Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Number 9 – The Weeks of Colic and the Stomach Bug

This too shall pass…

I know that you are looking at the title and thinking to yourself, how can this be one of her most memorable moments???

Let me explain...

The Weeks of Colic
As many of you know, lots of babies end up going through a colicky period. You may be wondering, what is colic? “Colic is uncontrollable, extended crying in a baby who is otherwise healthy and well-fed. Every baby cries, but babies who cry for more than three hours a day, three to four days a week, may have colic. About 20% of babies get colic, and it equally affects boys and girls, first-born children and those born later. In general, it appears at around two to four weeks of age and can last for three months, or longer in some cases.” Colic Facts

This is the most heart-wrenching thing to watch your child go through. I believe that having a colicky child is even harder on a parent. Jason and I had two colicky babies at the same time!

Times were tough. As soon as Jason would get home from his days at the office, both kids would instantly start crying and it seemed to never end. We tried it all; hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, music, walking around outside. All these methods worked for the first three minutes and then we were faced with more crying.

The worst case of the colicky babies came one weekend in October. Jason was out of town on the Junior High Fall Retreat and I was home (by myself) with the kids. Things were going well until 5:00 pm hit and boy did it! I ended up calling the on-call pediatrician (about 10 times) and Jason came home early from the retreat after much pleading. At one point, I even joined in on all the crying. I don’t really recall much after that.

The Stomach Bug
One night this past spring, I had laid Abby Kate down for the night. Not five minutes after leaving the room, I heard this screaming coming from her room. Jason and I both ran in to check on her. She had thrown up over all of her pjs, sheets and blanket. We instantly picked her up and started getting her out of her nasty pjs, when it happened again. This time Jason was the receiver. I then took Abby Kate to the bathroom to wash her off while Jason changed his clothes. When Jason came back, he took Abby Kate so that I could change her sheets. Once again, Jason was the lucky target. I finally had her bed all made and both Jason and Abby Kate were clean once again. We put her back to bed (what was I thinking?) only to hear the cry (the “I’m about to throw up, so help me, please!” cry). Needless to say, we spent most of the night waiting for the cry and running to the sink. Abby Kate finally drifted off to sleep around 11:30. Around midnight, I was the one running to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Jason and Abby Kate slept right through my whole stomach bug episode. Jason followed me shortly though. We spent most of the day on the couch trying to recoup. Fortunately, Joshua never got the bug. Thank goodness for that!

These are the moments that you never forget. Even though the times were difficult, we always knew that they would pass.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember the colic all too well and we just stayed one night. That was the first time I couldn't wait to get home!

Anonymous said...

I, too,have twins, and remember a similar incident,but having to do with another form of gastrointestinal distress. Our twins are soon turning 19, so it's a dim memory. Twins are more than enough fun (and we capped off the experience by having two other children, singletons).

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

oh my goodness. you must have a blast but it must be so hard. everyone always says they would die if they have twins, but i have always wanted them. i know that may make me crazy but i love the idea of two babies. now i am sure they are tons of work, esp after one aiden, and i cant imagine them both crawling at once, but they are so precious! cute cute! glad you have survived

Jason said...

It's amazing how quickly you can forget some things. I had actually forgotten about the stomach bug night. Thanks for reminding me! That was definitely an incredible night, one I hope we don't repeat again. I'm just thankful Joshua didn't catch the bug. What a night!