Strike Three?

So, I like to keep my blog void of anything even bordering on personal. For one, I'm always shocked at the random people who I find out read my very infrequent ramblings about cookies and sewing and fear stepping on unsuspecting toes. Also, I fear that I will misspeak or leave out important pieces of information as one often does when communicating solely via computers. I'm not an eloquent writer (or speaker for that matter) and have become victim of this situation before. Not to mention all of the advice that I am "soliciting" simply by opening up to such a large crowd of people. Against my better judgment I'm deciding for tonight to set aside those worries (help us all) and type a bit about the challenge of Eden.

First and foremost a disclaimer in efforts to avoid point #2 from above. Not that any of you doubt this, but let me just say I love this little booger to death and she could be a terror and that wouldn't change. I am also not saying I have an extraordinarily difficult child. We are very lucky in many things. She came into this world well, she is free of any serious or life threatening issues, 80% of the time she only wakes at night to eat and goes right back to sleep, we do have some wakeful, happy times together, and I do not expect her to be that "perfect" baby. Ok, my disclaimer was long enough so I won't feel guilty about the following.

Eden cries a lot. I mean, a lot. She usually does not cry from 11 pm to 6 am unless she's hungry which is an enormous blessing. Other than that she cries about 45 minutes out of every hour and she rarely sleeps during the day.

Strike One- she was much much worse (cried at night too) her first week of life. Enter meds for reflux #1 and she started sleeping at night. YAY! However, she still threw up randomly and fussed while eating.
Strike Two- enter reflux meds #2- she stopped fussing so much while eating and no longer throws up. Has a few more happy periods.

At this point we threw in the towel- said, this is our child, we can deal with it, some babies are just fussy. We have tried two different slings, a swing, a vibrating chair, car rides, different beds, different white noises, different holding positions, etc etc etc.

I had decided this was her personality and am adjusting to it- although I'm a little frayed around the edges. It's difficult when your child cries so much there is no play time and there is nothing more of yourself to give to your spouse and definitely not friends and family. The experience has helped me grow more than any other- I'm getting better at accepting and, more importantly, asking for help from others. I'm easier on myself when nothing other than the absolute necessities of life get done.
I had prepared myself that the next four months (two months are already down) of our lives will be solely dedicated to pacifying this little girl and everything else could wait until later. Interstingly enough, her 6 month mark is my birthday :).

Then came her 2 month check up today. She had been doing her normal screaming fit for 45 minutes when the doctor finally came in. She heard Eden cry and stated something needed to be done for that baby in pain. *Lightbulb* - that was a pain cry! I've been listening to other babies cry for the past few weeks and kept remarking how different it was from Eden's and just assumed it was part of her fussiness. Let me just say that the realization that she is in pain and not just unhappy is not welcome- but- it holds promise because it's something with the potential to be fixed.

Long story short, we are trying a formula based diet for a few days to see if she is affected by her this and upping her meds a bit. Please pray for peace for our little one, a break from her pain, and guidance for us and our doctor as we try to determine what is best for her.

Good news! She is 10lbs 8 oz, 21.5 inches long, (both at the 50th%) - and her head is at the 75th%! No wonder she looks so much like her daddy :).