I totally did not have time to check in this past week with the family here and just ya know life! So I’m catching you up on the last two weeks! Here we go!
The most important thing I want you to know is that I signed up for a newborn class that changed everything for me. Jenna mentioned @takingcarababies on her Instagram stories and after poking around a bit I impulsed purchased her newborn class and 4-5 month bundle. BEST DECISION EVER.
I bought it with the intent to learn how to get him to sleep through the night, but the immediate benefit has been him sleeping in 20-40 minute stretches every 60-90minutes throughout the day. That means time to get ready without my foot on the bouncer, eat, and generally take care of myself which has been life-changing.
A friend asked me to share five things with her I learned from the class because as a second-time mom she was the fence about purchasing it. Totally understandable so I thought I would share with you guys too!
- The CRIES method for calming baby at any time.
- Teaching baby to fall asleep on his home with no crying in the crib.
- Sleep-Wake Windows and why the answer isn’t always breastfeeding when you are out with a fussy baby.
- How to stretch night sleep for every little night.
- Information on SIDS, changing recommendations and safety changes over the years.
Hope that helps if you are on the fence!
Body Changes
I’ve lost about 25lbs at this point. I still have 10-15 lbs to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and a little more than that for my miscarriage/holiday weight before that. I’m setting a goal of about 5lbs a month, give or take. Ultimately, I’d like to be back at my “happy weight” by my birthday in July.
There are two important things to me during this process. First, that I enjoy my time with my newborn and not feel overly restricted. Second, that I keep my milk supply up. I don’t want to endanger my milk supply by losing weight too fast.
Breastfeeding
Successes:
- Baby was cleared by the Pediatrician for not having thrush.
- My pain resolved significantly.
- I ordered this flange set to go with my pump which significantly increased the output of my pumping sessions and decreased the pain.
- I’ve been using the Haaka in the early morning to get an extra ounce or so.
Challenges:
- Latching – sometimes baby refuses to latch. Especially when he is overtired or extremely fussy. Those time he won’t take a pacifier or anything. Sometimes if I can stop the craziness before it escalates I can get him to take a pacifier then kind of bate and switch. It isn’t every time but when it happens, it’s the WORSE.
Sleep
The longest stretch we’ve gotten so far is almost four hours. But I’m still only waking up twice a night which I can totally handle. For the most part, babe goes right back to sleep so I don’t have too many complaints right now! I’m using the Sprout sleep app to keep track of his sleep. I’m glad I am because sometimes in the middle of the night when he wakes up I have no idea when we last went back to bed. I’m too tired for those details haha. The app helps me realize it’s been 30 minutes so I need to try to get him back to sleep or 2+ hours and it’s time to feed. Same thing with daytime naps!
Symptoms/Recovery
Bleeding/Cramping: Week 5 was full of awful cramping but week 6 has been much better. Fingers crossed but I might be done with both!
Appetite/Thirst: This is super up and down. One day I’m crazy hungry and thirsty the next I’m not.
Emotional/Wellbeing
The 20-30 minutes naps every 60-90 minutes feel like a gift from the heavens. I can shower, eat, and just generally take care of myself. Of course, there is never enough time in the day still, but I feel so much better! It also helps that Mr. Hungry takes over most of the days on the weekends (hence why I’m writing this post.) So I can really have a break. I run errands, go to the store, shoot recipes, do a little writing. I try to get out of the house as much as possible by myself.
As far as Mr. Hungry and I, we’ve planned childcare for at least one Christmas party. We are still looking into finding more consistent childcare starting in January though, then we will build in date nights etc.
Nala
During naptime, I have to lock Nala out of the room so her loud nails and shaking off don’t wake the baby during those precious 20-40 minutes. Often times when I come out of the room from putting him down she is sweetly sleeping on the couch. Other times she is sitting outside the door. And occasionally she has grabbed something she shouldn’t and is sitting there with it in her mouth. During naptime, I try to make time to play a game with her or just generally give her extra love. That way she associates getting locked out of the room temporarily with something positive.
Luckily she had lots of extra time with the family this past week and she really warmed up to my nephew. By the time he left, they were BEST FRIENDS.
Workouts
During week 5 I was having those TERRIBLE cramps and I read online it could be related to me “overdoing it” so I took a few days off. I really missed my walks during this time but we are back at it. I’m hoping I get cleared to get workouts other than walking in next week!
What I’m Loving this Week
- Infant Optics Monitor
- Soothiesand Wubbnubs
- The sound machine nowmore than ever
- Ergobaby 360with infant insert(love it so much more than my moby)
- Oh and we are back to using our swaddleme swaddles!
And with that little man seems to be going through his 6-week growth spirt so I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend!
Kelli! You are doing great, momma! Hang in there! The sleep thing was rough for us for A LONG time, so I think it’s great you are following a plan early on eheheh! 🙂
It’s a journey. Everyday you’ll find new things that you need to do. But you will love it.
So true!
Gosh I wish I could give you advice but the first few months were such a blur for me! I’m glad you’re feeling good though, sleep makes such a difference overall!
sleep is now more valuable than precious metals, money, food, or anything else in my life ha ha