Are there any moms out there that are familiar with colic?
There probably are.
Now are there any moms that have lived with a colicky baby?
That's a whole 'nother story, eh?
I knew after about 4 days that Oliver had colic. There was no denying it. I knew babies were supposed to cry a lot, but I had a hunch that mine cried a little too much. But I didn't think much into it bc in the literature it states that one must cry for at least 3 hours a day for 3 weeks for it to be positively classified as colic. 4 days was nowhere near 3 weeks. So I went on with my business.
A week and a half after bringing Oliver home the crying had not stopped. I thought perhaps I'll use gripe water or anti gas medicine, since you see, with colic comes lots of gas. Back in the day it was thought that colic was caused by a underdeveloped digestive system hence the baby would get terrible gas and not be able to expel it, causing immense pain. This is exactly what my mother and every aunt was telling me. But at a week and a half, he was too young to be able to take any medicine.
It's pretty horrible to see your new baby screaming in pain. He would have a very hard belly and push and push trying to get rid of the gas. Then when he would pass gas he would cry in such agony. Again, this is heartbreaking. We dealt with this for about the first month. I was thinking that maybe he was lactose intolerant and his body was not handling cow's milk very well, but the problem was that he was gaining weight very well, not spitting up at all and having regular bowel movements. But I thought, I'll switch to the Similac Sensitive since it is for gas and fussiness just to see what happens.
HE'S CURED!!!! Was my first thought after we switched formulas. It's like we had a different baby. He wasn't gassy, he actually just hung out with us and he began smiling. It was a miracle! [Not to say he didn't have a few hours of crying here and there of course]. At the same time I was on edge thinking, when is he gonna start screaming? I was having a hard time enjoying the silence. I was pleased to see that he was perfectly up to par with his milestones though, since I was getting worried that with the constant crying he would be behind. In a month I had not been able to play with my baby. He either slept, fed or cried with only small pockets of silence. This was amazing. He would still cry of course, he is a baby after all. But not to the same capacity!
Then 3 days ago hit. He was really fussy all day and crying a lot. But not regular crying, screaming in pain crying. The next day, the same thing. After 7 consecutive hours of screaming I called the consulting nurse for Group Health. She said to take him to Urgent Care just to make sure he was okay. So at 10:30 at night we went. He is completely healthy, thank goodness, but he had a definitive diagnosis of colic. This sort of pissed me off bc I was so mad at myself for not realizing that. We had such a great 3 and a half weeks that I forgot what it was like for him to cry constantly. It coulda saved me a trip to the hospital. The Pediatrician said that there's nothing we can do except for wait it out. He said it's supposed to peak after 6 weeks and be over after 3 months. Seeing as he began from birth, we've only got 1 more month of this! I'm so stoked. He's been better today and yesterday so I see good things on the horizon.
If you're wondering what colic is if it isn't an underdeveloped digestive system then I'll tell you. It is when a baby is overly sensitive to it's surroundings therefore cries. It is completely random as well. There is nothing you can do to prevent it and nothing you can do to make it occur. The hardening of the belly is from the baby inhaling so much air from crying.,then being gassy from the excess air in their system. So there you go. Sounds fun huh?
There is a possibility that the colic could last longer than the 3 months but I'm not too worried about it. Thankfully me and George are laid back enough that the crying isn't so bad. We're good at hadling it. It's just painful to see Oliver in pain. That's the only reason I get frustrated. How do I make him feel better? Why can't I make him feel better? Again, I'm extrememly thankful knowing it's just colic and not anything more serious. Also I know I'll be able to handle another baby perfectly. All I know is a fussy baby, so if I get another one, it's gonna be a piece of cake, but if I get a 'normal' baby then it'll be even easier! I'd rather have the second time around be easier then the first, that's for sure!
I have to thank the nurses at Group Health. They really made me feel like a great parent. They said that they weren't used to seeing new parents be able to handle a crying baby so well. They said that they see a lot of freak outs. I feel good knowing that I'm doing all I can and freaking out isn't going to make it better and that others around me take notice of that. And I'm pretty sure everyone wanted to come in and see Oliver. Some even held him. Ha! He's a cutie! He knows how to attract the female nurses! And I get the comment that he has the perfect baby head pretty often. Random, right? But I see it. His head is perfectly round.
And my Bubbas now weights 12 lbs 2 oz. Just 5 days ago he was 11 lbs 13 oz! Geez kid!
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