27 December 2009

Is Dr. Karp my hero?

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.

13 December 2009

Holy crap, parenting is hard!


Our sweet little girl, Adele Regine, was born on December 5th at 7:24 am. I know I am biased, but I think she is pretty gorgeous for a newborn. We love her, but this is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done. Labor and delivery was hard, but taking care of her sweet butt is harder! Kudos to all the amazing parents out there.

03 December 2009

Nothing to say

Seriously. Not working and waiting around for a baby to make her exit will do that. I think I'll go do some more tidying, go for a walk, and then read a book.