When Maria was in the NICU before we could bring her home we had to go to a parenting class. All parents had to go didn't matter how many kids you did or didn't have. In the class we learned infant CPR, how to put in a car seat correctly, and what the period of purple crying is.
If you don't know what the period of purple crying is, it is another way to say colic. The period of purple crying is usually from about 2 weeks of age peaking at 3 months and stopping somewhere between 4-6 months old. They usually cry in the evening and typical things like feeding, changing their diaper etc. will not affect the crying. No one knows what the cause of colic is although there are a lot of theories. To know if a baby has colic there is a fairly easy and standard test. The test, do they cry for 3 or more hours a day 3 or more days a week? If the answer is yes then your baby probably has colic.
The period of purple crying more significantly covers how to prevent shaken baby syndrome. How to walk away how to admit you have done everything you can and it is okay for them (and you) to cry but how basically you can channel your frustration away from the baby.
I am no subject matter expert. As a matter of fact after we watched the video I thought to myself wow that was informative but what am I going to do with the information. I thought (since we received a copy) that it would be really good to show David and anyone else who is going to be around Maria just in case she is fussy. Little did I know, but I would have a child with colic.
David was as perfect a baby any one could ask for. He hardly ever cried, took to nursing like he was supposed to, and while serious and thoughtful an overall happy baby. I think if David would have had colic I wouldn't have survived those first 7 months alone with him. Yes I lived with my parents when he was that age but I was determined to be self sufficient as if I was living on my own and tried to not ask them to do anything for him (or at least I tried to do everything myself). The only time my parents stepped in was that summer. Since my mom wasn't working (being off for the summer as a paraprofessional) she kept David home with her and took care of him during the day while I worked. Those 7 months separated from Donnie were the hardest in our marriage but were made easy by having such a great kid.
Maria as I have mentioned before has colic. She also has GERD. Sometimes her crying is related to her GERD sometimes it is colic sometimes it is normal baby stuff. Thursday night was a challenge for us as she had the worst colic she has ever had to date. Nothing seemed to sooth her and I found myself asking her what was wrong, how could I fix it and to please stop crying. She cried so hard and for so long I started crying with her. I felt like a failure. I also finally understood why my mother in law said that because Donnie had colic she really had to wait 7 years before she could even think of having another baby.
I know I hadn't failed and eventually we found something that soothed her and calmed her down long enough for us to get her to a point that we could go to sleep but it was a very long night.
Friday night was another night of significant crying. Again nothing soothed her and we thought maybe because it was the end of the week my supply couldn't keep up with her demand and she was hungry. We fed her a bottle and I cried over that having reached a point of exhaustion that I felt like a walking zombie.
Saturday day I had a lunch planned with all of my glass friends. We were meeting for lunch so they could meet Maria. It had been planned for a couple of weeks and while I was exhausted I didn't want to cancel. A friend took a picture of Maria and I and we both looked so tired. I was so tired I had a headache all day and nothing would touch it. So Saturday night when she started her normal (at least as of the last three days) crying fit, I decided we would lay down in bed until with she was done or we were asleep. She cried and cried she screamed but I didn't get up and walk her. I didn't put her in her swing. We laid in bed and I rubbed her back and shushed her. I offered her her passie. I held her on my chest. She tried to nurse but was too upset so I just kept rubbing her back talking to her quietly telling her it would be okay. Donnie came in at about the 12 minute mark wanting to sooth her and I said no. I figured if it didn't stop soon we would go back to what we were doing before. But slowly it calmed down and finally 20 minutes in she stopped! I have a theory that the crying was related to sheer exhaustion where you are so tired you can't sleep.
We got our first real good nights sleep in weeks and I woke up happy. Maria woke up twice to eat but the first time she did we were 4 hours into our sleep. The second time was at 4AM and we finally woke up for good at 7AM. Today we had a good day. We ate lunch and went to the grocery store (Maria was an unhappy camper in the grocery store but we survived). Maria got a new mobile for her crib and we got a roast for dinner this week. We got chores done. Finally we had some surprise visitors, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Craig were in town and they came to visit. After all that Maria fussed only a little bit (less than 5 minutes) and we were down for bed. While she isn't exactly asleep beside me she is being quiet.
We haven't recovered all the sleep we need but we are getting back on to our 9:00 bed time. After all that has happened I don't think we are going to let her colic have us walking the floors. Instead we will let her fuss out her frustrations in bed and we will go to sleep after. Hopefully this colic is over at 4 months but if it isn't we will just live through our period of purple crying.
For more information on the period of purple crying check out these links below and remember it does get better!
http://www.purplecrying.info/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f97psdLPC4&sns=em
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