Even though we've had probably 20 or so newborns or small babies by this point, I can't say with certainty we have dealt with colic.....until now. One of the new twins initiated me last night into that new and trying world. A couple times between 10pm and 1-something-am, I pointed out to her that those are my quiet and peaceful hours to myself at the end of very full days, but she couldn't hear me anyway because she was screaming so loud. I tried watching an Andy Griffith show (sister Emma's DVD) on my laptop since my hands weren't free enough to reply to emails, but I quickly discovered I couldn't turn it loud enough to hear. =) It was one I had already seen so I practiced my recall ability rather than see if it had sub titles, haha.
In one of two quiet moments when she could finally rest a few minutes, lying facedown on me or like a "squirrel in the tree" on my arm, I researched colic online. Apparently between 4-6 weeks it peaks, and she is supposedly 6-7 weeks old. It also lasts at least three hours, and I think we had a good 3 1/2. Most babies also have colic at some point? Yikes. Even after being reassured, and knowing she had no other concerning symptoms, with her going hoarse (and me deaf) and hardly able to breath, I was starting to wonder if I should act on the tias suggestion to take her to the ER. In the middle of that pondering, I was considering calling my always-willing-to-help friend/nursing student Amber in Texas to consult, but noticed first that she had a new
blog post. After reading that and laughing (and marveling at the irony of her timing along with my current situation), I decided to ride it out a little longer, and about that time G. fell asleep pretty much for the night...only not me, because although I'm expert at tuning out cries when they're outside my door, I haven't mastered sleeping heavily alongside a baby. And she was still a little fussy and needed milk every 2-3 hours, which I was careful to give letting in the least amount of air (hard when she gulps it because of the scrawny, malnourished baby she is), then burping properly, etc. That all amounts to a tired "mommy director" today, but it's worth it remembering the precious moments when her little 7 pounds were cuddled up on me, sleeping with those hiccups you get from crying a long time. Melted my heart!! (I would've returned her to the staff sooner but I could hear they had other cranky babies on their hands and could only imagine how G's screams would help that situation!)
Then the first news of the day was that the hearing for our first sibling adoption would be in the afternoon!!!
Just another note: anyone who thinks having twins would be the ultimate treat of motherhood should really try it first. :-) In the Baby Home, of course we're used to multiple babies at once but I've always observed that two at the exact same level developmentally are much more of a challenge than two, say, 6 months apart. It seems more like a multiplication rather than a doubling. (Last night before the colic episode, I had taken both out to a Women's Bible study.) Maybe it also has something to do with some of our most "high maintenance babies" in the Baby Home currently being all the twins! I'm not saying I wouldn't welcome twins myself in my next stage of life, but can't say I'd join the list of friends or mothers I know who really really REALLY want them. I can say I've been there, done that, and it was intense...and I'm grateful for our team of "mothers". :-)
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