Life sucking colic

Kurt went to his first appointment with our doctor. All three of us now see the same one. It’s nice having a family doctor that knows and sees all of us, because we can give him updates on Sophia without having to make a separate appointment for her. Unless of course we describe something that he needs to look into further. Kurt told him about Sophia’s screaming sessions that seemed to have started at two weeks of age. She cries to the point of shear exhaustion (of us and herself) every night from about seven to eleven and sometimes one in the morning. She’ll turn beet red and cry with all her strength, complete with tears running down her face, and appears to be in excruciating pain. Before the doctor’s diagnosis I felt like the most stupidly inept first time mom because I couldn’t calm my own baby and so I cried right along with her. Kurt is able to calm her down better than I and that made me feel even more inept.

In the beginning, figured it must be something I was eating as we noticed that she would stop screaming after a good fart and then start up again minutes later. I couldn’t think of where to begin cutting things out of my diet, and in the “Feeding your Baby” class I took at the hospital the nurse made sure to state that breastfeeding moms don’t need to avoid any foods at all except on very rare occasions (caffeine and alcohol being the exceptions which need to be limited according to your doctor’s instructions). It would be just my luck that Sophia would be one of the rare ones. Because this was happening everyday, it seemed logical to me that it would be something I ate EVERYDAY and nothing came to mind. Plus it didn’t appear to be gas every time she cried with such force, so we though maybe the fartty gas was just coincidental.

Then there were the confusing growth spurt times. I had finished feeding her within the last half hour, so would try everything but that to soothe her only to feel like a complete ass for denying my baby food for thirty minutes or more while I fumbled around swaying, shushing, holding her like a football, and wrapping her in the plushest soon-to-be soaked in spit-up blankets. I know about following the threes and sixes for growth spurts (three days, six days, three weeks, etc.), but I think her highness has her own chart graphed out for how things work in the kingdom of Sophia.

We also thought that maybe I wasn’t producing enough milk since she would sometimes become very fussy when I knew she was hungry. She would latch and suckle for a bit and then unlatch and fuss, sometimes screaming. I started pumping milk and then I had so much milk that in the mornings, I was in pain and the first am feeding started to result in milk coming out of her nose. I just recently learned that had to do with oversupply and a forceful “let down”. I also learned that the laying side-by-side nursing position is probably one of the worst to use when that occurs since the milk ejection reflex will practically force it down her throat and apparently out the nose.

Two things seem to consistently calm her, car rides (those will actually put her to sleep for as long as the car is moving), and holding her while bouncing on a yoga ball. I can only bounce for so long though. Just like car rides, the minute I stop, she starts up again. Despite the classes we took that told us, “You can’t spoil a newborn” Kurt was beginning to doubt it. I don’t think it’s possible to spoil a newborn; there is a big difference between an infant is trying to tell us something and one that just wants attention. Sophia does start crying if I stop bouncing on the yoga ball, but she doesn’t stop fussing just because she has been picked up (except when she’s been fussing for a basic need like food)! Besides isn’t attention/affection a basic need as well? Anywho The motion must be doing something for her, so at least for now when she cries I’m going to do whatever I can to soothe her. Swaddling also seems to help a lot, but again, Kurt is the super star swaddling hero. So if I’m having a rough night – it’s just going to be a long night.

Now her fits of screaming red-faced rage also happen during the day. Oh lucky me. I have of course heard of colic and I have a vague idea of what that means, but I also know that sometimes babies just cry. I didn’t know about the rule of three’s for this condition:

• baby cries up to three hours a day
• baby has long crying episodes three or more days a week
• baby is between three weeks and three months old

So we weren’t entirely sure if this was just normal crying baby behavior or something else until the doctor said that it sounds like colic. It’s funny how you’re temporarily relived to hear the doctor give a diagnosis right away. At least it’s not our fault we can’t cure the crying. Then all hope is lost after a brief internet search seeking the easy fix remedy. I did find that the reason Kurt is better at calming her – he’s a frickin’ furnace and warmth on the belly is one thing our books, Pregnancy Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide suggested. Although last night I bought a hot water bottle and that did nothing for her at all. I’ve read some sites that say colicky babies only appear to be in pain but really they’re just fussy – For our case I’m going to call Bullshit! Last night between shrieks of what they say isn’t pain we clearly heard loud gurgling sounds from her belly followed by a very wet, squishy “productive” fart. Of the sites that say foods might be the cause each have their own list of things to avoid. One site listed cabbage, spicy foods, and beans. Those three particular things are the bulk and staple of EVERYTHING I eat! In my search for “the cure” I’ve found that everyone has their option about what food may cause or increase colicky reactions, and if I follow them all I’d wind up eating nothing but white rice. The only list of foods to avoid that I found credible is from the Medela site. Yep, the breast pump manufacturer.

Research has identified some possible causes for colic. One common cause is lactose overload from switching breasts before baby gets to the high fat milk. If baby is often fussy, try offering one breast at each feeding. Sometimes colic can be caused by an sensitivity to a food in mom’s diet. Rarely, babies can be allergic to a food that mother has eaten, and which may appear in minute quantities in her milk. If baby is crying due to food sensitivity, fussing will begin within a few hours of eating the offending food and may last up to 24 hours. If you can avoid the food that causes the crying, baby’s symptoms should cease within 3-7 days. The most common allergy-causing foods are cow’s milk, eggs, wheat, and peanuts. If you decide to wean to formula, it would be wise to pump frequently for 3-4 weeks so you have the option of resuming breastfeeding if baby’s colic worsens. It can take this long for a formula allergy to become apparent.

They got their food list from this study, “Effect of a Low-Allergen Maternal Diet on Colic Among Breastfed Infants: A Randomized, Controlled Trial“. Published in Pediatrics. Published online November 1, 2005 PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 5 November 2005, pp. e709-e715. The same online journal published another study in 1991 dealing specifically with a protein from cow’s milk causing colic in breastfeeding babies. I only have access to the excerpt of that one, “Human Breast Milk Contains Bovine lgG. Relationship to Infant Colic?” PEDIATRICS Vol. 87 No. 4 April 1991, pp. 439-444. The only surefire proven remedy for colic that all sites agree on is time. SHIT! I hate waiting.

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