Week Ten for Britt was from February 7th – February 13th. It was a crazy week for us here as Zach was in Texas working. It was my first time dealing with the kids solo for a long period of time. I’m proud of myself though as I worked out a great routine. While it was a tough week for me, it was a learning week as a parent and when Zach went out of town a couple of weeks later I felt much more confident!!!
Nursing: THIS is the reason that I didn’t take a ton of notes on things that happened this week. The child nursed for 2 hours at each feeding. Since she eats 5 times a day that means I was spending 10 hours a day nursing. And, like I said before, I was handling it all alone so poor Kye. Thankfully he spent some time with G-mama and Gramma to give him a break! I’m not sure why she was nursing that long. I was on the antibiotics for the mastitis and I think that’s what caused it. I’m not sure if the meds affected my supply so she was eating longer to keep me producing. Or if the meds affected her in some way so she was eating longer for comfort. Or even if the meds just made her sleepy so she was nursing longer because she was drowsy. I’m not sure. But it was rough. It wore me out!!! My butt would be numb and I got pretty bored sitting there so much! It’s easier to look back on the situation now since she no longer eats that long…but during that time I was worried that she’d start doing that forever and I simply couldn’t handle it. I just waited it out though and once the meds were out of my system (10 days…) she got back to normal eating, which for her is still a long time – an hour per feeding!
She is so stinking sweet that this week she started to be more interested in smiling up at me than just eating. She’s getting distracted a little easier and is just SO social. She wants to smile and smile. Before this week the girl was mission: eat. Now if Kye dumps out his car bucket, the dogs bark, or even if I cough she’ll come off the breast. It’s a normal change as she’s just becoming more aware of her surroundings. Along with this she is exploring more with her hands and moves them around a lot while nursing too.
Schedule: Her schedule is the same as week nine. Taking two hours to eat at each feeding pretty much screwed up the schedule though. I continued to feed her at the time I was supposed to but a lot of her naps were shorter because she’d take so long to eat. She also got very little awake time this week. I missed Zach, but I also missed Britt!
More About Britt This Week:
- She cannot stand to lay in her own puke (which who would want to?!?!). Thankfully we have a video monitor because I can see when she is crying due to puke and can go in, wipe her off, and move her so she’ll go back to sleep.
- She is back to sleeping solid through the night until 6:45. Good timing too because with Zach gone I needed that solid sleep myself!
- I ADORE her huge gummy smile. It’s precious
- She’s starting to burp on her own while nursing so I’m not spending a lot of time burping her like I used to
- She’s also less gassy, we use the Mylicon still but I don’t have to pump her legs and do all of that mess. I think she just grew out of the gassy stage.
- The whole time I was on meds she nursed for 2 hours and had bad diarrhea. Medicine has always really affected me. Like dayquill will knock me out. I’m thinking she’s the same way because when I had to take mastitis meds with Kye I never remember him having these issues?
All swaddled up!
She had her first MEGA blow out. She poop through her diaper, through her onesie, through her pants, through the swaddle and onto the mat I have covering her sheet. You can tell it was a rough one!!!
Prior to this week I had been running the humidifier at each nap and through the night to help her congestion. She seemed to be getting better so I put it away. It’s funny that I learn so many new things this time around…I never knew that you aren’t supposed to put the humidifier on wood services or on any material. We have always ran Kye’s on his dresser (wood) with a towel (cloth) under it. Oops. We now get one of our metal folding chairs from the attic to put it on when needed!
Britt found her hand this week! When she wasn’t eating she was sucking away on it. Although she enjoys it, I don’t think it’s a “need.” As when I swaddled her to go to sleep she didn’t fuss about not being able to get to her hand.
I had her play airplane for the first time this week, she loves it! But I have to be sure to cover my shirt with burp rags or I will have puke all over me haha
She still is not a good paci baby. She will take it occasionally and we only offer it when it’s really needed. Pretty much only if she will not sleep towards the end of a nap. She sucks that thing SO hard. You can see the outline of it around her mouth during her bath time!!!
I really enjoyed our bath time together, I get why Zach loves it so much with the kids!
Here’s some more pictures from this week:
I LOVE that she’s so big, I don’t have to worry too much about Kye accidentally hurting her!
Kye wanted to use my camera so he took these pictures of us:
My girl!
Postpartum Update: I spent the week feeling very, very tired and worn out. I felt a ton of guilt about Kye. He wasn’t getting my best at all. I felt like I was nursing non-stop. Kye’s behavior reflected my lack of parenting. He did not do well with Daddy away. Typically Zach will bring him home a “prize” when he is out of town for more than a night or so. It helps keep him motivated to do well for me. Well, this time he did not get his prize. He acted out more. I was more easily frustrated. It just wasn’t a good mix. I’m thankful he had school and had his grandparents to help keep him happy when I simply couldn’t do it.
I had to pump after each nursing session and in the middle of the night to help fully empty my breasts with the mastitis. After a couple days of it though, I quit the extra pumping. She was eating for so dang long I was sure my breasts were getting empty enough!!! I didn’t want to be sending my body the message to make more milk either!
I lost (probably thanks to all the nursing haha) 1.2 lb this week and only have 4 left to go to be my pre-pregnancy weight!!! I have lost 5 lb total since starting Weight Watchers and can officially wear my pre-pregnancy jeans again 🙂 Yay!
Our little family was SO thankful when Daddy returned home!!! We survived it! We also grew and learned from it, which in my perspective is the most important thing to remember during a tough situation.
Just the three of us!
It’s ironic that the week that Brittlynn took 2 hours to nurse is the same week that, when Kye was her age, he started taking only 15 minutes to nurse…maybe someday Britt will speed it up 😉 I will gladly have her longer feedings with her great napping though…she’s MUCH better than Kye was. You can read all about Kye’s 10th week here!
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Landon's first weeks of life, he took about an hour and a half to eat! He did that for almost the first 8 weeks! And he would eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours! I definitely felt like I was always nursing! I remember my friends saying that one day he would only take about 10 minutes! I just couldn't imagine it! Eventually it happened though! 🙂 Such special memories with him though!
Hi Emily! I have been reading your blog for a while…I think this is my first time to comment. I was wondering if it makes you nervous to lay Britt down flat in her crib with her reflux issues. My daughter (Kye's age) was a horrible spitter upper! I mean I have no idea how the child gained weight. I was always soooo nervous to lay her down flat. For the first six months of her life she slept in a bouncy seat or in her car seat. The child has never slept through the night (consistently) and I really think it is because we were always changing where/how she slept. Anyway, I was just wondering if you propped her or her mattress up or anything????
@3453a07940e0194c0ed84553d8f7d038 kye was a BIG spitter too,..we tried using a wedge with her (under the sheet of course) and she just slides right down it. She moves a TON in her sleep so there really isn't anything we can think of to try. she seriously spits up SO much like it soaks through a thick burp rag and everything. I think it's because I produce so much milk…she is getting too much and spits up what she doesn't need??? kye was the same way!!! i have had one time where she spit up and it went in her nose and she couldn't breathe. thankfully we have both an angel care monitor and a video monitor so i feel like we'd catch it if it were to happen while in her crib. I also find she typically spits up at lot right after eating but then it stops soon after. we have always done sleep training so i've never had either of my kids sleep in a car seat or anything like that. I have heard a lot of people love to put their babies in the swing though with relux issues. and i would recommend to hold her upright after feeding her for awhile as that tends to help!
Katherine Brown i am SO glad you commented!!!!! i feel like i am the only mama to have such a slllllow nurser, i'm so thankful to hear that someday she WILL speed up 😉