How has it already been six weeks, guys? Time seriously flies and babies most definitely do not keep – the bitter part to the “bittersweet” that is motherhood. I am sharing about postpartum week five and six as well as bringing you a sweet giveaway with Blanqi! If you follow me on social media, you know that a few weeks back I was able to try out their postpartum leggings and oh. my. goodness. Their leggings are heaven sent! An absolute must-have for expectant and new moms!

Be sure and keep scrolling to catch up with the latest that is going on at our house as well as all of the details to enter the giveaway. If you missed previous postpartum updates, you can catch them here: Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four

HOW I AM FEELING PHYSICALLY:

I am still hanging in there and basically feeling completely myself, with the exception of this darn epidural site. Oh, and not to mention my c-section incision decided to open this past weekend. Let me start with the epidural site…

It’s definitely not shocking to me that I am feeling the pain only because I have experienced it before, I just forgot how much of a headache it is to deal with. Bending over at a 90 degree angle is near impossible. So simple things like putting dishes in the dishwasher or loading laundry into the washer – that type of bending over sparks the pain more than anything else. And the spot where I had my epidural is tender to the touch. I am using an ice pack and heating pad here or there when I feel the need for it.

Now, onto the incision issue. Seriously, I was a bit shocked when I saw that it had bled a bit especially being at the six week mark! It wasn’t anything major and it happened at the same spot of the incision that I had an issue with back on week three. However, at my three week follow up, my OB had said everything looked good. I didn’t do anything strenuous and I haven’t even started on my fitness regimen yet so I am not sure what could have caused it. Perhaps I brushed against something that took of off some of the outside healing/scabbing? I am hoping it’s nothing major and I will make sure and keep you updated with what happens after seeing my OB this next week. When it happened the other night I thought I would be getting into the doctor as soon as I could, but with the holiday this week, trying to make sure Brooks’ gets in to his doctor (more on that below), and the fact that my incision is not currently bleeding, I am going to go in next week like we were planning on anyway. My biggest fear is if it were to get infected. I mean, would there ever be a reason for them to have to re-open it? I think I have seen too much Grey’s Anatomy. And I think I still have PTSD from the birth.

For anyone that has experienced this with their c-section incision, feel free to leave me some advice below. You know, to let me know that my insides won’t be spilling out anytime soon!

MY CURRENT WEIGHT:

Still nothing new to report since my next follow-up with my OB hasn’t happened yet. Fingers crossed all of this chocolate I have been eating for the stress hasn’t changed much in the number department – ha! And because of the incision opening back up, I have postponed all plans to begin any workouts until I get the OK from the doctor.

HOW I AM FEELING MENTALLY:

In being completely honest in documenting the journey, I will say that I have struggled a bit mentally these past two weeks. The exhaustion from being the only one Brooks wants and because he is constantly needing to be soothed… it has been really hard. I don’t get those breaks here or there just to take a time out or refresh and it definitely can get to me at times. Especially when I am feeling so normal again and want to do all things – laundry, cleaning, getting to projects that have stared at me in the face as well as diving back into work. And when I try to let Jarett, the kids or others help, I hear him cry and I come right back to him because he needs me. And because my mama bear instincts kick in. And because he is a mere six weeks old and there is no such thing as spoiling your baby.

Anyway, back to my mental state. I’ve been much more irritable, moody and definitely a bit short with Jarett and the kids from time to time. I notice that my patience runs out a bit quicker at this point in the game and I get stressed out and worried very easily. The apologies come out of my mouth pretty quickly and I know Jarett and the kids understand that it’s circumstantial, but I hate the guilt I carry around for the next day from any episode we have. So I try and take deep breaths more often. And I double fist the chocolate as often as I can.

I am not feeling very confident with the idea of juggling everything and going back to work 100% in the next week or so. I mean, five kids. Running the household now with seven people. Helping Jarett with his business. Running my own. I mean, it has my head spinning. I’m reminding myself that I’m only at week six now so I need to have patience with myself and the circumstances, but it’s hard because hello – real life. Trying to gear myself up for it. Trying to give myself pep talks. We’ll see. And I’m hoping for the best.

I’m also hoping that once we get things figured out with Brooks and his tummy troubles that I will be feeling better and less frazzled and spread thin.

FEEDING:

We are still struggling in this area. Don’t get me wrong, Brooks is feeding well and has plenty of appetite. However, he is still experiencing constipation. He has had a bowel movement consistently every other day and sometimes we can get him to the point of one daily, but the time inbetween each one is miserable. He is fussy, uncomfortable and has to be soothed most of the time. For him and his preference (yes, they start this young), it is constant back patting in sync with “shushing” along with bouncing/pacing or swaying and we do a warm bath every evening. He is uncomfortable enough that he doesn’t really sleep soundly during the day. He may doze for awhile here or there, but he is awake so much that he crashes after his bath in the evening. This is great because it finally allows Jarett and I to get to other things as well as actually sleep, but I don’t like why it happens.

When we switched him to the Enfamil Gentlease, I do think it made a bit of a difference. And just yesterday after sharing some of the struggle on Instagram stories, I had a friend message me with two things that have worked really well for them – Mommy’s Bliss Probiotic Drops and Mommy’s Bliss Gripe Water. We are only about 24 hours into using them so I will keep you updated on how they work for Brooks.

In the meantime, we are headed into the pediatrician tomorrow to make sure nothing else is going on or if he has any other suggestions for us. I am keeping my fingers crossed that something can begin working just so we can feel normal and Brooks can be back to his normal self.

Despite all of the above, Brooks is still eating and staying hydrated. He is drinking 4 fluid ounces every 4 hours or so.

SLEEPING:

As I mentioned, Brooks is awake most of the day or lightly dozing which doesn’t last long. However, we naturally slipped into a night time routine as we have tried to deal with his tummy issues. He is in a warm bath about 7:30 PM every evening, has a bottle right after and just a little after 8:00 PM he konks out and stays asleep until about 2:00 or 3:00 AM. So he is at about a 7 hour stretch of sleep which I can’t ask for more! Hopefully we can get his daytime sleeping adjusted a bit, but I am glad to see he can still get comfortable enough to sleep well at night.

And as usual, I still need to get better at giving myself a bedtime and actually getting proper sleep. My night owl tendencies are back and in full force unfortunately!

BABY’S GROWTH:

We will be in the doc’s office tomorrow with Brooks so I can finally get some numbers on his growth, but he is looking so much older. And of course getting bigger. He has connected eyes and smiled a few times, but nothing consistent yet and he is also holding his head up more and more and working on strengthening those neck muscles.

ADVICE FOR FELLOW MOTHERS ABOUT TO EMBARK ON WEEK FIVE AND SIX:

You will experience bumps in the road. This is now and forever. It doesn’t mean that it’s permanent though. Continue soaking in as much as you can without feeling the rush to get to other things (note to self) and remember to be patient. Don’t overwhelm yourself with the “must do’s” that you have read or have been told about. Tummy time can happen on your chest, holding your baby when he or she is upset instead of letting them cry it out does not make you a bad parent and allowing Baby in your bed, whether it be because you need the extra cuddles or the extra sleep, does not mean he or she will continue to sleep there until they move out and got to college. Remember to relax as much as you can, don’t get caught up in the “rules” and start working on your baby talk voice. Why? Because our little ones will be smiling more and more and they definitely make you work for it sometimes!

NOW ONTO THE GIVEAWAY WITH BLANQI!

Be sure and jump over to my Instagram feed and click on today’s post. It will give you all of the details on how to enter the Black Friday Giveaway and score a pair of their leggings for yourself! Good luck! And if you aren’t all about the contests, be sure and still catch their Black Friday 50% off sale because you can score these leggings as their other ones for 50% off!

I will continue to share in the postpartum journey as the weeks go by. And for all of my fellow expectant and current mamas out there, always feel free to drop in questions below or even post some advice for anything I am going through and experiencing. We gotta stick together! Wink!