Two Weeks and Counting

Hailey has now been with us for two entire weeks, and it has been an incredible adjustment. Since we chose to breastfeed, Traci is getting up 2-3 times a night and is becoming sleep-deprived. Since I took off work for a few weeks, I am trying to relieve her during the day so she can sneak off and take a nap whenever possible.

For the most part Hailey has been good. She's more active during the morning and likes to stare at everything. The dog, the TV, the window, whatever. Most crying fits can be remedied by either feeding or changing her diaper. But then one day she suffered what I like to call

THE MELTDOWN!

Last Friday we took Hailey with us to visit some friends. although she slept most of the time, we still stayed out much later than she was used to. We didn't get home and put her to bed until midnight, which threw off her schedule. The next day she was an absolute terror. No amount of feeding, changing or rocking could stop the crying. We have all been around crying babies before, and for most its a temporary annoyance. But when its your baby, you have to stay there and soothe it until she calms down, which in our case, took about four hours. The best analogy I can offer is that its like having someone blowing an air horn in your ear for an afternoon. Traci and I vowed to never go to another party again.

When you are pregnant, everyone gives you literature about the hazards of shaking your baby. "Isn't this common sense?" we thought. Who in the world would get so angry as to shake an infant? Well, that was before I experienced four hours straight of crying. Let me stress here that I would never do anything to harm my child. That said, I can see how some impatient souls can become frustrated and do the unthinkable.

We had another smaller meltdown a few days later, but this time we attributed it to gas. One of Traci's friends recommended Mylicon, and trust me, its bottled magic. We squirted a drop in her mouth before feeding and she settled right down. If you have an infant, this product definitely deserves a spot in your medicine cabinet.