The jury is still out, but here is what just happened:
The baby was fussing and crying uncontrollably for no discernible reason and yes we got the big "C" word diagnosis from the pediatrician the other day: colic. There I said it out loud. Or wrote it out loud. Whatever. Anyway, she has been feeding like a fiend all day so can't possibly be hungry. I just recently changed her diaper, and her icky stomach issues did not seem to be making an appearance -- no gurgly noises, spit-up, or classic "my tummy hurts" motions (I'm learning a lot, though I still am a pretty clueless mommy). So this was it, just our sweet baby doing the colicky thing and me thinking "there is no way I can handle this for 9 more weeks or so." I love her, I promise, but sometimes I want to put her back. As I referred to in the previous post, this is harder than I thought it would be. And I knew it would be very hard. But then I am not so much your classic mommy-type, so it may be easier for other people with more patience.
Chris and I had watched The Happiest Baby on the Block a couple weeks ago during our very first sleepless night in which the babe would not be put down, had tried the 5 s's and found them helpful but not the God-send advertised.
But, I just decided to try them again. "Save us, Dr. Karp," I said to the cosmos. So I swaddled her--meh. Then I held her on her side. This does usually calm her down a little bit--at least for a good couple minutes. Then I stuck a pacifier in her-she does not like that much. Then I started to move her around like a jello jiggler--again with meh results. Then I shushed her a bunch and realized I would not be able to keep it up. I told Chris we needed a white noise machine and he said he had something on his i-phone. So... we turned it on, put it right up to baby's ear and she started to settle down. Within one minute she was silent and a few minutes later she was a-sleep. We looked at each other as though we had just won the lottery. Could it be? Oh please oh please, Dr. Karp and God, let this keep working!
And yes, parenting a newborn IS all I think about right now though the fog is starting to lift.
4 comments:
I SWEAR by "The Happiest Baby on the Block". It prevented me from selling little Scarlett to terrorists! ;-) Seriously, if you do the five C's routinely, she'll be sleeping through the night ASAP!
Colic explains the whole she turned red while crying thing that night I was over. I wondered if she could really be your child. Adele was not chill at all. I think I would have just locked myself in the closet for the next 18 years so three cheers to you for not doing that. Once the colic ends and her real personality comes out, I think she'll be more fun.
Props to lcd for using an iphone app to calm his baby. She truly is a child of the smart phone generation.
It worked for both of my boys who both had colic. I did not get the method from Dr Karp, but have since watched it on youtube. It is the best method. Be careful if it continues past 4 months, it may be more serious reflux.
abz - she has her moments, but they are not all like that. she only did the unexplainable crying thing for maybe an hour today and part of the day she was delightful. but yeah, you might be better off waiting a couple months for the next visit if you want to interact with a happy baby.
Post a Comment