Poop, Poop Everywhere!

Babies are hard.  I don't think that's news to anyone, but you don't know quite how tough it can be until you're raising a baby yourself.  The last week has been a challenge to say the least.

A week ago, Wes was fussy most of the day, and he had a pretty rough night.  Restless evenings and long nights are not unusual, but fussy mornings and afternoons are not typical.  After becoming a bit fussy myself, I sucked it up and looked forward to the next day when my mom would return.  She seems to have pretty good luck in calming a fussy baby (she had 3 of them herself), so I thought relief was near.

I'll spare the screamin' details, but we struggled through 6 more days of fussing.  Wes would become pretty upset around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and finally around 11 at night he'd calm down enough to fall into a restless sleep.  He'd wake up the next morning, take a restless nap, and repeat.  After lots of online research, all signs pointed to colic and the only solution is to wait it out.

In the meantime, we invented all sorts of ways to try to quell the crying.  I wore Wes in a sling, we bounced on the exercise ball, we made a (heavy!) pendulum out of his car seat and our arms.  We even caved and drove around town to put him to sleep.  Nothing seemed to do much more than lull him into a short catnap, and nothing hurts more than knowing your baby is upset and there isn't a single thing you can do to help.

The fussiness got so bad that Sean and I took Wes to the doctor on Saturday.  We were told to give soy formula a try.  Milk protein is pretty tough for some babies to break down, so the soy might be more easily digested.  We were (are) willing to try anything!  We have multiple friends who have used soy and have found it successful, so we're hopeful.  We are told there is a transitional period of a few days, so our fingers are crossed.

Yesterday was the first full day of soy milk, and last night was the worst night yet!  He could NOT calm down, and his cries were different.  We started to worry that all sorts of things could be wrong (did he break a bone? ear infection? does he need an exorcism?!?).  He woke about 5:45 this morning, just when Sean was getting ready to leave for a conference in NC (convenient time to be able to leave the state for a few days, eh Dad?).  That's when the sh*t hit the fan...nearly quite literally...

5:45 AM
Grandma: "Kristy, come here and see what constipation looks like."
Kristy:  "Oh..ew.  That's what they mean by poop pellets."

5:46 AM
Wes toots.  Adorable.  Whoops.  A little more than a toot.

5:46:10 AM
Grandma: "Grab another diaper!"

5:46:30 AM
Grandma: "Oh no, grab another diaper!"

5:46:35 AM
Wes pees in his face. And on the pacifier.

5:46:40  AM
Kristy: "Oh my gosh..."

5:46:50 AM
Kristy and Grandma: "It's not stopping!  Catch it in another diaper!"

5:46:55 AM
Kristy: "The bumper pad too!?!  Seriously Wes?"

5:47 AM
Grandma:  "Well, he's not constipated anymore..."

Who knew a tiny little human could produce so much poo. We filled the Diaper Genie.  We filled the washing machine.  I almost emptied my stomach right there.

The good news is that we have what seems to be a whole new baby today (so far)!  He has slept soundly for three naps, and has minimally fussed.  It could be a fluke, but I'll take it!  This is more relief than we've had in a week, and it has been refreshing.  I don't know what tonight will bring, but at least we've seen a glimpse of the old Wes again.  If nothing else, we have a good story to tell his prom date.