Well, it would seem that, perhaps, the honeymoon phase of an always sleeping infant came and went at the Brehm house and I am off to buy a lottery ticket. For the countless number of people who swore that no one gets two fussy mcfussertons, I must just be lucky. And thus, my first lotto ticket will be purchased in the very near future {kidding, kidding…sort of}. While the honemoon phase has been over for about two weeks now, I’ve just not wanted to put pen to the paper … to say it is so … to put the truth into the universe because perhaps, it was just the one night… or two… or five. But alas…
First, let me note that I know that babies, in general, are fussy. Some babies {I know of 3. Ever.} are not fussy. I’ve determined that the parents to those content little babes just can’t handle a fussy baby, right? Because that’s what everyone tells a mom with a crying little cupcake, “This is only happening to you because you can handle it”. Um. Have ya met me? Patience is not exactly my strong suit. And the three mothers I know who bypassed fussy babies, well, they could have handled them with much more finesse and grace than I.
So what’s all the fuss about? Well, we don’t quite know and I doubt we really ever will. The fussiness ramped up around the 3 week mark and has progressed from that point. In order to truly chronicle the colic, I should have documented it from day one … but again, I had delusions of grandeur that perhaps, day one, day three and one full week in, were all just fussy flukes. To date, I have completely eliminated dairy from my diet {and will reintroduce at the 4 month mark}. I have steered clear of foods that might agitate acid reflux {tomato sauces, citrus, dairy, wine}. I try to say no way to farty foods {beans, some veggies}. So, I am pretty much living on salad, lunch meat, bratwurst and Vanilla Jo Jo’s … a very balanced diet. I’ve done the 5 S’s {shushing, sucking, swaying, swaddling, side lying} and I may even try them on Jonah soon … hee hee. But here’s the deal when you frolic with colic… it’s just going to take time. And even though I totally know that, I want to have control over the situation… because that’s what moms do, right?
There is a sunny side of the street, however. Barrett would scream for hours on end. Jonah fusses and cries but the true screaming is not truly nonstop for hours. It’s off {for an hour here or there} and then it’s on {for an hour here or there}. When it’s on, well, it’s like donkey kong. But there are sometimes 10 minute blocks where we can quell his cries. Barrett screamed during the daytime. Jonah mostly screams, fusses, fumes, in the evening. From 5:00 to about 9:00 {the true witching hour}, Adam and I take turns swaying, bouncing and jiggling {oh the irony. the same things that got us in this situation…} little Jonah and finally around 9 or 10, he seems to conk out from the spell of colic. The last few days we’ve seen an increase in daytime screaming sessions… but I am crossing my fingers that hitting the 6 week mark means we will soon be at the peak {I’m not just making that up, right?}.
I’ve yet to see Jonah smile, except in his slumber. I can recall actually crying the first time I saw Barrett smile while awake … I cried … finally, he was happy … and then he screamed for three hours straight later that day. Ahhh, the good old days … er, not. And as noted, unless he’s being held, Jonah seems to feel pretty screwed. I am one lucky lady to have a toddler who seems to do fairly well to entertain himself for many moments of the day so I can shush and bounce the babe. I suppose I should thank the good lord that we’ve been down this road before, so we know there’s an end in sight … but, as was captured in my previous post regarding my mommie dearest moments, some days perspective and reason are no where to be found.
Today, I’ve got a handle on it… tomorrow… well, we’ll just have to wait and see…:)
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