazy is that!?!  Jude woke up at 7:30 this morning.  Wren was still asleep, so I was able to get Jude up and changed, before returning to get Wren!

What a joy you have been, my sweet baby Wren!  I love you so much, and look forward to watching you grow every day!  You are perfect so far, let's keep it that way, okay?! ;)


Side note:  With all the excitement of Wren, I totally forgot to congratulate my hubby on surprising me with a very special gift!  While in the hospital, Bryan would take Jude home at night, then return in the morning.  So, while the nurse was checking Wren's vitals in the morning... in walks my boys!  I may have been a little distracted by my baby boy, but I still have no idea how he did it!  As the nurse was finishing up with Wren, she swaddled her back up and handed her to Bryan.  He then laid her down in front of me.  It took me only about a minute before I unswaddled Wren to make sure her diaper was on her comfortably (I'm kind of anal about securing diapers just so!)  As I unswaddled her I saw this little cardboard box.  I took it out in disgust, at first thinking the nurse left it in there, but then I saw "Pandora" across the box!  I was in shock because it's not often that Bryan is able to get things by me like that... and he isn't the most creative, so I was thoroughly impressed!!! :)  He got me Wren's birthstone charm for my Pandora bracelet that he bought me for mother's day!!  I now have a "mom" bead, Jude's birthstone, and Wren's birthstone!  I can't wait for more holidays, because I will be so happy with more beads for my bracelet!!!

I love you, Bryan!!!

Photo dump of our beautiful baby girl!

Our first family picture!

Wren's going home outfit!

Picture taken after her first sponge bath at home!

Our super alert little girl! 

Hospital pics!  Only a little over a day old!

Lovin' this family we've created!!

The two most important people in the world!! :)

Wren got a free photo shoot with Jessica Rivera!  I was so excited because her work with newborns is amazing!

Sleeping beauty!

Check out our little MODEL!!

<3

And she really is a model!  Jessica's vendors use the pictures she takes with their items to try to sell their products on their websites!  It's so neat to see my baby in these online ads!  Too too cool!!!! :D

Happy BIRTHday, Wren!

So, my doctor is THE BEST… she helped me get Wren out early!  I was so over being pregnant, and I felt like labor wasn't far away, so Monday morning she stripped my membranes. If you don’t know what that means …  she swept around the amniotic sac to disconnect it from the uterus.  It was pretty painful, but it only took a minute.  She said I could possibly have Wren the next day.  It was hard for me to believe, but I was hopeful!  She did that at 9am and by noon I could feel contractions.  They weren't super painful, but they became more and more intense throughout the day, and by 7pm I knew I would want to head to the hospital that night.  I wanted to get Jude to bed, so that my mom could just come stay at our house while we went in, in case I wasn't really in labor, and would be returning home later.  We got to the hospital by 10pm and I was having painful contractions 4 minutes apart.  They called Dr. Thornton to see if she wanted to keep me there, and of course she said yes.  The nurses didn't know that she had actually started all this early labor for me.  ;)

I was at 3cm then, and by midnight I was at 4cm.  At that point, I was able to get an epidural.  I then tried to sleep to prepare for delivery, but it was a challenge.  My legs were the only things that went COMPLETELY numb! (They were DEAD and it drove me insane that I couldn't lift them off the bed!) At first I didn't feel the contractions anymore, but throughout the night I kept waking up feeling horrible contraction pains .  I finally told the nurse when the sun came up, and she then had the anesthesiologist come back in around 6:00am to give me more.  It worked, but it made me puke during every contraction!  At that point I had reached 7cm!

At around 7:30am Dr. Thornton came in to break my water.  She said she was headed to the office but she was sure she would be back soon for delivery!  I immediately got more intense contractions.  I could again feel them, and was getting SO PISSED OFF!  I was so angry that the epidural was not doing the kind of job it did when I was laboring with Jude, and that my legs felt like a ton of bricks!  I was not only pissed about that, but also because I had the world’s oldest labor nurse EVER!  AHH!  She has been working there for 47 years!  She was like the most annoying grandmother that just WOULDN’T GO AWAY!  She was not the gentle, sweet, kind of nurse that I was used to having with Jude.  If I ever have another baby, (at this point I don’t plan on it) I will be requesting younger nurses!  

At around 8:20am, after bitching about the pain long enough (and about ripping my nurse's head off), she decided to check me.  She said “OH, you are at 10cm!  It’s time to push!”  I couldn’t feel my bottom at all, so I didn’t feel the urge to push, but I did my best, and sure enough, Wren’s head was peeking!  She told me to push again, and Bryan was like “Don’t you need to call the doctor!”  We were both so pissed at this woman by this point that EVERYTHING she did, or said, we couldn’t stand!  After another push she called Dr. Thornton and the team of nurses came in to set up for the delivery.  Dr. Thornton must have run to my room, because she was there within minutes it seemed. 

I was in such pain that the nurse said I should just push through the contractions because it would make me feel better.  I hate to admit she was right, but it did feel better to push.  Dr. Thornton was at my bedside for only 2 contractions worth of pushing…. at 8:58am Wren made her grand escape with zero damage to Mama!!!!!!  :D

Both Bryan and I cried at the sight of our beautiful baby girl.  We were instantly in love!!! <3

STATS
Date: July 17, 2012!  I had been hoping her b-day would be 7-17!  I love when things go my way! :D 
Time: 8:58am
Weight: 6lbs 9oz
Length: 19.5in
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Light Blue (All babies are born with blue eyes... but I think her's may stay blue like mama's eyes!)

I can't wait to hold my baby girl!

Went to the doctor this morning.  I am now 3cms dilated and still at 80% effaced.  She stripped my membranes, which felt HIGHLY uncomfortable (luckily Bryan was able to lend a hand to squeeze)!  Dr. Thornton said that I MAY  have Wren tomorrow, if not tonight!  I am hopeful that Wren will be here tomorrow... I like the birth date 7-17!  :)
She said I will probably bleed, but I haven't.  I am, however, having mild contractions every 5 minutes...!  I have been tracking them for the last hour!  I hope they continue, and become more painful, so that I can be admitted to the hospital!  I can't wait to hold my baby girl!!!
If she isn't here by Friday, I will see Dr. Thornton again.

Current weight: 121.6 lbs. (Lost a pound, which is common before delivery!)

Is this the right blog for this post?!

I must admit, for the past couple of days I have been feeling a little depressed/anxious/annoyed/any-other-not-so-great-feeling.  I just haven't been myself lately.... I can't speak a clear, complete, sentence to save my life, I have these strange fixations on wanting to smell gas or rubber, (Don't worry, I am able to control myself.... I only need to step into the garage for a minute to get my fix! Ha), and I have been a tad-bit emotional (Bryan may say it's more than a tad.)  :/

Although, I am feeling better today!  I finally heard from Jude's speech therapist, Chelsea. (After 2 MONTHS of waiting on stupid insurance crap!)  She said she got the paperwork, and we were able to meet today for our first session!  She didn't do too much with him, since there was paperwork for me to fill out, and she needed to get some basic info. on Jude, and just see how he acts.  He did great!  He warmed up to her SO QUICKLY! I think we will have a really good relationship with Chelsea... I liked her too! :)  We will see her again next Thursday morning (if Wren allows)! :D

Is this the right blog for this post?!  This is Wren's blog, so I guess I should talk more about her!  I went to the doctor on Tuesday.  I weighed 122.9 lbs. (I have officially gained more this pregnancy than I did with Jude.)  Dr. Thornton checked to see that I am now at 2cm dilated and 80% effaced.  She said that if Wren isn't here before Monday's appointment, she will strip my membranes (I know it sounds yucky and gross, but that's just what it's called!), and that should get things going.  I did some reading on it and it seems like a lot of women have the baby within days of that!  I am hoping that Wren will be here sometime before the end of next week!  YOU GET ONE MORE WEEK OR LESS, WREN!! ;)

I am having more and more Braxton Hicks contractions, some of which are a little painful; and I have been waking up in the middle of the night occasionally, in discomfort.   I am hoping that means labor is on it's way!

Wren, you are starting to overstay your welcome.  You have religiously poked and prodded me for MONTHS.... it is now my turn to kiss and hug you for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!  MWAH HA HA HA!!  I can't wait!!! :D XOXO

PS- I am DYING to take this prego suit off!  I want to see my feet!!

No Beta Strep!

Just found out I won't have to worry about Beta Strep with this delivery!  During labor with Jude, I had to be pumped with meds to ward off the dangerous bacteria that could have gotten to my baby boy when he made his exit.... But not this time!!  Hooray!