4 week doctor's appointment

SOOO serious!



Wren had her 4 week checkup at the doctor's office today and it was very sad for both of us! She had to get her heel pricked so that they could do the PKU and she just cried and cried. It really hurt my heart, I don't like to hear her whimper, let alone cry. I know that they say that you can't spoil a baby this young and it is a good thing because otherwise, this girl would be so spoiled! 99% of the time, whenever she makes any little noise me or Jeremiah go and pick her right up!!

She weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces today, up almost a full pound since her last appointment 2 weeks ago! The only thing that I have had concerns about is her spitting up after every feeding. I talked to the doctor about it and he said that he would not worry about it unless she was not gaining weight properly (obviously, that is not an issue) or if it seemed to bother her (also not an issue, I think that she enjoys having her clothes changed 30 times a day!) so I feel better about that.

She also got a bath today and is doing much better with that also. I do make the water a little warmer than what the temp. gage on her bath spongee thing says to because it just seems so cold to me and she turns purple and mottled in the cold! She also seems to do better when the water is a little warmer! She does give me dirty looks the entire time, but at least she is not crying! I can deal with the dirty looks! :)

Wren's TUTU

Aren't I cute???



Chelsea Jones made this outfit for Wren before she was even born, what a sweet heart she is! I love her and miss her so much!I'm hoping that one of these days soon she will come and visit me!! (HINT HINT!!) OR maybe I will have to go and visit her so that we can go out and eat at all our favorite places!

I also want to point out the cute bracelet that Wren is wearing that Chelsea also gave her (and I am assuming that she made it!)! She is so talented!

My accomplishments at 4 weeks old

Isn't it enough that I was born????



Wren is an amazing baby! For the past month we have fallen in love with her more and more every day. She is such a good baby.

On April 13th, she slept for eight and a half hours. Mom was VERY scared when she woke up and it was light outside! Most nights she has at least one stretch between feedings that is between 5 and 6 hours long. Granted, she does not sleep for the entire first stretch of "sleep" time. She usually will eat at about 11 p.m. then stay awake and want to be held or just suck on her binky and stare around until 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. then she will wake up between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. to eat again then sleep until at least 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. I usually pull her into my bed after this feeding to cuddle and sleep with me for the next couple of hours until it is time to eat again. I heard someone say on TV last night about breastfeeding moms "What is night? It is just when I get to put my sweatpants on and then it gets dark outside and no one is calling or coming by, but it is like every other part of my life, I just get a couple of naps!" I thought that was pretty accurate!

On April 15th, Wren lost her umbilical cord. I was really glad, it had been hanging on by the smallest of attachments for the longest time it seemed! It did scare me when I went to change her diaper and it just fell out of her onsie!

April 16th was her first doctor's appointment. The doctor (Dr. Bennett) said that she was "wonderfully perfect" and I was inclined to agree with him! She weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces. SOOO tiny!

She also had her first bath today, it was pretty sad. She cried and screamed and in general let us know that it was not her favorite thing in the world to do. Since then she has had two more baths and they seemed to have gone a little better than the first. Hopefully she will begin to truly enjoy getting clean because we really really like it when she smells so yummy after bath time!

Wren has also started to smile. It is sooo adorable and makes everyone so happy!! Sometimes it is like she has forgotten how to do it but her eyes will be smiling and she will open her mouth really wide! I like that almost as much as the actual smile!

Within the last week or so she has also started to coo. It is cute! There are times that she will have her Binks in her mouth and try to "talk" around it so she is chewing on the binky and cooing at the same time, I love it!!!

I was very worried about starting to give her a bottle, but I want to be able to sleep through the night every once in awhile so I have been pumping and the one night she woke up right after I had pumped and was hungry, so dad gave her first bottle and she took it like a champ! The reason I was worried is because of all the literature they give you about "nipple confusion" so I was worried when I tried to nurse her at her next feeding but she latched right back on and I actually think that it helped with the latching issues that we seemed to be having. So I have been going back and forth between bottle and breast and she is doing great with both.

She has also learned to be a bobble head. When we hold her upright, or as upright as she can be at this point, she will hold her head up by herself and "bobble" around! It is really quite cute and you can really see how much effort is put into it! Wow, I love this kid!

Overall, she is a very happy, peaceful and content baby. Mostly she only cries when she is hungry or cold (usually when she is naked!!). The car does NOT soothe her at this point, as Aunt Valerie can attest to. We went to eat one day and Valerie took her to her house afterward so that I could go and help Mike do something and Ms. Wren SCREAMED her head off the entire way home, she was starving!!! Poor girl!

Jeremiah and I are both loving being parents and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. We are so happy to have this girl in our lives and are so thankful to our heavenly father for entrusting us with this special spirit.

April 4, 2009

The Martin 3 generations!


Grandpa Martin, Grandma Martin, Jeremiah Martin and Wren Martin

April 4, 2009

Grandma and Grandpa Martin and Me

Grandma and Grandpa Martin came by to see me today, they thought that I was pretty cute!

I also had to go back to the hospital today because my bilirubin levels were to high. They were still to high and so I have to go back again tomorrow. Mom doesn't like to go with me because they poke my heel and make me bleed!! I don't like it cause it hurts, but they give me sugar water so I am okay with it!

April 3, 2009

Leaving the Hospital



She is just so tiny that she barely fits in the car seats belt! The hat that she is wearing was given to us by the Hospital staff. The outfit that she wore home was given to her by Aunt Debbie Hathaway.

This morning when I looked outside there was 3 inches of snow on the ground and no sign that the weather was going to let up! It was quite depressing but we were ready to get out of there and be home! It wa a little scary that they were letting us take this little tiny baby home... That's trust!

We were in room 103 so we had to get our picture taken in front of the sign! After we left we went to Puerto Vallarta with Valerie, Bella and Isaac. It was quite the fiasco!!! The table was so tiny and the service was questionable! Not the most kid friendly place, that's for sure!

The Hospital Bed

April 2nd

The favorite toy by far at the hospital was the bed. The boys loved it almost as much as getting to hold Wren! They even kicked me out of it so that they could play!

Just relaxin'! Watchin' some TV!

Ethan and the Boppy

April 2

When Valerie and the kids got to the hospital today we were taking pictures of Wren in the boppy so as soon as she vacated the position Ethan got right up there and laid down, ready for his picture to be taken also!!

How can you say no to this face??

April 2, 2009

Our Stork Dinner

We were served a stork dinner the night before we checked out and for hospital food it was actually quite delicious. Especially the cheesecake!! Shauna had the steak and Jeremiah had the chicken. Although the chicken was pretty good, the steak was the better choice for sure! We each also had a roll, a side salad and a loaded baked potato.

April 2, 2009

My Daddy and Me

Dad thinks that I am really something special! All he wants to do is hold me! He thinks that I am pretty tiny but cute as a bug!!! I really like it when he lets me sleep on his chest 'cause it's really warm!

April 2, 2009

Grandpa Mike and Me

I love my Grandpa! He really loves to hold me and that is my favorite thing in the world for anyone to do! He also always has really big smiles to give to me and I think that is really the best present he could give!

April 2, 2009

The Hendricks Kids and Me



Isabella LOVES me! she loves to hold me and was extremely concerned when she saw my umbilical cord! Aunt Kathryn was holding me when Isabella got there and she came over to see her and exclaimed "What HAPPENED?!?!" So Aunt Kathryn explained about how I was connected to mommy and that was how I ate and Drew said "Well, how does it get from her belly button to her esophagus?" I think he's pretty smart! :)

Every time I see Bella she gets so excited and wants to hold me all the time! She even chooses to hold me over playing outside! AND, when my mommy feeds me she goes to get her own baby (Zoe) and feeds her also!

This is Isaac, do you see how happy he is to be holding me??? He is almost just as happy to just lay on the floor and stare into my eyes on the rare occasion that no one is holding me!! He even chooses to just stare at me over eating and I take that as a serious compliment! :)

And then there is the monster! I really don't know why they call him that! He is always just wanting to hold and hug me! He gets really mad at his mom when she tries to take me away from him!

By the way, I think that Grandpa really likes me also! Just in case you couldn't tell!

April 2, 2009

Great Grandma Aldridge and Me


Grandma Aldridge said that this was the most that she had come by to see a baby while it was in the hospital. She also said that Wren was the first baby that she had ever had the opportunity to see being born. I am so glad that she arrived in time to experience that.

Grandma Aldridge is the greatest grandma I could ever hope for. She is the sweetest and kindest person that I know. She always strives to see the best in people and is always thinking of ways to make others lives better. I want to be more like her! She does so much for Jeremiah and I. I don't think that I could even put in words how much she means to me.

April 2, 2009

While Grandma Lorraine was at the hospital, we HAD to have a photo shoot


It kind of looks like she is smiling in this picture!

I love her little tiny hands!

She is so peaceful, have I mentioned that I love her?

April 2, 2009

Grandma Lorraine and Me


Grandma Lorraine came by to see me and hold me. She brought me a cute onsie that says "The Princess has arrived" with some cute headbands with bows and a balloon that says "It's a GIRL".

I'm pretty sure Grandma Loves me! :)

Mom came by at the same time as Kathryn and went down to the cafeteria to get some of those yummy fries that Jeremiah ate yesterday. It was very sweet of her to come by again. In fact, she told me that in all the madness of yesterday she never actually got to hold the baby so I am especially glad that she came by so that she could have that opportunity.

My Aunt Ardis and her two daughters Sarah and Emily came by with Emily's son Daegan. I'm glad that they were able to come by and see the baby. They're the best!:)

Also while mom was there a representative from the hospital came by and gave Wren a VERY cute crocheted pink hat a little silver spoon. I thought that was very nice of them!

April 2, 2009

Aunt Kathryn and Me



Aunt Kathryn brought mom and dad McDonalds AGAIN today. I think that she was just using it as an excuse to come by and see me! :)

Kathryn really was great, I'm glad that she took the time to come up and spend time with Wren.

Oh, her nickname for Wren is WrenRee. That way she could be named after both of my sisters, KathRYN and ValeRIE! :)

April 2, 2009

13 hours after delivery



This was after Wren's 3:00 a.m. feeding. She was so alert and being so perfect that I had to snap a few photos of her. Her eyes look so dark but they are actually a grayish blue (at this point).

She is so tiny and precious! My heart hurts with how much I love her!

I love this picture because her nostrils are flared! It reminds me of those pictures of puppies where their noses are HUGE and the rest of them look small!

April 1, 2009

After Delivery:

This was the first time that I got to hold my baby. I was sooooo very happy. She was absolutely perfect! She weighed in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

We were taking pictures and passing her around and just celebrating in general when the nurse looked at her and said, I don't like her coloring. All of a sudden she had gone all ashy so they took her to the NICU and put her on oxygen for about 20 minutes and then she was just fine. Jeremiah went with her and came back to report that there was nothing wrong with her, she was just a little stressed out from delivery.

I have to say here that Jeremiah was AMAZING during labor and delivery! He was so supportive and just there for me. I know that I shouldn't be surprised but I really didn't think that he would be Mr. Supportive and I am so very grateful for everything that he did and that he was totally there for me! He did everything perfectly right for me and I so love him for being who he is. I don't think that I would have done as well has I had without him there.

I am also grateful for Valerie and mom for being there. And for Kathryn and Grandma Aldridge coming when they did. They were all so great and said all the right things also. I have a wonderful family and I am so lucky to have had the support that I did.

Grandpa Mike showed up at 2:30 p.m. right before they took the baby to the NICU and got to hold her for a couple of minutes. He said that she is a beautiful little girl.

They had kicked all of the family out of the delivery room by the time they brought her back to me to try to breastfeed. She was having none of that so they had me go to the bathroom and then wheeled me to my room (103). All of the family was there and the nurse kicked them out of there so that she could do her exam and get me comfortable. While she was doing that, Jeremiah went to the nursery and gave the baby her first bath. Valerie let us use her camcorder so we were lucky enough to get that on video. They they brought her back to the room and everyone held her and loved her again.

Everyone left for awhile and Jeremiah and I decided that her name was going to be Wren Lorraine Martin. It was up in the air between Wren and Stella and she just looked like a Wren to both of us!

Later that afternoon Kathryn left to go and get us some McDonald's and Kali came with Drew, Jaxon, Daria and Trey while they were there Valerie and Justin came with Bella Isaac and Ethan. All of the kids got to hold the baby and were so good with her. Even Ethan held her and hugged on her and was very gentle with her, we were ALL surprised by that! There is a reason that boy is called monster after all! Everyone left and Valerie called us at 8:30 to see see if she could come back because she missed the baby so much! So she came back and held the baby for about an hour.

Wren FINALLY started eating at about 10:30 p.m. tonight although not very well! I had decided to have her room in with us but changed my mind when every time she would sigh I would wake up to check on her. Plus she is such a quiet sleeper that it was hard to tell if she was still alive! So we ended up taking her to the nursery at about 1:00 a.m. They brought her back at 3:00 because she needed to eat and I decided to just have her stay in the room if they were going to bring her back every two hours anyway! I got up every 3 hours and TRIED to feed her and in between she slept pretty good.