Week 5 Postpartum: Going out for the first time and another growth spurt?

Monday, August 5th~Sunday, August 11th

The week started with baby still feeding a lot on Monday, but at night, after we bathed her, she fell asleep quickly and slept for four hours straight. Every time she woke up, she would sleep for another 3 hours. In the mornings my husband would let her sleep on his belly. She really loves it and usually ends up sleeping there for another 2 hours.

On Tuesday we went to a shopping mall with my in-laws. I expressed some milk to take with me and I also started expressing milk for Thursday when I had to go to Osaka.
Baby was very quiet during the car ride and the while time she was in the stroller. She really seems to enjoy going out, she didn't even cry once. After two and a half hours outside she started to get hungry, so I gave her the bottle and she was quiet again.
I enjoyed being outside the home so much! At home I would always just wear my bra, so I could feed the baby quickly and no make up and the hair in a messy bun. It felt good to get dressed up and be a part of society again.

We arrived back home at noon and as soon  as we were home she wanted to feed again and got very fussy.
I assumed it was overstimulating, so I fed her and took her to her bed to quiet down. I felt like ages until she fell asleep. She must have been exhausted, because she only woke up from her nap to feed.
That night we skipped going for a walk and let her rest. She slept another 4 hour stretch that night and I was hoping that this would be a regular thing now.

Wednesday morning started off good with two more 3 hour stretches between feeding, but at noon she started cluster feeding and would not stop crying until I gave her the boob.
She had another long nap in the afternoon and I noticed that this was a regular occurrence now. She would sleep until around 10 am, be fussy and feeding a lot during noon and then pass out for a long nap in the afternoon. 
The night from Wednesday to Thursday we didn't get a 4 hour sleep stretch, but we got 3 hours and another 3 and a half hours. Unfortunately she wouldn't fall back asleep immediately after feeding which left me very tired on Thursday.

Thursday was the day I had to go to Osaka, so I woke up early, expressed some more milk and left the baby with my husband. I was worried she might not drink the milk from the fridge, but she did.
After around 4 hours away I came back home. It was nice to get away from the baby for once. I felt like my old self again.
My husband told me she had puked out a lot of the bottled milk, so after I  came home I immediately fed her. It was a relief for my boobs, as they had gotten quite engorged. There was still some bottled milk left that I planned to use on her face. It really helped with the baby acne and cradle cap. It had gotten way better.

Since it was her one month birthday that day I took some cute pictures of her with the hairbands I got. I was planning to make a picture album for her first year, but so far I didn't get to it. I knew if I didn't start soon I would end up not doing it, but it was difficult to get out with the baby. I promised myself to start once my husband was back to work.

From Thursday to Friday we got yet another 4 hour and one 3 hour stretch. I was confident at that point that this was a regular thing. 
Thursday would also be the best day yet so far in regards to feedings.
She was only feeding 9 times that day and even though her feedings were all longer than 10 minutes the total was 1 hour 40 minutes that day. I was so happy that she was finally getting more efficient at feeding and started imagining all the things we could do once she didn't need my boob anymore all the time.

That dream would end the next day though.
Saturday started off well, but from noon we were back to feeding every 1-2 hours again.
I felt like we were regressing again.

Friday was also the day my husband had to get back to work (only one day though), so that ment cooking would be up to me again. I was glad we still had some leftovers from the day before, because baby was extremely fussy and wouldn't let me put her down.
Her feeding sessions also got incredibly long all of a sudden. The longest session was over 20 minutes.
In the afternoon afternoon I went grocery shopping with my MIL. As always baby was very quiet while outside and did not cry once.
She suddenly was ok with no food for a longer period. If it weren't almost 40 degrees outside I would take her for walks more often, since it seems to calm her down a lot.

On Saturday things got even worse. It started off with the night from Friday to Saturday. We didn't get the usual 4 hour stretch, but baby woke up ever 2 and a half hours and every time she woke up she was extremely fussy at the boob. The only longer stretche of sleep I got was when she slept on my husband's tummy again in the morning.
Her sessions were still longer than usual and she would scream if not fed every 1-1 and a half hours. I tried to stretch it as long as possible, but her screaming got so bad, that it was impossible. 
I wondered if she had another growth spurt with all the cluster feeding going on.
With the feeding sessions getting longer she also started spitting up more. It got so bad that she got a rash on her neck from all the spit up milk. I also had to change her frequently. I wondered if that was normal or if she maybe had reflux.

I decided to ask the doctor about it at the one month appointment next Thursday.