Tess’s 5th week of life was from August 28 – Sept 3rd. She was 4 weeks old during this week. We spent 6 of the 7 days of this week on our trip to Orlando so many of these photos will be repeats from the vacation posts, but I did keep notes about Tess’s development during this week and wanted to keep track of it all in it’s own post 🙂
Nursing: Prior to leaving for our trip I noticed that my left breast was red and spotted. And it was tender to the touch. I didn’t have a fever so I knew it hadn’t turned into mastitis, yet. I’m so thankful I packed mega early for the trip because I had to spend the couple of days prior to leaving just working on unclogging milk ducts! I spent one whole day working on the left breast and then got that cleared up and the next day the right one was clogged!!! I wrote a post on all the methods I used to unplug my milk ducts and avoid mastitis here!
When the clogged duct issue happened I knew something had to change. I knew it was due to overproduction which is something I’ve always had issues with while nursing. And I knew why the over production was happening. I had introduced a pump session each day after her 10 am feeding in order to store up milk for Hawaii. I pumped every day at that time. And my body said “oh she needs more milk!” So more milk I got…and not in a good way!
I decided at first to give her a bottle a day. Pump for that bottle and drop the pump session to help my body re-adjust to her needs. That didn’t work out well because that feeding was her last one of the day. I didn’t want to mess up her night sleep! So I then decided that while we were on the trip I would wean off the 10 am pump session. The way I did that was to pump each morning at 10 and give her a bottle at that time. My body then put her nursing session and my pump session together. I got all the milk out, got bottle practice with Tess, and told my body to chill on milk making.
After getting my body back adjusted to just making enough milk to feed her, I still had to store milk for the trip. So I decided to do what I should have done to begin with: I followed my doctors advice haha! At Tess’s 2 week appointment our pediatrician told me in order to store up milk I should pump randomly. That way my body is confused and never gets in a pattern and therefore never starts overproducing. It worked out great! I would just pump at a different time each day. And on days that I did give her a bottle I didn’t pump the extra time because I got milk from the pump session for the bottle!
Since having Kye and dealing with a lot of nursing issues with him, I have had a TORE UP nipple. TMI? Maybe? But anyways it hurts to latch every feeding on that side (it’s my left one fyi). I think all the pumping to get rid of the clogged duct irritated it this week and I ended up having a lot more pain than usual and it was bleeding, etc. NOT FUN (more on that in a future post). Even with this being my third baby, I still got very upset about it all and frustrated. Breastfeeding is NOT a walk in the park guys!
To help with my nipple pain I switched to the football hold on that breast. I thought maybe the pain was due to a latch issue and hoped that would help. I also started hardcore using lansioh cream on it between feedings to help it heal.
Tess had quite a bit of bottle practice on the trip, which she needed! On the way there we left after I nursed her at 1:00 and then stopped to give her a bottle for her 4:00 feeding. I pumped in the car but used a bottle I had heated up prior to leaving. When I make bottles I like to use some of the milkies milk mixed with pumped milk. That way the milk I pump for the missed nursing session adds to my stash for Hawaii milk 😉 I have a system down!
We stopped at a CFA and I entertained older kids while Zach did bottle duty. She just isn’t so great at the bottle. It took an hour to get her to drink it!
On the trip I pumped and gave her a bottle at the 10:00 feeding each day. Out by the pool (in the shade, of course)! Which she LOVED. She drank it great outside and on our way home when we stopped to do the bottle for her 1:00 feeding…we ended up taking turns sitting outside of the restaurant to feed it to her.
When I pumped for that feeding I was getting about 9 oz and she was drinking 2.5-3 oz so that proved to me that my body was overproducing and that I was doing the right thing in dropping that pump session!
Schedule: This week her schedule remained the same. For this age her awake time length (including feeding) should be between 30-60 min. She usually was showing signs of needing to go to sleep around the 45 min marker but sometimes during this week she was pushed towards more of the 60 min side and did fine. I had to start really watching the clock as I learned that once she showed her sleepy cues she was already really tired and it was better to have her completely ready for sleep prior to her yawning!
Taken from Babywise 🙂
Yes, we kept the schedule on the trip! The only time for the whole week that we didn’t stay exactly on schedule was the one cat nap at 7:00 when we went to the magic show. I held her to sleep for that whole nap rather than her napping in her crib. And, honestly, she got more sleep than she usually does that nap! That nap was really the only nap she was struggling with at this age. She very rarely slept for it, ever!
The only other hiccup on the trip, schedule wise, was when Britt locked the connecting doors and we were locked out of Tess’s room at her nap time. She fell asleep in my arms (while I was frantically trying different solutions to get in the dang door!) but still went right to sleep in her bed when I was finally able to put her down 🙂
At this age she was sleeping very solid for her naps and I would usually have to wake her up to eat. And when I would wake her she’d be mad about it too! If she did wake on her own, it was usually right around time to eat. It was great because it let me know she was really on the schedule!!!
Schedule:
7:00 Eat
7:50-10:00: Nap
10:00: Eat
10:50-1:00 Nap
1:00: Eat
1:50-4:00: Nap
4:00: Eat
4:50-6:00: Nap
6:00: Eat
6:50-7:45ish: Nap
7:45ish: Bath, ready for bed
8:00: Eat
10:30: Dream feed
3:00-4:00 am: Waking on own for middle of the night feeding
Sleep: On the trip we finally used our bassinet! I had been really excited about the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Bassinet
(which is NOT the same thing as the Rock and Play Sleeper…this bassinet is flat). I bought it in hopes of using it in our room. We used a bassinet with Kye and Britt that my mom had gotten for me. While I was pregnant with Tess I really got rid of a lot of stuff. I just didn’t want to have any reminders of Mom as I didn’t know how it would affect me emotionally. So the bassinet got sold at the kids sale and I bought this new one. Then we didn’t even use it!!! We decided to take it on the trip because it folds flat and is actually easier to pack than the pack and play! We really liked it! Since we do have another trip planned while she’s still super little, we will at least get to use it one more time 😉
The first couple of days on the trip she didn’t sleep as soundly as she had been at home. But a new environment, new bed, and a too bright room will do that to a kid! Once I got her room darker she slept MUCH better.
Holding her to sleep during her 7:00 cat nap…I was in HEAVEN!
She did really great in the car both on the way there and on the way back. She slept pretty awesome both times. I know it won’t always work that way. I remember many a trips with a screaming baby which is totally a heart breaker. So I’m thankful for our first trip she slept! She did cry a lot when we were late getting to the resort on Friday. It was time for her to eat and she was hungry and her cry KILLED ME. It was a legit cry with her first legit tears 🙁 When we got to the resort I nursed her in the car while Zach checked in!
At night she was waking just one time at around 3:00-4:00 am!
If she did wake during naps she didn’t CRY, it was more of a fussing/grunting/”eh eh eh” sound. The only nap I usually would have to hold her for was the 7:00 one. If I did go in her room during nap I would hold her and do “shhh” pat. I’d just say “shhhhh” near her ear and pat her firmly over and over again in the top center part of her back to help calm her. At this age babies can’t focus on three things at once so they can’t cry, listen to the shh, and focus on the patting.
Diaper Rash: Tess got her first diaper rash and it was a bad one 🙁 I had been using Vaseline on her since birth as I’d heard it really helped prevent diaper rash. But it didn’t work! She didn’t seem the LEAST bit bothered by it but I had a hard time knocking it out. I asked on the blog fb page and most people suggested Triple Paste. Prior to her being born I bought one of just about every kind of diaper rash cream haha. I know that different kinds work differently with different babies so I wanted to be prepared 😉 I tried Triple Paste first since so many recommended it. But it didn’t help. I had some prescription strength stuff so I tried that over night one night and it was WAY worse the next day. Robyn recommended Calmoseptine
…I had never heard of it but she swore by it and ohmygoodness she was right! It’s awesome!!! We used it for an entire week to really get rid of the rash and after it was gone we went ahead and bought another bottle to have on hand!
After she’d eat I put her down for tummy time and put a burp rag under her and let her hiney air out!
Other Things About Tess This Week:
Since her awake time is still so short I have pretty much always held her the whole time she’s awake. It’s important to me to raise independent kids and I have already had a MEGA hip-baby for the past 2.5 years. Britt will STILL ask me to hold her and carry her around. Although I would rather love on Tess the entire time she’s awake, I can’t have another hip-baby! So I’m trying to use more of her awake time having her do things that don’t involve me. She’s not a fan of the bouncer seat but I need to get her used to it!
Obviously we had Tess’s first vacation this week! We always take our babies on a trip when they are pretty young. When Kye was just a few weeks old (close to Tess’s age) we went to visit my mom which was a 4 hour drive. It was important to me that Kye met my grandmother (SO thankful for that!) so we wanted to take him down there asap after his birth. With Britt we waited a little longer…she was closer to 8-10 weeks old when we took her on her first trip. And it was only a couple hours away to Jacksonville for the weekend. Tess’s trip was right between Kye’s and Britt’s in travel time and, for the most part, it went smoothly. I LOVE that we have children who enjoy travel and I hope we raise Tess to be the same way!!! Most of our conversations in our home are either reflecting back on memories we’ve made while traveling, or talking about plans for future travels 🙂
Prior to leaving for the trip Britt and I took Tess to the chiropractor. I didn’t really feel like she needed an adjustment but since we were going to be gone for a week I wanted to make sure she was freshly adjusted and that it would hold while we were away! Britt was great at the appointment and it was very smooth and I think it def helped 🙂 He said he could tell she was holding her adjustments longer and we also discussed supplements and he said both Vit D and probiotics are important (which I totally agree!)
Tummy time got much better this week. She didn’t fuss the whole time during it and seemed to enjoy it more!
As soon as she finished eating I’d immediately do tummy time. Tummy time is super important for many reasons…but for vanity reasons I LOVE Tess’s head shape. She has the prettiest little head and I don’t want it to change or go flat so the more tummy time, the better! On the last day of our trip (she was 4 weeks, 6 days old) I put Tess on our bed for her tummy time and took some pictures of her and while I was taking the pics SHE ROLLED OVER!!! I couldn’t believe it so I had her do it again and this time I took this video 🙂 She ain’t happy but she’s doing it!
All of my kids have rolled over young. Britt rolled over at 5 weeks old and Tess just had to beat her out 😉 They roll young but then they take FOREVER to crawl or walk haha! Her first time rolling was on Sept 3rd 🙂
Pictures capturing the first roll!
She looks so proud!
Trying to get that leg over 🙂
BIG GIRL!
Celebration dance 😉
Couldn’t you just eat her up? 😉
More Tess:
- She pooped a lot while eating so I went through a good bit of diapers. But I’d MUCH rather her poop when she eats than when she sleeps!
- I read a story to all three kids on the trip and Kye was cuddling with Tess during the story. She had her head towards me and was “looking” at the story while he cuddled up to her. He stopped loving on her and she immediately turned her head towards him as if she was asking him to keep loving on her! As soon as he started cuddling her again, she turned back to me and the book. It was THE CUTEST MOMENT. I don’t tell a lot of “kid stories” but that’s one I told to several people b/c it was just so precious it made me get tears in my eyes!
- She had her first “babysitter” this week when Zach and I went out to eat. Mrs. Charlotte did her bedtime routine, including a bottle and she did great!
- Tess is always putting her hands together and even in her mouth. I’m interested to see if she will follow Britt and be a finger sucker!
- Her grip is getting much stronger and she will grab me and hold on much tighter
- Tess started “talking” more this week. I LOVE the baby coos! She responds so much to my voice Here’s a video!
- Tess also smiles a TON whenever Kye is around. I’d say he’s her favorite person (after her mama, of course)
- She started getting chubby, which I expected. All my kids get chunky for awhile! Love those baby rolls!
- Newborn sizes were too small so I tried to get her to wear all my favorites on the trip before packing them away when we got home (hopefully I will be passing them down to Casey’s baby girl in the future since we’re hoping our next one will be a boy!)
- No more skin peeling or ache! Just a purely PRETTY baby!
- We brush her hair right after bath, while it’s still mega wet, but no matter how we brush it…it still ends up sticking up all over the place haha!
- It’s clear this week that she started to trust me. She stopped rooting around like crazy when I got her up from sleep and was much more patient when it was time to nurse. She knew when she woke up that it was time to eat and it was already the schedule lifestyle paying off! She knew what was coming next and that helped her to relax!
- If she did wake during naps she didn’t CRY, it was more of a fussing/grunting/”eh eh eh” sound
- The whites of her eyes are very blue so I think she’ll keep the blue eyes!
- She slept in her car seat really well on the trip and slept in it at the chiropractor…listen to that snoring action!
More sweet pics of my girl!
She loves, loves, LOVES her bath time!
I love this 🙂
Postpartum Update: I wore my bellefit 24 hours a day for a full week and then stopped wearing it at night and just wore it during the day. For best results I’m supposed to try to wear it 12 hours a day or more until I’m 6 months postpartum. I’m all about anything that will help this stomach go down!!!
I stopped needing pads and just used panty liners. Bleeding was on and off but very light.
During the trip I used the same towel to dry off after showers. I hadn’t had a yeast infection in so long that I forgot how easily I can get them…this will come into play when I do the summary of week 6 🙁
I still needed naps throughout the day at this point. I was EXHAUSTED. Kye and Britt both slept about an hour longer than Tess at night at this age and not being able to get super solid sleep was hard for me. Especially since when I was awake there was not very much down time with three kids to care for!
I had my first post-baby migraine this week and Mt. Dew did the trick! I had weaned myself off my Spark/Rehydrate combo b/c I wanted to save it for when I started my “24 Day Challenge”
I had a WONDERFUL time on our trip and was so thankful for the time away from “real life” with my sweet family!
Sibling Comparisons: You can read about Britt’s 5th week of life hereI love the Gary Busey pic of Britt from this week. I still laugh!!! I didn’t do a weekly post from Kye from this week. When I read about Britt and compare to Tess you can tell I am doing WAY better this time around. I feel like so many of the issues I had with Britt I recognized much earlier for Tess and had already worked on them and adjusted things by the time this week got here. 🙂
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