I began this blog a few weeks ago like this: Its something I’m writing on my phone so I’ll stay awake and not let Sawyer fall asleep on me. I envy mothers I see who put their infants in a crib then get to sleep or do housework. (I watch the Birth Day show on TLC a lot). I am not that Mom. Sawyer has dictated another lifestyle for us. For me. Like so many others I’ve talked to, our little man isn’t too interested in Daddy right now. That makes things even harder. Dan wants to help but Sawyer just cries. But crying is just what he does. That’s what I’m trying to write about. Our precious little man isn’t happy. He’s miserable. Generally if he’s awake he’s unhappy, fussy, gassy. Then at 4 or 5 he switches to total misery mode. Red faced, high pitched, ear drum busting, headache
causing, HEARTBREAKING screaming and crying. At first I could eventually calm him down and that made me feel good. I am the Mom. He loves me and is comforted by me. A few days later I found myself sitting on the cold bathroom floor, sobbing, holding my baby. Mommy wasn’t enough. A noisy exhaust fan was comforting him.
That’s when I knew. He has colic.
The evenings became progressively worse over a week. I was reading everything I could find online that might help. The theory that colic means baby cries for no reason just doesn’t work for me. I stumbled upon some new research being done on treating the big “C” with probiotics. I had taken a course of antibiotics, so it seemed even more likely that his digestive tract didn’t have the “good” bacteria it needs. I talked to Dan about it & we agreed it made sense and wanted to try it.
Today I declare we have a new child. We’ve had about 12 scream free evenings in a row… ok, there was one a couple nights ago but he was trying to poop, got mad, too mad to nurse, so he was hungry, then kept himself up so long he was tired. Anyway, I guess there could be other reasons he’s suddenly better but I’m giving credit to the probiotics. He still gets them every day or every other day.
So that is the “C” word part. We’ve had that battle and also the sleep without Mommy battle. Sawyer just wants me to hold him. Simple as that. We’ve worked on having him sleep anywhere else, but mainly trying to get him in his crib. There have been moments of success. An hour or two here and there, but never a whole night. The past few nights I’ve just given in to exhaustion and accepted co-sleeping for now. Then last night I put him in the bouncy seat while trying to finally eat my dinner at 8pm. He slept in it almost all night, with only 2 very brief breaks to nurse. I guess we’ll see how things progress. I’m sure by the time he’s 18 or so he won’t be sleeping with me 
Aside from those 2 issues, our little man is fabulous. He continues to gain weight so he’s nice and chunky now. LOL. I love his chins, cheeks, and rolly thighs. Seriously, look at this cuteness…
In the lives of Mommy & Daddy, things have been pretty good too. I went back to work on Feb 8. I cried at some point every day of the week before. Random moments when I’d be playing with him, nursing, etc and would realize that our special time was almost over… tears. When my first day back arrived I actually didn’t cry at all. I’ve done really well adjusting, and I think he has too. I hope, although he hasn’t said much about it. It helps me that he is with my Mom (thanks Mom!). It is sad in the evening because our time with him is so short. It seems like we’re barely home before he is sleeping. Dan has been enjoying his new job and adjusting to the different time frame (he goes in much earlier at this job).
As a family we’ve enjoyed a couple outings. We’ve been going to my parents’ house every Sunday as usual since Sawyer was born, but now we’ve ventured out a bit more. We went to Becca’s house on Saturday, my aunt Monica’s 50th birthday party, and my Mom’s retirement party. Sawyer did really well each time, mostly just sleeping in his car seat. Hehe. Sawyer and I have also been walking at the mall a couple times with our friends (my friend who has a baby boy 3 weeks older than Sawyer). That has been good for us both mentally and physically.
The only big negative since the colic weeks has been my last adventure out with Sawyer. Most everyone has heard by now, but I went grocery shopping at Walmart for the first time with him this past weekend. Really we mainly needed dog food, but groceries too. When we were leaving, I hurried to get Sawyer out of the cold and in the car. That’s when some scum bag grabbed my purse and jumped in a getaway vehicle. I was thankful I at least got the license plate number, only to find out the plate was off a really old model truck that wasn’t what they were driving. They managed to spend a little money on one of my credit cards before I got them shut off. Overall the worst part was that my iPhone was in the purse. The cost of replacing it was very depressing. The good news, aside from the fact that neither Sawyer or I was hurt, is that some wonderful couple saw my purse dumped beside the road and returned it. The idiot thieves only took the cards and phone. My driver’s license, social security card, check book, etc was all there. How wonderful is that?
Hopefully now that we’re past the colic stage I’ll have more time to blog in the evenings.. if I can get the little man out of my arms 