This is the summary of Spear’s 7th week of life. From January 12th through 18th, he was 6 weeks old during this week!
Feeding: Spear continued to do well at feeding times. I used gas drops in the bottles and gave him gas drops before feeding. He was drinking roughly 4 oz per feeding with the occasional 6 ounce bottle. Typically he’ll drink 5 oz of breastmilk.
He will occasionally projectile vomit but it’s only if he doesn’t get a GOOD burp. His burping is crazy. It’s HUGE and LOUD and sounds like he’s in pain. I’ve found he tends to burp best if I just have him sit upright for a bit.
Sleep: Schedule remained the same for him feeding times at 7, 10 (breastmilk) 1, 4 (breastmilk), 7, df at 10:30.
My other kids I shifted to the 3.5 hour schedule even before they slept through the night but Babywise says to wait so I waited!
The bigger focus this week was on SLEEP. Spear seemed like he was still far from sleeping fully through the night which was frustrating to me at this point in the game because all my kids prior were either at the point of sleeping solid or making progress in that direction. I think a lot of my frustration was because Spear IS formula fed and I’d always heard that formula fed babies slept solid quicker. Well, not true in our home!
This week was tough because it was also Zach’s first time traveling for work so I was SOLO with all four kids for the first time. And they all had school. And Spear wasn’t sleeping through the night. Such. A. Tough. Week.
I tried to extend his nights the best I could and hold him off from eating to see how long he could go and if he’d fall back to sleep on his own. An advantage of having so many kids is that you have a lot of learning opportunities 😉 I know with Tess she just fussed at night. She wasn’t hungry, she just had some fussy periods. Spear reminded me of her in that he’d wake and fuss for a few minutes then go back to sleep for a few minutes then fuss a few minutes etc etc. It was exhausting because even though I wasn’t going in with him, I was laying there awake!
I ended up talking with through with my fellow Babywise bloggers and they said to just feed him the FIRST time he fussed. Then when he’d fuss again move to the swing so I could REST. I went with that and it was a good system to get through this period!
Middle of the night snuggles!
I was OVER the dang Snuza and how it wasn’t working and had so many false alarms. With his delicate sleep situation a Snuza waking him up at 3 am isn’t helpful! I really hate to spend money on stuff like this for my last baby because it seems so wasteful, so I pulled out the Angel Care I have. Now it’s the ORIGINAL Angel Care yall so it’s old school. But it works!
I’m using a receiving blanket for now on top of his crib to catch any leaking from his diaper or spit up. Makes it easier rather than having to change the sheets! I keep a paci in reach to help him make it through to the next feeding if needed (I never use it at the start of sleep). I also tried out the Shusher. I think this product sounds genius and thought it’d be AWESOME but really? It hasn’t worked well at all for us. He doesn’t respond to the sound in the least bit.
Still swaddling with the Miracle Blanket!
During the middle of the night feedings I started catching up on Grey’s Anatomy. I watched it back when it first came out but have stopped watching as the story lines got a little cheesy and so many of the original cast left the show…but I had a TON of them in my DVR so I figured why not? It was honestly so easy to get back into it and I enjoyed catching up!
MOM LIFE:
With Zach away for a few days we had to come up with a game plan for my survival and to keep Spear on schedule. Since he eats at 7 there is physically NO WAY for me to get the oldest two kids to school! We found out what time the morning bus comes and although it arrives earlier than when they normally wake up it’s a great option and works out well in times when Zach has to be at work early and can’t take them to school!
Awake times are still a minimum! He’s FOR SURE a more high sleep needs baby which is JUST like Britt. I aim for an hour awake time but he rarely makes it. Tessie was very low sleep needs but Spear has barely any awake times and sleeps like a champ for naps! I don’t hate the sleepy snuggles!
He usually wakes halfway through his nap (very “textbook”) and struggles that second half. His best nap of the day though IS the “cat nap” in the evenings which I’m not used to! Usually that’s the worse! His worst is, of course, the 2-4 one where I am able to get things done haha
This is always my favorite with a new baby. I just love holding their sweet faces in my hand!
I had to take the girls to gymnastics with Zach gone and Super did GREAT just drinking his bottle then sleeping away the whole time we were there!
Proud Mom moment right here! Survival is hard but man it feels good to make it happen!
Other Stuff with Spear:
Tummy time is basically a bust. He has NO desire to roll over. He doesn’t mind laying there. But is pretty lazy about it!
The cradle cap/flakes in hair was greatly improving! We did baby oil on his damp hair and let it sit before rinsing and it helped a lot!
This week somethings came to a head that were tough but needed to be discussed. Adoption isn’t easy y’all. It’s not always smooth sailing and just because YOU know it may be the right path for YOUR family doesn’t mean everyone else in your circle will agree. Honestly? Our decision to adopt has drawn some lines in the sand regarding some of our relationships. Either people love and support you, or they don’t. It’s been a big growth experience for both Zach and I. We felt lead to this decision. We know it’s what God planned for our family. We feel content and whole and just SO blessed and thankful. And if people don’t see that? It’s their loss.
I busted out the Rockabye Baby cd that Rachael got us this week since we were in the car more often. It’s really cute!
Spear busted out the 3 month size clothes and they fit!!! I know he already had this pattern in his newborn stuff but I just LOVE the navy on him and ADORE the boyish vibe of the car design!
He had to ride in the car a good bit this week and was a total CHAMP!
I had my yearly OBGYN check up and cracked up when I realized it was also when Spear was 6 weeks old. When you deliver a baby they require a 6 week postpartum check so the timing was really awesome 🙂
He got to meet Stacy! She’s been my midwife for ALL of my babies (only got to deliver Tess though!) but has been a HUGE help and support in the process of getting Spear here too!
I’ve been trying to attend church and just meet Zach and kids at services for when Spear eats but this week we got all ready to go and Zach’s car was out of gas! Oh well!
This week on my Time Hop I had a post that talked about my emotions regarding Britt. I love seeing stuff I posted back when I had her since her and Spear’s birthdays are SO close together. I was feeling SO MANY of these SAME emotions this week with Spear and really, really think it’s a common thing to hit a “mom funk” at this stage with a newborn!
I finally wrote out Spear’s birth story this week and had a GOOD, UGLY cry about it!
Gifts: No visitors this week but I did get some pics of Spear with the ADORABLE blanket my super sweet and thoughtful blog friend, Yooli sent! Sometimes people just “get you” and man she knows my style b/c I had legit looked at ordering this exact blanket for him! I LOVE IT! Super soft and she even got his name on it in yellow which I totally also would have done. So thoughtful and sweet!
Siblings: Yall. It’s like Britt doesn’t even exist in Spear’s world! I didn’t even notice that until I’m doing these weekly updates and she’s not in ANY photos with him. I need to make more of an effort of making sure they are getting some bonding time. Tess has the most time with him since she’s home the most and Kye is just really into Spear. It’s not that Britt doesn’t also love him, she just isn’t as into interacting with him on a regular basis!
Tessie is so good at “playing” with him!
Favorite game is “Make the Baby Talk” haha!
My twin boys in their “underwear” 😉
Overstimulation is a common occurrence haha
Tessie loves HER baby!
He just loves watching her 🙂
Even in a “funk stage” I try really hard to remember the journey it took to get Spear here. Yes the early days are HARD and I’m exhausted and worn out and just at my max. But he’s HERE yall. He’s OURS. And that’s HUGE and something I never want to take for granted!!!
Daddy loves bonding time too!
Sibling Comparisons:
Kye (We missed this week of his life because we were in PARIS)
Britt (yup she was sttn this week!)
More pics of this handsome boy:
I was SO pumped to take pics of him in this outfit. It’s one that I fondly remember from Kye wearing it…
Kye! Our “Georgia Castanza” picture!
Now Kye is almost NINE and his little brother is rocking the look! LOVE IT!
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My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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I can't imagine ANYONE not supporting you in your desire to adopt- or not accepting your precious boy!! Anyone who doesn't is someone who doesn't deserve to get to know him!! I'm so proud to "know" you and to have experienced your journey and your leap of faith. Its truly been inspiring.