Smiley Face

We have definitely been in the midst of the worst screaming days yet. I would say that 5 days a week Luke ends up in screaming fits that last for over an hour. Most of the day we can manage to keep him from erupting into a full-blown fit, but by dinnertime all attempts to calm him tend to break down and fail. Then we are forced to listen to him scream and scream until he finally decides to give in and go to bed for the night. I decided to take a couple of pictures of Luke while screaming to post in his Gallery. Please note that I have not done this because I am a bad mother taking pictures of her screaming son rather than picking him up and comforting him (as if that does much good when he is in one of these screaming periods anyway). Rather, I decided to do this to better represent what these days are actually like. If we are to accurately represent his first few weeks of life, screaming must be a part of that documentation.

The one good thing I have to say about this week is that Luke has started to take to his new swing.  During the morning and early afternoon I can often get him to take some good naps in the swing, and you have to be happy for what blessings you have with a colicky baby.

Luke is six weeks old today, and they say this is the peak period for colic and that the hours of fussiness and crying start to drop off after this week.  I guess that is what keeps us going at this point.  He has been really tough the past few days.  We have developed a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing, and we say that if he is awake he is crying.  Sadly, it is not far from the truth.  I think right now there are a total of 15 minutes a day where Luke is awake, not eating, and content to just chill.  Otherwise, he is screaming and crying if I am not actively working at preventing the screaming.  This means a lot of time in the Bjorn or with me holding him tightly on his side against my chest while rocking and holding a pacifier in his mouth.  And this is the day at 6 weeks.

Good news is that nasal congestion has started to clear up a lot and that Luke is now able to spend the whole night in his crib.  Both of those things have made for better sleep for me even if not many more hours of sleep.

The screamer made his return at 9 am this morning.  I carried him around in the Bjorn most of the morning, and he was fine.  Unfortunately, I eventually tire of hauling him around like that and need a break.  He tried out the new swing so I could get the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded and sit down for a cup of tea.  He screamed bloody murder the entire time…the whole 20 minutes I took a break.  He is currently in the bouncy seat in his room.  I am not sure if he is asleep, but these are the first few moments of peace and solace we have had in 6 hours.

I guess that rather than only writing about the really bad days I should write about the good days too.  Saturday was a good day.  In the morning I took Brooke and Luke to the park (Luke in the Bjorn) and to Target to get a new swing and some other small items (Luke in Bjorn).  There were no hysterical crying fits.  During afternoon nap time I could only get Luke to sleep on his own for about 30 minutes, but then he settled down and slept another hour when I held his pacifier in his mouth and rocked him.  Normally I would not do this, but it prevented a fit and allowed me to sit and watch the US vs. Italy in the World Cup.  It was not until we all piled in the car to return the swing with the missing pieces to Wal-mart that Luke started his screaming fit.  However, he stopped as soon as we got out of the car and he got in the Bjorn.  We ended up making it all the way until bedtime at 8:45 before he really started to get inconsolable.  He screamed on and off for about 20-30 minutes about going to bed (poor Brooke in the next room), but then he settled down for the night.  For Luke, this is about as good as it gets.

I had no idea that one small child could generate so much noise for so long.  How could his throat not get too raw and sore to scream anymore?  I expected him to stop and ask for a lozenge at any moment.  We were pretty much combatting the screaming for about 12 hours today.  He even screamed for a good 15 minutes of walking around the neighborhood in the stroller.  The Baby Bjorn was a lifesaver twice today in that he fell asleep in there for a short time as long as I kept moving.  The swing had not worked in the past, but today it had better results.  That is until the batteries died after 10 minutes.  This was the second set of new batteries we put in the swing, so we decided it must be the swing and not the batteries.  Scott ran out and got another swing tonight only to get home and find it was missing pieces.  So, we are back at square one with the swing but are hoping to get yet another one and that it will help in the future.

Most pediatricians see newborns at 2 weeks and 2 months, but ours has a one month visit to get a follow-up Hepatitis-B shot.  The first one is given in the hospital and the second must be given in the next month.  So, Luke went in for his one month checkup (he was actually 5 weeks) yesterday.  His weight is up to 9 pounds, 9 ounces and length is up to 22 inches.  He is around 25th percentile in weight and 50th percentile in length.  The doctor was a little concerned about his rapid weight gain since the last appointment, but he said it probably had to do with the fact that he was born a little earlier than 40 weeks and that we have been trying to figure out his crying signals that are not necessarily hungry issues.

Luke was pronounced to be perfectly healthy and developing well, but we spent a long time talking about some of the concerns and difficulties we are having.  He thinks Luke’s nasal congestion could be coming from breathing through his nose so much, the mucous generated from his crying fits, and remnant pregnancy hormones in his system from me.  We were told to continue the saline drops and use of the nasal aspirator and to try a humidifier at night.  Otherwise, this will just have to clear on its own.

The fussiness might be considered to be colic, but the ped is less concerned with giving it a name and more concerned with how we are going to manage Luke’s fussing and crying.  Our ped is a little strange in his appearance and demeanor, but I love that he always reassures me and that his philosophy is in line with my natural mothering instincts.  The ped said that this is perfectly normal in some babies’ development and that some are just more difficult than others.  He said that I seem to be understanding Luke’s signals and needs well and am doing a good job trying all different ways to soothe him and help to meet his needs.  He gave me a few other suggestions such as more walks and putting him on his belly for 5-10 minutes in his crib.  He also suggested that I try to get some time away to help me feel better about dealing with the fussing and crying.  Overall, he was very supportive and encouraging, and this too should end within 2-3 months. Right now that seems like an awfully long time away when I am physically and emotionally exhausted, and I just hope that I can learn more about how to better help Luke so that this is easier on all of us.

It is hard to believe that Luke turned one month old on Friday.  The days all seem to go by in a haze of feeding, changing diapers, trying to get Luke to sleep, and screaming and yet it doesn’t feel like we have been doing this for a whole month.  Luke is definitely becoming more aware of his surroundings and environment, and this seems to be good and bad right now.  I like that now I can hold him and have him really focus his gaze upon me and see some recognition in his eyes.  It’s like he is saying “hi mom” with his eyes.  On the other hand, he seems to be getting easily over-stimulated by the home environment.  I guess I understand why he would be over-stimulated by the crazy big sister, mother, father, and crazy doberman who share the house with him.  I have a really hard time getting him soothed and able to sleep during the day, and most of the time that he has been awake lately have involved crankiness and general unrest.  So, there are no official one month old pictures to share with this post.  Hopefully I will be able to get one tomorrow when Brooke is no longer sick with a stomach bug (that we are desperately hoping Luke does not pick up from her) and I am able to spend a little more time playing with him and taking some pictures.

Luke is now in his third week and is doing well.  Sleeping at night is going much better this week other than the continued problems with his nasal congestion.  We got him a new sleep positioner for the pack and play (where he sleeps in our room at night) that has a small pillow attachment, and that seems to be helping him by elevating his head a little.  As a last resort, he will sleep part of the night sitting up in the carseat.

Days, however, have become a little more difficult.  He still has fairly regular awake periods in the morning and early evening.  Getting him back to sleep at the end of those times has become more and more of a challenge.  Yesterday he was up for 6 hours in the morning before we managed to get him down for a nap, and then it was only for an hour.  In the evening the awake periods seem to turn into periods of nearly inconsolable crying episodes.  I guess I would describe it as mildly colicky behavior.  Not fun.  So, if you are wondering why you have not heard from me and have not received an email, thank you note, or birth announcement yet, this would be the reason.