So Simple

I have high hopes that something so simple can help make little Colin feel better. My mom came and rescued me last night for a little bit. Colin was cranky as usual. We were just sitting on the couch and talking while mom calmly rocked and rubbed Colin's back. He suddenly stopped crying, and in its place I heard wet and loud sucking:

He had found his thumb. He always has had his hands up by his mouth (even in ultrasounds) and I am hoping that he has just been frustrated that he couldn't get that darn thumb where he wanted it! He has only gotten it in there twice, but I hope as his coordination gets better, he finds his thumb more easily.

I honestly hate the habit of thumb sucking, and if he takes it up, I will attach a travel sized hand sanitizer to his belt, but I welcome anything comforting for him at this point.

We also started using some probiotic drops yesterday, so hopefully some good bacteria in his gut will make digesting his meals a little easier.

Colic

I can't decide if I think it is real...can a baby really just cry for no reason at all?? Andrew and I swear that no - a baby must have a reason to cry, be it big or small. Even though Colin cries for no reason and recently more often than just his "fussy time" I still don't know if I believe there is such a thing as colic. Stupid? I just can't believe there isn't a REASON for his apparent discomfort. Maybe I am in denial.

How can my baby go from being happy and smiley - playing on his activity mat and watching the red bird sway - to angry and screaming in just a few hours?

For the record, we have tried:

• a different formula
• swaddling
• pacifier
• white noise machine
• gripe water
• mylicon drops
• switched to Dr. Browns bottles (even though there are TONS of pieces to clean)
• bouncer
• swing
• car ride
• walking/bouncing
• burping
• rubbing his belly
• holding his legs up to his chest (hoping to relieve gas)
• rocking
• crib wedge
• stirring the formula instead of shaking it
• calling Grandma over for help

We have tried multiple combinations of the above mentioned, and the ones that help the most are the swaddling and white noise with the occasional pacifier. For my sanity, having Grandma come over helps the most. I have also read The Happiest Baby on the Block and I am trying to get him used to a routine after reading Babywise. The routine is becoming difficult to set - the mornings look good...and then it goes downhill in the afternoon.

I hate not knowing how to help my son. Is he really crying in pain? Or just "exercising his lungs" so I have been told? When does this crazy period end!?

Stay at home moms...

This is the hardest thing I have ever done.

God Bless all you stay at home moms - I am sure it gets better as the baby grows out of the newborn stage, but it is so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I have my good days and rough. I remember Cassie having as her ring tone before Mady was born: Darius Rucker - It won't be like this for long...

I find myself singing that when 5:30pm rolls around and his evening fussy period begins. I am now armed with a set of orange ear plugs. I have found I stay much more calm and relaxed if is inconsolable cry is muffled as I cradle him and rock him.

I am sure if a stranger saw me wearing my earplugs as I try to sooth my baby who isn't wet, dirty, hungry, hot, or cold, they would think of me as a bad mother...

But one day, I will tell him about this and he will laugh at me. I am also considering video taping his nightly fits so that when he is a teenager I can show him and say "This is what happens when you have sex. Can you handle this at 17? I could barely handle it at 25...think long and hard about it..."

I love my little man and can't wait until the day he can do more than eat, sleep, poop, repeat.

Our New Baby

Colin Daniel Coleman

July 1, 2009

3:13pm

7lbs 9oz

21 inches long