fussy baby?? clueless parenting??

7 weeks ago we brought a teeny tiny baby home who slept all the time-well, with the exception of eating every two hours. When his eyes were open, he was always this quiet content peaceful being. I remember saying, “we have the most content baby” and feeling a smug sense of accomplishment about something that really had nothing to do with us. :) Then he was two weeks old and developed a “fussy time” at 7 pm. Seriously, like clock work when 7 rolled around, he was crying, no matter what. No big deal…I googled it. Google tells me that most babies have a fussy time in the evenings. Right then, (sigh) we were normal.
Then, he was one month old…and suddenly he was fussy in the morning AND in the evening. I started to second guess everything. Was it us? Did he need a different schedule? (which is another blog all unto it’s own) Was he just a fussy baby…this was the most alarming possibility to me. We couldn’t have a fussy baby…
or could we??
I think you can see the trend.
which brings me to two months.

A few days ago Carter screamed for what felt like two days straight. Kyle came home one evening and as soon as he walked in the door I passed the baby off only to shed a few exhausted tears myself. It was the most frustrating thing…not knowing what’s wrong; not being able to soothe him. And let me be clear this wasn’t a little unhappy protesting it was the all out cry like someone is amputating a limb.

Then his poop turned green (i’ll spare you the other characteristic)…while his lips were still purple from the treatment for thrush. My poor friend Brittany, who is Carter’s provider, deserves something lovely for putting up with us. It seems my poor child has had some significant bowel irritation from something in my diet. I know…big surprise to those who know me, right? I’m really not sure how long this has been going on but I put him over the edge when I indulged myself with handful after delicious handful of target’s monster mix…chocolate, peanuts, peanut butter drops, etc. I never thought about how hard this would be on his digestive system…but now I’ll never forget. So, for now, I’m off all things chocolate (which I probably wouldn’t be able to do for myself but I will force myself to do for my son), all things peanut or peanut butter and no straight milk. Oh, and no caffeine. Seriously…Allison, if you read this, I know you’re laughing because you know this must sound like an impossibility for me. The hope is, it will only be temporary. We go next week for Carter’s two month check up and can re-evaluate then.

So I guess we wait and see what the next month brings. It has to make a turn around right?? I’m already praying for his baby sitter. :)

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This is LONG overdue but I want to post a few pictures that my friend Rebecca took when Carter turned a month old. Let me say this about the photo shoot…Becca is the most patient soul on the planet; combined with being uber gifted behind the camera lens. We wanted sleepy baby photos. It was 7 pm. (LOL) As I mentioned above, 7 pm meant one fussy baby. She held him and loved him and shushed him and let me nurse him–and then took some pictures. This scenario repeated itself over and over. I was ready to call it a night, realizing we might be there forever but she wanted to keep going. And I’m so glad she did. I can’t post them all because some will be gifts for grandparents but here’s a few.

Becca, thanks soooo much for taking these pictures for us. we love them!!!!!

this was taken when he was a couple weeks old. John Marr (becca’s father in law) is the sweetest santa on earth. ;)