What a busy day!! E had a good night, in fact at 2am he spent some real wonderful awake time after his feed but was settled and calm, but he was not a happy camper this morning. He woke up and fed at about 6am (after settling well at 4am) but he was rather unhappy about the prospect of going back to sleep and became quite hysterical. In the face of his rather obvious distress we decided on the warm bath option. A good one considering that I had a sore tummy and could have done with the comfort of the warm water. As always the bath did its trick and he was settled and warm after his bath. He slept soundly and was happy and content for his 9am feed. After his “breakfast” I bundled him into the pram and we went for our first solo walk to the shops. He slept well again and the next thing he knew we were bundling him up in preparation for his first long journey in the car to visit his mate Mattie.
Mattie was born five weeks prior to E and also did some time in the NCC. He and E became first and firm friends. Today is Mattie’s due date and his parents were throwing a “0” birthday party. We expected that E would love the long trip to Narrabeen but boy were we wrong. He hated the car seat and I ended up having to sit in the back with him to settle him. I am sure that the car seat is too uncomfortable for him – he is really to small to try and sit up in that position.
E was the star child at the party. He slept in his pram amidst all the noise and the chaos and seemed very content. He woke for his feed right on time and ate really well. He settled soon after and went back to his pram. He woke up just in time for me not to have to help clear the dishes, handy that! We stayed through the cake and to sing happy birthday and then we left on his next adventure – to visit T and her new baby in the hospital.
Before I begin I think that my lesson for today is that one outing a day is more than enough. He screamed again when put into his car seat and took quite some time to settle. His little arms were thrashing about wildly and he was screaming blue murder. He fell asleep soon before we got to the hospital and we thought we would just run in, say a quick hello and welcome to the world and get going again so that he could be home for his 6pm feed.
We went upstairs and three minutes into the visit he began to cry. I picked him up and he tried to eat my shirt. I was really quite uncomfortable with the idea of feeding him in front of all T’s guests so got one of the midwives to find me a quiet room to feed in. He fed well for about 15 minutes and I thought that I could fool him into going to sleep and getting a top up when we got home. I was wrong. We went back to T’s room and he began to cry, we put him in the car seat and he began to scream. We decided to leave. M rocked him and he began to settle and then he got into the car. As we drove E screamed so loudly and for so long that his voice sounded hoarse, he began to whimper from screaming. I felt so terrible and so helpless, here I was sitting right next to him and I could not hold him in my arms and settle him, how was he meant to understand what was happening. Eventually we decided to stop at the side of the road. I picked him up out of the seat and saw the reason for his hysteria. The poor angel was in pain, the seat belt must have been resting under his eye as there was a big mark on his face. I feel so terrible that the child was crying in pain and we took so long to respond. Now I really believe all that I have read that says that babies do not cry for no reason. When they cry that is their way of communicating something to us. He settled after a bit of a hug and we reseated him more comfortably. He slept the rest of the journey. Poor M had been feeling quite ill and had a really bad headache, the crying and the stress of the journey did nothing to help and as we got home M vomited. Next time – just the one outing for us.
Mattie was born five weeks prior to E and also did some time in the NCC. He and E became first and firm friends. Today is Mattie’s due date and his parents were throwing a “0” birthday party. We expected that E would love the long trip to Narrabeen but boy were we wrong. He hated the car seat and I ended up having to sit in the back with him to settle him. I am sure that the car seat is too uncomfortable for him – he is really to small to try and sit up in that position.
E was the star child at the party. He slept in his pram amidst all the noise and the chaos and seemed very content. He woke for his feed right on time and ate really well. He settled soon after and went back to his pram. He woke up just in time for me not to have to help clear the dishes, handy that! We stayed through the cake and to sing happy birthday and then we left on his next adventure – to visit T and her new baby in the hospital.
Before I begin I think that my lesson for today is that one outing a day is more than enough. He screamed again when put into his car seat and took quite some time to settle. His little arms were thrashing about wildly and he was screaming blue murder. He fell asleep soon before we got to the hospital and we thought we would just run in, say a quick hello and welcome to the world and get going again so that he could be home for his 6pm feed.
We went upstairs and three minutes into the visit he began to cry. I picked him up and he tried to eat my shirt. I was really quite uncomfortable with the idea of feeding him in front of all T’s guests so got one of the midwives to find me a quiet room to feed in. He fed well for about 15 minutes and I thought that I could fool him into going to sleep and getting a top up when we got home. I was wrong. We went back to T’s room and he began to cry, we put him in the car seat and he began to scream. We decided to leave. M rocked him and he began to settle and then he got into the car. As we drove E screamed so loudly and for so long that his voice sounded hoarse, he began to whimper from screaming. I felt so terrible and so helpless, here I was sitting right next to him and I could not hold him in my arms and settle him, how was he meant to understand what was happening. Eventually we decided to stop at the side of the road. I picked him up out of the seat and saw the reason for his hysteria. The poor angel was in pain, the seat belt must have been resting under his eye as there was a big mark on his face. I feel so terrible that the child was crying in pain and we took so long to respond. Now I really believe all that I have read that says that babies do not cry for no reason. When they cry that is their way of communicating something to us. He settled after a bit of a hug and we reseated him more comfortably. He slept the rest of the journey. Poor M had been feeling quite ill and had a really bad headache, the crying and the stress of the journey did nothing to help and as we got home M vomited. Next time – just the one outing for us.
Oh hon...what an amazingly heartwrenching, exhausting day for you and E...
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