Fussy Baby

Well, it has been over two weeks and I think it is safe to say that we have ourselves a very fussy baby.  She fusses and cries a lot, often for no reason at all.  Obviously when she is hungry or when she wants to be changed, but when we've done all that and she's still crying it can be a little frustrating.

She usually falls asleep after just being fed, but that's the only time she goes down quietly.  Every other time she's been wailing her little lungs out and one of us has to sit and rock her to get her to calm down and eventually fall asleep.

As you can imagine, this has been pretty hard on us, but there is some good news.  We've talked to the doctors and read the appropriate chapters out of a number of books and we've come to the following conclusions.

• Nothing is physically wrong with the baby.  She isn't in any obvious pain.


• We aren't doing anything wrong.  If anything, we're getting better at soothing her.


• This will end eventually.  I believe it peaks at 6 weeks (about Christmas for us) and goes down from there.

The other good news is that she is starting to sleep for 3 hours at a time, which is up from earlier.  So maybe there's hope for more improvement.  I'm holding out hope that she isn't technically "colic" - which is identified as 3 weeks or more of at least 3 hours of crying 3 times a week or more.  Like I said, we are getting better at calming her down, so that she isn't crying all that long.  Still, she is consistent in being very fussy in the early evening, so at the very least we can define her as "very fussy."

All in all it could be a lot worse.  We feel very blessed that there are no other obvious issues and the moments when she is awake and not fussy or even soundly asleep definitly make it all worth it.  Jen and I have really, really appreciated the generous efforts by the Teammates couples to bring us dinners over the last several days.  It has been such a blessing.  Thanks also to everyone who has been sending gifts, cards, 7 foot stork signs in our front yard, and everything else.  But most of all, thanks to everyone for your prayers and words of encouragement.