Colic...Definitely of the Devil

First let me say that we had an amazing Thanksgiving Holiday. The family came by and we had a blast. Since every one was at my house for the festivities it was a little exhausting but all in all well worth it.

The Lawrences on Thanksgiving Day

Now, on to the adventure of having a newborn. I would like to preface this post by stating I do not agree with creating terms or words that have absolutely no true meaning. You know these types of words, they are the ones where the word you are trying to define is used in the definition. For instance procrastination is the act of procrastinating ( I am not sure if this is the definition I just wanted to have an example...you get my drift). Such a word to me is colic. Pediatricians and baby books throw that word around like it actually means something and if your baby has colic or is colicky then there is a treatment or list of steps to take to abate it....WRONG. For some reason these experts created the term colic which essentially just means your baby is fussy for no reason. Instead of creating the term as if it is treatable, just say that your baby is fussy for no reason.  I've done a ton of research to see if there is some way to treat colic and in the end the answer is NO. Basically, you should plant your feet and prepare yourself for piercing gut-wrenching crying that will last hours and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it or make it better.

Last night my cub went into one of these crying rages which essentially put me and Papa Bear in the 11th circle of Hell (Dante obviously did not have kids so he was not aware of the additional levels of Hell). For almost three hours my cub cried and flailed about. We changed diapers, fed, burped, rocked, swung, bathed, and swaddled our cub, resulting only in exhausting ourselves. I tried everything I had read including skin to skin contact. Needless to say me sitting in my living room half naked with my cub was a waste of time. Oh and the 5 S  thing met it's match in my cub because he wasn't having it. If you aren't aware of the 5 S's it's five recommendations for soothing or calming your baby. A lot of experts, including the all-knowing Dr. Phil, swear by them. I'm not saying they don't work; I'm only saying that my cub was not responding to it last night. If you ever find yourself in our shoes try them...heck I say try any and everything.

Of course as he escalated in his rage this caused him to get hot and sweat which caused him to fuss more. It seemed as if nothing could or would please him. I must have borrowed some patience from my Heavenly Father because amazingly I did not become frustrated last night. Believe me if you don't have children it's very easy to become frustrated during such times. After three hours of pain my cub finally calmed down and went to sleep. As I watched him drift off all I could think was "Son, you better be glad I love you". Then I kissed his forehead and laid him down for the night...well for the next three hours.

A Good Nite's Sleep

So the mother-in-law (I actually hate this term so going forward she will be referred to as The Abuela) took complete baby duty all night last night. I actually went to bed around 10 p.m. and did not wake up until after 5 a.m. The husband and I are so grateful. I woke this morning actually feeling rested. It has been a while since I have slept through the night. While I was pregnant sleeping became impossible so even before the arrival of my cub I have been sleep deprived.

Well thanks to a good night's sleep I was able to do some things with my cub that for the past weeks I have felt too tired to do or time did not permit me to do because I would try to nap as soon as my soon took one.  I suited up the cub and we went for his first stroll. My sister was here to help me clean so she tagged along and brought our dog Pancho. Just as we are enjoying our stroll my amazing dog stops in a neighbor's yard and you're probably already ahead of me...poops. Great!!! I brought everything I could think of for the baby (just in case stuff...what can I say I'm a new mom and sometimes I overdo it) but I did not bring the bags so I could pick up behind my pup. So to fix the problem we stole one of the neighbor's newspapers  to scoop up the poop. Now hold your horses. I know what you're thinking which is worse stealing a newspaper or leaving poop in a neighbor's yard. Well it was one of the junk mail newspapers...you know the one they send to every house full of local coupons and stuff. Plus my thought was they couldn't care about it since it was still in the driveway. Anyways, the cub enjoyed our little outing and I am glad too because mommy needs to start doing something towards addressing the new mommy figure she has.

When we got back to the house I fed the cub and put him down for a nap. When he woke up I was still feeling good so we had a blast playing on his baby mat. As I type this I realize I have no idea what that thing is called but it's one of those development toys where you place the baby on his back and there are toys dangling above his head for him to try to reach. He absolutely loved it. We even danced to his Baby Einstein DVD. He actually likes some of the music. Every time I play it he becomes completely quiet and you can tell he is really focused (this could all just totally be in my head). So I realized that I need to rest well at night. It allows me to interact and play with my cub instead of feeding him and trying to find ways to make him fall asleep so I can nap too. I'm ashamed a little to admit that's all I do everyday. But now I see a new way and it is all in a good night's sleep.