A few months ago, I was whining about the stress of taking care of family and a colicy newborn. Gabriel is nearly five months old now. He is very happy, he smiles, giggles, and talks all the time, and he loves his siblings. He is thriving well and is pleasantly plump. Note the little sausage legs:
But he still screams when I try to put him down. Many people told me to ask about acid reflux, and I did. The doctor told me it was gas and to use Mylicon drops. Having gone through colic before, I figured we could last until three months.
Three months have come and gone (he is nearly five moths old now) and while Gabriel no longer has that newborn shell-shockedness about his personality ("Why is it bright? Why am I cold? Why is it noisy? Mommy, where are you? Who are you, you're not my mommy! Where am I?"), a distinct pattern has emerged. While Gabriel loves to nurse, he doesn't like to eat that much. He is always looking to latch on, but when he does, he arches his back and squirms and usually spits up a good portion of what he takes in. And nights, oh man. The past three weeks he wakes up every hour or so and I have to sit in the rocking chair and hold him up on my shoulder. He instantly falls into a deep sleep then, but when hel ies back down, he starts to squirm. For me, dozing in a rocking chair night after night is not very restful. He spends a great deal of time during the day in the sling and/or walking back and forth, back and forth. (If this is disconnected it's because I had to stop about a dozen times to walk him).
On Monday, I called the pediatrician first thing in the morning for an appointment about this acid reflux thing because I.Had.IT. He hasn't outgrown it, and perhaps poor munchkin (er, Mommy) would be much happier sleeping the night with a prescription of some sort of Baby Zantac. For the check-up, Gabriel smiled and cooed and charmed the socks off the nurse and the doctor. The nurse said "this is the most pleasant baby I have ever seen" and the doctor who had been trying to get me to supplement with formula was happy to see how well he is thriving (he didn't even ask me to supplement once) and repeatedly remarked how well he's doing. This baby can't possibly have any issues! When I asked about acid reflux and relayed the symptoms, he said it was gas because he is thriving and developing so well. He told me to use Mylicon. He must have stock in the company.
So here we are. Fussy baby, laundry, dinner. Kids who pretend they didn't know have to do daily chores. I have three quilts I would love to finish...Again, one thing having seven kids has taught me is this too will pass...
