Now I'm a Mom

How do I get this baby to stop crying?

Well Hanna has been having some pretty fussy periods, and pretty regularly now. It seems evenings are not a great time for her lately.

I was wandering around on the web today and I ran across this article about Colic, and a very interesting viewpoint on why colic exists.

I am reluctant to label Hanna's behavior as colic. Not sure why. I think I just refuse to have a colicky baby. I know, it's crazy, but, well, it's true.

But anyway, back to the article. I found it on DrGreene.com, and here's the link to the whole article.

Dr. Greene states that colic is a necessary part of family integration. He believes that people would just go right back to their normal ways, habits, schedules after a couple of weeks if a baby would just be quiet and cooperate.

That's where colic comes in. The baby gets fussy, loud, frustrating, and makes her family stop and take notice. The new family must take time to figure out what makes baby happy, and what calms them down, thus interupting their normal routine and forcing them to develop new routines which include the new member to the family.

Now this is a very interesting idea. I can definately see how this could be true. As much as I love my new little one, I am definately eager to get back to my routine, my work, my life. I was actually managing to do that when she was quiet and angelic during the day and the evening. Now with this daily fussiness, I am drawn away from my normal schedule and find that I am spending time with her, thus developing new routines, that are center around her.

To tell you the truth, if she had not started getting so fussy, I probably would have worked her into my schedule and continued on as I had pre-baby. Now I no longer have that choice. She is one smart little chicklet! There have been so many other areas where our thinking has definately changed and become more family oriented, but my day to day schedule had not really been one of them.

I am feeling much closer to her, and becoming less frustrated with her fussy periods once I started looking at the positive aspects of our time together.

Yesterday, as she was screaming at the top of her lungs, I picked her up and kissed her on the cheek, and she stopped wailing, just like that. I thought to myself. "I did that." and that felt pretty good. All she wanted was some snuggling time with her mom, and as long as we were snuggling she was fine.

It must be pretty scary to come into this big wide world after being in such a safe cozy environment as a womb. It seems to me that the only thing that remains constant is mom. So it only makes sense that when things get a little scary or overwhelming for a little person, they would expect mom to rearrange her schedule and pencil in snuggling time from 9p to 12a.

And that's exactly what has been penciled in to my new "family" schedule.
9-midnight, Snuggling time with Hanna.

It's quickly becoming my favorite time of day!

Until next time,
Remember, You are Remarkable.

Jackie Lee :)

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