Colicky Cole

It could be worse. He could have something really wrong with him. At least this is something that he will outgrow.

The crying started about a week and a half into his little life, and it just seemed to be getting worse, day by day and night by night. Finally, hoping for a miracle cure we took him to his doctor who told us that, unfortunately, there was nothing we could do but grin and bear it. Dance the dance. Whisper sweet nothings into his ear. It was there - the undeniable fact that Cole has colic. I have to admit, that I cried  when I heard this news. I was hoping for a prescription that would make his pain (as well as the cries) simply disappear. But that was not in the cards for us. This is definitely a true test of our parenting skills - we have to maintain sanity, patience and love while functioning on very little sleep most of the time. Some days are better than others and some nights are far worse than others. Luckily, Keith and I haven't done more than snap at each other during those stress laden nights when there seems to be no end to the screaming or the wailing. I remember first hearing his cry the night he was born and commenting on how cute it was. Now, it hurts both Keith and I to hear it, especially when we know he's in pain from all of the gas he has stored in his little tummy.

Slowly but surely we're learning what to do to calm him down and how to pass him off if what we are trying is just not working. However, Sunday night will mark the first night that Keith will not be able to help me throughout the night because he returns to work on Monday. It has been wonderful having him right there beside me these past five weeks - especially the past three.  (Yes! Cole is now 3 weeks old!). I will miss spending time with him during the week days.

One of the rewards of all of this is that Cole is starting to "coo."  I love when he does this. I feel so honored to be cooed at. He is also smiling, and he's more alert -  he tries to hold his head up and look around. Sometimes if we've got him against our chest in a sort of neck nestle he does what appear to be push-ups. We've also been able to read him a little bit better each day so that we can figure out what ails him.