Finally... A Moment of Peace

Normally I'd be in bed by now, but in an effort to try to stay awake to watch Michael Phelps swim for his seventh gold medal, I have to find a way to stay busy... so lucky you gets to read more of my ramblings. (and Michael Phelps better not disappoint me!!)

So I discussed Chase's crying bouts with his pediatrician. Good news and bad news. Good news is that it's not colic and what he is doing is very common in newborns (I knew that one was coming). Bad news is that it usually lasts for a couple weeks. Apparently, it's a physiological effect that babies experience, and I guess it's more common than I realized because there are lots of theories as to why babies do it. His pedi explained some of the theories behind it and a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember... because the only thing I really wanted to know was 1) Is this colic, and 2) When will the crying end?

The bright side to all of this is that I've found a few ways to minimize the crying in an attempt to keep my sanity. The first is to follow the strategy of Dr. Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block, which basically says to swaddle, sway and shush your baby at the same time. This technique has worked wonders! (And a special thanks to my SIL Jessica for reminding me of this book, it's been a blessing!) The other thing we've done the past couple nights is go for a walk with the boys. This seems to work well for the most part, and by time we get back from the walk, both Braedyn and Chase are sound asleep! So after doing these things for a few nights, we no longer have a screaming baby for hours, but now we have this...

... that's right, that would be little Chase resting peacefully, all swaddled up and sound asleep. Now don't get me wrong, he still cries some in the evening, but it's nothing compared to the 2-3 hour stretches he was doing for the past week. As a result, my splitting headache is starting to subside and I'm slowly getting some of my sanity back.

Now I must go prepare for my Olympics broadcast, then I can finally go to sleep. Which basically means that once my head hits the pillow, Chase will wake up on cue about 15 minutes later. These are good times...