Sunday, May 4, 2008

Holy Crap!

Himaya is fast approaching her 1st month birthday (wow... that was fast). In the last 3 1/2 weeks, as expected, I have learned a lot about being a parent. One of the most surprising things that recently come to my attention is the astounding quantity of money Em and I will spend on diapers throughout her life. I know she needs changing no more than the average baby, but she has a knack for peeing and/or pooing only seconds after changing her. We try waiting a minute to make sure she is really done, but even that has fallen through. We are starting to feel like we are just wrapping her butt in dollar bills.

In other news... we have decided that she might have colic. We looked online and through a lot of books, and it describes pretty much what we are seeing about every night. It seems at times as though there is nothing we can do to console her, and she just screams her head off. We keep checking her diaper and trying to feed her, but nothing doing. I am sure beyond a doubt that our neighbors hate us. Each night she will scream and scream... we are learning tricks to temporarily placate her. However, as soon as you stop the repeated shhh shhh shhh sounds or slow the bouncing/rocking, she starts right back up. After a few hours, she gets tired enough that she will fall asleep. According to all sources, it shouldn't last more than a few weeks to a few months... that makes for a pretty dim light at the end of the tunnel. For the mean time, we stopped by Babies R Us yesterday and bought her a bouncer. It plays music and vibrates... at times it's enough to keep her calm, but if she is already mad it does nothing to help the situation.

6 comments:

Tara said...

Sorry guys, colic is rough! We're hoping to escape the horror this go around, but GraceAnne had it full force. I remember well the screaming from 7pm-11pm and the neighbors hating us. Maybe it's no help, but it turned out Gracie had severe reflux thanks to a milk allergy we didn't know about and meds helped tremendously at the time. That and her Fisher Price cradle swing and a Daddy who is a professional baby bouncer were our only saving graces.

This too shall pass. Remember you CAN get up and walk away if you need to. Hugs to you all!

Tara said...

P.S. I say milk allergy--she was breastfed, too and the milk I was drinking was hurting her. I pray there's an answer and that it lets up soon and that you all go on to have many restful nights soon!

Katie said...

Emily I found your blog through Emily Malinkas

Maggie was the same way screamed 5-9 slept a little then screamed some nights from 10-2 am. With Ellie though right away I eliminated, milk products, chocolate, tomatoes, and spicy stuff and she was a TOTALLY different baby, also gripe water and regular gas drops work WONDERS. Seriously hope some of this helps, if so you'll notice a difference RIGHT away!

Lynette said...

*nudge* cloth diapers = eco friendly AND wallet friendly (in the long run)

Lynette said...

oh, yeah regarding your possible colic problem...

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/index.php

I can't stress to you how helpful it is to the have the advice of a gazillion moms at your fingertips!

Maranda said...

Hey my little man had colic but there is a end in site although I hope it isn't as long as mine. Gage stopped with the colic when he hit 4 months. One day he just stopped crying it was amazing. I don't have any great words of wisdom because nothing ever helped my little one. Good luck
Maranda