Firstly, apologies if there are any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or general mistakes in this post. I’m also typing with one hand, as I hold my little one in my arms. I’m running on empty at the moment, or at the very least, the fumes from the first sip of a cup of tea in the morning…
They say that no two pregnancies, births or babies are the same. I certainly agree with the first two, and am quickly learning that the final one is also correct. Our little Hudson came home being declared a ‘windy’ baby by the nurses in special care. Given the fact, however that we did not experience a whole night solo with home until we came home, we really didn’t understand the gravity of this throw away phrase.
If you have every experienced wind pain yourself, then you know it’s painful. I can’t imagine therefore, the pain that a little baby goes through as their little organs try to cope with the gas that accumulates in their tummies. Our little man has, in the past week experienced terrible wind pain, and it seems to be getting worse. They say that wind pain and colic seems to peak at 6 weeks and then subsides by 12 weeks. Given that he was born 4 weeks prem, we also know that with most things, we need to add on time to correct his development. This inevitably means that as of yesterday, we are reset at zero. Hip hip hooray!
Hudson @ 4 weeks old
When we had Ella, we (like all new parents) struggled through sleepless nights as we navigated the world of night feeding, settling and nappy changing. Whether you have a baby who feeds and sleeps well, or not, the change is a complete shock to your system and everyone finds it hard to some degree. This time, we have come to realise that no two babies are the same. Ella slept really well until she turned one, and the we had a really hard time with her sleep routine until recently. Hudson suffers from terrible wind pain and we have found that night time over the last couple of weeks has been his most unsettled period. I’ve turned to everyone from family, friends and readers of this blog for advice. Infacol, Infant’s friend, massage, Osteopath, Physio, Chrio raise the cot, night bath, exercises, gripe water, smaller feeds….I’m grateful for all the advice, and I’m trying it all.
On the weekend we visited an old friend, Jade Harries who is the owner, directer and Osteopath at Western Region Health. Jade has tremendous experience with newborns, and has been labelled the ‘baby whisperer’. She gave us some great advice, exercise and general strategies to try to help us tackle Colic. She explained that Colic is debated amongst professionals as to it’s true existence. Whether or not it exists in it’s diagnosis, we are experiencing the full force of it’s symptoms at the moment, and her treatment of him made complete sense. Within half an hour he was calm, and his stomach had relaxed. Whilst I can’t recreate what she did exactly, I feel empowered that I know more and have some tools in my tool box. We’ll be seeing her a few times to get some treatment, and fingers crossed it helps him.
Needless to say, that at 3am it is really hard to stay calm and positive. I constantly worry that we are going to wake Ella, and I also worry for Dan given the fact that he has to get up and go to work, and also finish out renovation. I just need to stay positive and know that time will help everything. I generally hate the phrase ‘this too shall pass’, but I know that this is true. Excuse the pun, but I wish that he could ‘pass wind’ a little easier and not be in so much pain. It breaks my heart to see him struggling so.
Like all things, experience brings with it some relief. I’m glad that I’ve had a baby before, so I’m not feeling as anxious and trust that things will settle over time. I’m just happy to have the support of family, friends and readers to give me their advice and stories. Having an ear, or text message, or FB post helps more than words can say! In the mean time, this windy smile brings me so much joy!
That beautiful windy smile!
I’ll keep you all posted and hope that if you are experiencing something similar, then it passes soon, literally!
