She is such a blessing! She is definitely the greatest challenge (especially since she is colicky) but also the most amazing thing we have ever encountered!
These adorable pics would never show it, but Johanna can definitely be a cranky pants! The definition of colic is "a condition of a healthy baby in which it shows periods of intense, unexplained fussing/crying lasting more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week for more than 3 weeks." I guess she's not technically colicky yet, but only because the fussing has only lasted about 2 weeks. Close to 2 weeks ago, there was a 48 hour period where if she was awake, she was fussing. 7-8 hours of unexplained crying per day = more exhausting than running a marathon. We took her to the doctor just to be sure she was ok even though she wasn't running a temp and all eating and pooping was going well. She was given a clean bill of health; I actually saw the doctor write "irritable child" on her file.
Her fussing has developed into a pattern now, where she's usually fussy from around 8-11am and 6-10/11 at night. It's not every day during those time frames, but it's definitely more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week. And it's definitely the worst at night when Berto gets home from work. Poor Daddy has to come home to a crabby baby! We can only hope that she will grow out of it sooner rather than later!
The only thing that we've discovered so far that cures her fussiness: socialization! I'm sure people are going to start thinking we are just being whiny, 1st time parents, because anytime Johanna has visitors over or goes on outings anywhere, she is an angel! The doctor was probably looking at me and thinking "yeah right" in his head as I explained her 7-8 hours of crying and he's seeing this wide-eyed little doll on the examination table. I felt embarrassed, because I knew he had to be thinking that I was exaggerating.
Since she puts on such a good show for everyone else, my new solution is to fill Johanna's social calender for the rest of my maternity leave. Weds I took her in to work to visit my staff, yesterday we went to visit Meg, Bella, and Emi, and today we had Juli over to visit. Though she was still fussy for a couple hours at night, it hasn't been near as bad now that I'm keeping her (and me) occupied.
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1 comment:
Happy 1 month to Johanna! You know, Johanna probably just needs "social obligations" to keep her sane... just like her mama! Can she get a crazy planner with all those dates written in? She needs one! If you are looking for more things to add to her planner, I think "Visit to Iowa" should be added. Haha. Just kidding. See you soon! xoxo
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