Sunday, September 27, 2015

Bathing Beauty

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This little lady looooves the bath.

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These photos are from when she was about a week old. I'm a weeeee bit behind.

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Usually, Wren turns to look at the shower wall and just intently stares.

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It took me a couple bathing sessions to remember the urgency of towel-wrapping when removing the babe from the tub.

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All she asks for is a little warmth.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Grey is Three

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Hi! I'm Grey! Yesterday I turned three years old!

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I have two favorite things. First, eating. Particularly sweets. I'd like to eat at all times if I could. Second, being silly. I like to say silly things, I like to move my body in silly ways, I like to pretend silly things.

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I've gotten amazingly stubborn. I like things my way the moment I think of them. I have lots of breakdowns every day. Sometimes I don't even know what it is I need- I'll scream for help and then scream when someone tries to help me. I'm sweet as peaches when things are going my way. But Mom has to think really hard if she wants to ask me to do something because there's a good chance I'll explode in rage. Forget about easy diaper changes, let alone potty training!

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My big brothers are so fun and I love to do what they're doing. Baby Wren is so cute. I really like Paw Patrol and I like to pretend to be Chase. I sure enjoy blowing bubbles and rambling down the driveway on my tricycle. Daddy says I have a super cute face. I'm really good at whispering. I have the best smile and laugh. I have so many people who love me. Hurray for three!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Her Nicknames

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Wrenny

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Wrenny Penny

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Wren Pen

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Wren-Wren

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Wrenny Pie

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Lil' Lady

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GooseBean (Sean masterminded that one)

Friday, September 11, 2015

With the grandparents

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We're so glad Wren made her appearance with enough time for my parents to enjoy her.

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Two lovely ladies.

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When's the last time your yawn attracted this much attention?

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Such fantastic grandkids.

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Three generations.

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This is my family.  I find myself often thinking, Dude, I have a daughter. Dude, I have four kids!

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The very day my parents flew out, Sean's parents flew in!

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Mimi was all about holding this little girl.

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And then they left too and we had to get used to cooking meals, tidying up, and doing laundry again. Back to life, back to reality. It was sure helpful while it lasted!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

How it's going so far

Kindergarten starts tomorrow and in order to distract myself, I'm going to update you on my little baby girl. How are things going, you ask? Oh thank you for asking! I'll fill you in (personal details included, be ye warned).

Wren is doing wonderfully. She doesn't cry a ton. She's starting to give us smiles (and has laughed in her sleep a couple times!). Her hair's thinned out and her poor skin has baby acne, though it's beginning to subside. She poops very frequently. She's squeaky, by which I mean she makes these really cute squeak-like sounds. She loves baths. She does not love the car seat.

Wren's a pretty great sleeper. Our first night home from the hospital was our worst. On top of Grey waking up a dozen times and even Liam once, Wren was a crying mess. Sean was up half the night with her and then I took over for the rest. It looked like she was desperate to nurse but nursing didn't help. After it clicked that, duh, she's hungry, we tried supplementing with formula. Ah, the sweet peaceful sleep that came to her once we began. So for about a day and a half, maybe two days, Wren would down 1-2 oz of formula after each nursing session. I was very grateful for the many samples my OB gave to me. Then my milk came in and formula wasn't needed any longer. A couple weeks in, she could go four, even up to six hours at night between feedings. In the last few days (she's 5.5 weeks old), she's had a couple eight hour stretches! Way to go, babycakes! Now if only, Grey would consistently sleep (he was such an amazing sleeper up until March...) and I would go to bed when I ought to go to bed.

We're getting nursing down to a good routine. Engorgement was a week+ long horror show but that's settled. Neither of us much like nursing under a cover, it gets hot and she gets sleepy. In fact, that's the biggest challenge so far- Wren is a very sleepy eater. Much of my time is spent trying to rouse her to continue eating. Although she's improving. She spits up some but I think less than her brothers did.

This has been my best recovery, I think. There's not excessive pain, I'm not feeling zombie-ish like I did with the others. This time a nurse gave me a belly band (pretty much a really wide elastic with velcro on the end) that I wore for a long while which seemed to really limit my abdominal and back pain. I highly recommend. Having had a shorter labor this time likely helped my recovery- I didn't have as much to recover from! We had help from my parents and then Sean's parents. We had many sweet people bring us meals, which was an incredible blessing (if I haven't written a thank you yet, I will! You're on my list! I'm just a little backed up.)

Liam, Dash, and Grey love love love Wren. They think about her all the time and want to be with her constantly. Head rubs abound (which we suspect may be linked to the hair thinning...). Kisses galore. We have to give reminders about head support, soft kisses, poking eyes (seriously, guys?), and sitting on her (can you guess who's the culprit for that one?). The boys do lots of baby holding. Grey's turn is pretty short, as in seconds. But Liam and Dash last for a while. Liam once held her for a half hour! They also think Wren is hilarious, particularly her poop noises. They'll often laugh and say, "Mommy, Wren made this face" while mimicking a half smile and winky eye or something. They adore her. I am SO grateful that they love her like they do. Wren's one lucky baby!

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