colic is here!

Something I wanted to get out of the way before I start this blog: Mr. Hubster's clean laundry is still sitting in his hamper UNFOLDED. Read all that blog written 7 days ago. We’ll see if my 2 week prediction works. 1 more week to go.

As promised a billion times, the post about colic is here. What makes me an expert? Because Buddy was blessed with this trait for 4 months. Mind you, I’m only an expert in my own situation.

What is colic?
Many people think that colic is just endless crying. It is, but there’s a reason for it.

"Severe abdominal pain caused by spasm, obstruction, or distention of any of the hollow viscera, such as the intestines. Often a condition of early infancy, colic is marked by chronic irritability and crying."
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/colic

How did it start?
Buddy was extremely mild mannered for the first week. We don’t think we even saw his eyeballs until the third day. He slept for most of the time. Then a week came. The crying started. It wasn't general crying from hunger or a diaper change. It was constant crying and screaming around the clock.

The hospital emergency room.
One night at 1 am while doing a diaper change, his belly looked like the bottom of an hour glass. Though only on one side. We brought him to Emergency. They took him in right away since he was only 19 days old. After an x-ray to determine that nothing was lodged in his GI tract, they determined that the bloating was a huge gas pocket. The crying continued ALL night.

How did we know it was colic?
Well it was quite obvious. After every feeding, he would get extremely fussy, pull his knees to his chest (from the gas pains) and start the crying. It was confirmed by the ER Doctor and our aunt who works at a High Risk Birthing Unit. Besides the colic, he was generally fussy. Setting him down in a swing would last 3 seconds before he would start screaming.

Our (My) daily cycle:
Feed, Cry from gas for 3 hours. Get hungry again. Feed. Cry from Gas for 3 hours. Get hungry again. Feed. Cry from Gas for 3 hours. Get hungry again. I’ll let you figure out the rest. This lasted all day and into the night. Mr. Hubsters wore out the carpet by walking the same path endless hours trying to calm him down.

We tried:

• 3 types of Gripe Water (even scoping special West Indian Stores): None Worked
• Massage as led by a book: Kind of worked
• Swaddling: Buddy hated it like the devil
• OVOL: it was like a second bottle
• Shhhhhh in the ear: nope
• Researching: gave me relief knowing I wasn't the only person on earth dealing with this
• Yoga Ball: this was the only surefire way to make him stop crying. The only thing is, we would have to bounce on it 3 hours at a time. That ball was attached to us like underwear. Thankfully, I lost weight at the same time.

At the 5 week mark, I was ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater. One can say that when enduring endless screaming and crying 24/7. Everywhere said that this colic thing can last up to 6 months. There was no way I was going to live with this for another 5 months.

So I did lots of research. I found that there was treatment for infants with colic. It’s called Craniosacral Therapy. Huh? Yes, lots of people were looking at me like I was from Pluto. “You’re bringing your 5 week old to an Osteopath ? What is that? And are you crazy?”. I replied "live in my house fo 24 hours or even better 1 hour and then ask me that question again."

Not many people know about this type of care. It is recommended that EVERY infant do this! We found an amazing expert who specializes in Craniosacral and Osteopathic Manual Therapy. His name is Mark Levine. We brought Buddy to do 4 sessions with him. Half an hour each session over the span of 2 weeks. After the end of it all, Buddy was a like a “new man”. Or course, he wasn't 100% cured from colic. But his fussiness had dramatically changed. He can now sit content in a swing for 14 minutes. That was a great accomplishment.

How we kept our sanity
We didn’t. But if you are going through this, remember it does stop as their digestive systems matures. He was over it by 4 months. We were also lucky to have my mom help out ALOT. I won’t sugar coat it either. The general fussiness still lingers. Because of colic, the baby is constantly attached to you as you try to calm him. As a result, I think that this developed in him a greater separation anxiety. And that’s what we are dealing with now! And we have achieved our latest accomplishment: self-soothing to sleep which you can read about here in my "coming out of zombie land" blog.

Click here to visit Mark Levine: www.marklevine.ca - He is located in Richmond Hill, Ontario and I would HIGHLY recommend him even if your baby is not colicky. He also works on mom too! I talked with several other parents who swear that every baby should be “adjusted”!

Click here to visit Fussy Baby: www.fussybaby.ca – an excellent resource for any parent dealing with fussy, colicky and high-need babies. This website is founded by Holly Kehler Klaassen from Vancouver, British Columbia and provides a wealth of information on how to deal with your little one! Join her Facebook Group here.

Both are Canadian Resources!