Colic

So we discovered why Eli was so fussy. He has colic...and reflux. Poor guy got a double dose! I have read about colic and our godson had colic so while I was pregnant I thought "well if he has colic I'll have clue what I'm in for" WRONG! Colic is a horrible horrible thing. It is dang near impossible to watch your baby cry for hours and hours on end and there is nothing you can do to make it better. On the up side it is always over by 10:30. But on some days it last 5 hours, and couple that with normal baby fussiness during the day and that can be stressful.

I think the best advice was giving to me by another mom on the March board of the Bump. She told me that if they are crying in your arms and you have done everything you know how to; if they are clean, feed, and otherwise "good" they can cry the same in the crib, bassinet, bouncer, swing, whatever as they can in your arms. Put the baby down. Another mommy friend of mine added go get a drink of water, take a quick shower, do something to calm your nerves for 5 minutes. It'll be better for you and better for baby. Truer words have never been spoken.

Now some things help during "colic time". The 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block normally can calm him down. The only thing is with a colic baby they will be calm for a little while (15 minutes if we're lucky) and then BAM! More crying. Sometimes gripe water or colic tablets work. Sometimes it's the vacuum, or walking, or the Moby. There are lots of things that will sometimes work for a few minutes, but nothing works for long enough to make him sleep for longer than 15 minutes.

It is getting a little better most days. He normally is down before 9:30 so that helps!

Don't get me wrong, I have found more joy in being a mommy than anything else I've ever done in my life. I love love love seeing his smiles, watching him discover the world around him and of course cuddle time!! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. And thankfully this is our first child. This is all we know. We don't know what it would be like to have a baby who DIDN'T cry for hours almost every evening.

We are so thankful for Eli and love him so much; however, I wish more mommies had talked to me about how hard the first couple months could be so I am talking about it. I don't think it does anyone any good to sugarcoat the tough stuff. But like I said earlier... mommy-hood, while tough, is the best thing that has ever happened to me.