Today was my first day on the job for a lengthy crying marathon. My little one was ever so peaceful all morning. So much so my boyfriend and i packed up the car and went to run a few errands together. We made it gracefully through the entire morning. Just as our stroll through the shopping mall was hitting its stride however, our munchkin decided the break was over. There, in the middle of the mall which was SUPER quiet today by the way (just our luck) he began screaming. We made a few quick attempts to soothe him so we could finish our shopping but to our dismay (and that of the entire population of mall shoppers within earshot) he wouldn't calm down. So we quickly made our way home feeling like social pariahs.
At home, after being nursed in the car the entire way, having a diaper change and another turn at the "boobie buffet" my little one still wouldn't stop crying. Correction: screaming. So armed with every trick in all the newbie parenting books Amazon had to offer (and my credit card could afford) we began the longest rain dance ever! We rocked and swaddled and bathed and fed and sang and whispered. And when those things didn't work we bounced and stripped and fed and bathed and hummed and fed. Did i mention feeding him?
By hour three of Tearfest 2013 my poor nipples felt like they had given up on life! They were SO sore. Thankfully i had been experimenting with my breast pump yesterday so i had two bottles in the refrigerator. Now friends i want to say, i never intended to introduce bottles or pacifiers to my son this early (you know nipple confusion and whatnot) but when your precious newborn is screaming his lungs off and two doses of gripe water; two baths; countless attempts at burping; toys; songs and hours at your breast doesn't get him to sleep or at the very least stop crying, you get desperate. Of course by now the books had run out of tricks and web posts didn't have much more to offer us either.
Two ounces of bottle-fed breast milk, some more bouncing and rocking, another bath, a couple prayers, some serious attempts at bargaining with the Lord, a world of pleading with the baby and some extended skin to skin time on daddy's chest later and our little one was still as red as a cherry and as cranky as can be!
How does this story end you may ask? Not the way you're expecting im sure. After an extended soak to the bone in the shower with me ( i quite literally stripped him down and stood under the shower with him snuggled against my bare skin) which was not the insightful suggestion of some internet post, no. It was born of sheer frustration, my nerves were fried, to the point of my almost joining in and wailing right along with him. He some how seemed comforted. FINALLY! His dad dried him off and he fussed a bit, but when he was done we put him back on my now raw very sore breast for all of five minutes before he started drifting off to dreamland. To save my poor nipples by boyfriend took him from me when he was in a super drowsy state and held him close on his bare chest for another twenty minutes (the time im taking to write this post) and he is now thankfully asleep; at least for the next couple hours or so. We all know newborns don't sleep thought the night (well at least ours doesn't).
Moral of the story friends: (well there are two) trust your gut as crazy or weird as the idea sounds and don't get discouraged. With every passing day i realise the experts can only make suggestions based on the babies they've studied. Every child is unique though and quickly im learning there's no right or wrong way to do this stuff there's only what works for you ( within the confines of the law of course!)
With all this excitement, as u can imagine, we're both epicly bushed, so we're gonna try taking a trip to dreamland ourselves. Wish us luck guys!
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