Anne TootillTo Be or Not to Be a Mother -Part Two
October 10th 2006 17:32
I’m so tired. I think I got two hours of sleep in total for the last three days. Josh is less than two weeks old and he’s been crying. Not as in crying for a bottle every few hours and then falling asleep, as in crying, crying, crying. Continual crying. Nonstop crying. I’m not even sure if he’s getting any sleep.
It’s like this. I feed him a bottle - or my husband does, it’s definitely been “even steven” in the lack of sleep department – and it takes Josh about a half an hour to suck down maybe an ounce or two. Then I burp him and hold him for a bit until he digests and then he’s off to sleep. But in an hour he’s up again and crying.
So I tried changing him, cuddling him, rocking him, burping him but the only thing that helps is feeding him again. So an hour after his last feeding he’s again taking forever to suck down a tiny amount of formula. He seems O.K. while he’s eating. He burps O.K. He looks O.K. So what’s wrong? Something has to be wrong. I’m so tired. My husband is so tired. Why doesn’t Josh sleep?
I call the doctor and make an appointment to bring Josh in. He examines him and proclaims him healthy. I’m doing a great job he tells me. Now that I’m bottle feeding the dehydration was gone. Everything was A.O.K….according to him. But then why isn’t he sleeping? And why does he take so long to drink so little, I ask? And why does he cry so much?
Colic, declared the doctor. In his professional opinion Josh had colic. Because he was born premature his suck reflex was poorly developed so it took him longer to eat less. And since he needed the same nutrition as other babies he had to eat more often. He suggested I make the hole in the nipple on the bottle slightly larger so more formula could get through as once (just slightly, didn’t want him to choke). He also thought it was possible that some of his crying was due gas and suggested I gently press a pinky into his abdomen to help break up the gas. Then he told me again what a good mother I was and that was that. For him.
It’s like this. I feed him a bottle - or my husband does, it’s definitely been “even steven” in the lack of sleep department – and it takes Josh about a half an hour to suck down maybe an ounce or two. Then I burp him and hold him for a bit until he digests and then he’s off to sleep. But in an hour he’s up again and crying.
So I tried changing him, cuddling him, rocking him, burping him but the only thing that helps is feeding him again. So an hour after his last feeding he’s again taking forever to suck down a tiny amount of formula. He seems O.K. while he’s eating. He burps O.K. He looks O.K. So what’s wrong? Something has to be wrong. I’m so tired. My husband is so tired. Why doesn’t Josh sleep?
I call the doctor and make an appointment to bring Josh in. He examines him and proclaims him healthy. I’m doing a great job he tells me. Now that I’m bottle feeding the dehydration was gone. Everything was A.O.K….according to him. But then why isn’t he sleeping? And why does he take so long to drink so little, I ask? And why does he cry so much?
Colic, declared the doctor. In his professional opinion Josh had colic. Because he was born premature his suck reflex was poorly developed so it took him longer to eat less. And since he needed the same nutrition as other babies he had to eat more often. He suggested I make the hole in the nipple on the bottle slightly larger so more formula could get through as once (just slightly, didn’t want him to choke). He also thought it was possible that some of his crying was due gas and suggested I gently press a pinky into his abdomen to help break up the gas. Then he told me again what a good mother I was and that was that. For him.
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