1. Carolyn has been crying almost non-stop for the past three days. Husband and I have literally done everything we know how to do, followed every bit of advice we've gotten, used all of our resources, and still, she cries. She eats her morning meal and before I've even gotten her up to my shoulder to burp, she starts. She will stop temporarily with a binkie, which lasts until she spits it out and starts to scream. If she's awake, not eating, and not in the bath, she's crying. Please tell me it's just another growth spurt because this cannot continue.
2. And, since she's been crying, nothing has gotten done. Even if she's napping and gets put down, that starts the crying. As long as she's being held, she'll take two hour naps. If she's not being held, they're ten minutes. The only thing I ate this morning was cookies - it's the only thing I can grab and eat before she starts to cry again. She's crying as I type this.
3. I took her to the grocery store for the first time today. She cried for the first thirty minutes in the store. People were looking at me, probably wondering why I wasn't doing anything about it. There was nothing I could do.
4. The really good news is that when she finally falls asleep at night, she'll sleep for 6-7 hours straight.
5. I've been feeding Carolyn formula mixed with what little pumped breast milk I can get. Pumping still hurts, but at least my nipples have healed enough so there's no more blood in the milk. Yay for my nipples! Let's hear it, people!
6. I've been back and forth to Babies R Us a couple of times over the past week trying to get bottles that Carolyn will drink out of without half of the milk running down her chin. The Babies R Us employees are funny. I think they might be the most awkward bunch of people I've ever seen. There are three of them who will approach you from behind - like they're sneaking up on you - and when they're about a foot and a half away from you, they lean in and say, "Can I help you, ma'am?" Yes. You can help me by learning normal social skills.
7. We ran out of Pampers on Friday, so I thought I'd try the pack of Huggies someone gave us when Carolyn was born. In less than 24-hours, we had two major leaks - poop all over everything. Huggies, you suck.
8. We signed up for Netflix and synced it with the xBox. Now I don't have to watch crappy TV anymore! My one question is, who on earth picks the featured movies on there?? I swear to you that half of them have to be porn movies - not that I'd know, but that's what the titles suggest.
9. Carolyn gave me her first real smile on Friday. She hasn't smiled since. I can't wait until she starts to smile regularly.
10. I read last week that the birth rate in America is dropping. Umm...they apparently didn't survey any of the people I know because everyone I know has given birth in the last year, is currently pregnant, or is trying to get pregnant.
11. I'm having a really hard time understanding how to manage my time. I have no idea how mothers ever make it out of the house. Or how they get anything done at all.
6 comments:
We are using the Dr. Brown bottles. They aren't exactly the easiest to clean but they have really helped with the gas. It has a vacuum tube in the middle that keeps the air out of her belly. The nipples are supposed to mimic the breastfeeding flow, Jillian had a little trouble for a couple of days but after that she has been sucking like a pro.
Huggies SUCK!!! They are the absolute worst!!! Go with Luvs! Like $3-4 cheaper and work wonders! Marlee had a super messy diaper this morning...no leaks! Thank goodness for Luvs!
You always make me want to comment, but I feel like a dork because you don't know me, but I know half the people who comment on your blog and I think I might have known your husband back in the day, so disclaimer done...
Carolyn sounds just like my #1. No advice just letting you know the great things about having a crier:
You will either be done having kids at 2, because you will swear that if #2 cries like #1, there is no way there will be a #3 OR you will think that all subsequent children are angels and you will spend the next 20 years patting yourself on the back for having survived a crier (because since she is your first, for all you know, this is what babies do).
I have 3 kids now and I think it is better to have a crier first because if you had an angelic one first and then a crier, you could seriously not like it, but since she is your first, you are bound to like her:) JK, kind of.
A more sappy advantage...I felt like my first was easier to "bond" with in some ways because he needed me sooooo much. I was constantly serving him. A good baby is sometimes easy to ignore and get things done instead. No chance of that with a crier.
Given that she is crying non-stop and there does not seem to be a solution, I think the most important thing is to not be hard on yourself. It isn't anything you are doing wrong. Some babies just cry, a lot, and it is awful, and your husband probably gets the baby first thing when he walks in the door, and you probably call him during the day just so he can hear her cry, but my first is five now, and I still, periodically have people comment on how much he has mellowed out (which I appreciate the acknowledgement of how not-mellow he used to be :)
Jesse says (regarding Netflix):
1. Picky, picky, picky
2. What's wrong with porn?
We used Dr. Brown bottles, too, and I think it really helped. My sister also told me to put the gas drops right in the bottle. That seemed to also help. Good luck!
Erin!! I'm so sorry to hear of your struggles! Unfortunately, I haven't a CLUE as to what to do to help... But if you ever need an extra set of hands/arms/ears, she can scream at me for a while. Promise I won't take her criticism personally... : )
My niece was quite a handful and lived next door when she was born so I know the importance of letting mom have a break! You know my number, seriously, just sayin'.
As for number 10... THANK YOU!! I thought it was just me, but no. They're everywhere! haha...
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