But she still has bad days.
When we'd talk to our family from Madison, they thought we were exaggerating. "Oh, all babies have times like that," they'd say. "Babies cry, it's what they do!" and "But she's good most of the time, you just have to be patient when she has a fussy time."
Dr. B and I knew that they had no idea what kind power Rowan has.
As she screamed for the third hour in a row, Dr. B would say to me, "she's not a nuclear reactor. She has to wear out sometime and fall asleep." Most days, he's right. But not always.
Now, I am back in North Dakota staying with my inlaws, and Dr. B has begun his new job in Pennsylvania. Rowan was great on the trip despite the issues we had, and had several good days after that, leading my inlaws to believe that she was a wonderful, easy baby.
Then it came.
Black Wednesday.
Or, as Jean called it, "The Day From Hell."
Up at 8:30, she had a fussy morning. Lots of crying.
No nap.
More crying.
Lunch time.
Again with the crying.
Coffee with Jean's school gang, and again, no nap.
And more crying.
Afternoon. We were dead. All three of us were in desperate need of a nap, but no dice. More crying. No nap.
"She can't go on like this!" Jean said. "She's got to wear out. I am beat. I don't know how she does it."
We drove around. And around. And around. So long, in fact, that she got hungry again and we had to go home and feed her.
Late afternoon. Dick came home. "What have you been doing to my granddaughter?" he joked.
"You're lucky I like you, or I'd hand her off to you and go to the movies. And take a nap there." I said.
Again, more crying and no nap.
Supper. More crying. No sleeping.
Coffee. (Decaf). Ditto.
Dilly Bar. More of the same.
She finally conked out at 11 PM.
Jean, the next day, in a phone call to her son:
"You're wrong. I'm pretty sure she is a nuclear reactor."
But now, at least, I have an ally. Jean understands. And when people say, "oh, she's such a good baby!" I have someone to exchange "if you only knew" looks with.
*Note: after an "episode", she will usually have a few good days. She made it until Monday this time, but at least when she was awake she wasn't crying this time. Though she was up from 3 AM to 10 PM.
Maybe she'll be a doctor. Seems like she could handle the hours during residency. At least once every 3 or 4 days.
7 comments:
Holy Moly Ronica! This probably means your second baby is going to be super easy. I only say this because Felix as really easy and everyone tells us all the time, oh your second will be soo hard!
Well, I am totally impressed with all of the traveling your are doing and just life in general with a baby that doesn't sleep! Ahhh! How does she do it? Thank gosh she has her good days to make up for it.
Good luck!
LOL. That's so funny that you refer to her as a nuclear reactor. Isn't it amazing how long and hard they can cry? I get exhausted just watching them cry for so long. I'm somehow deaf to Max's cries, I mean I hear him but I don't HEAR him in the sense everyone else.
Well, she's so adorable that should make up for all the crying. She just has a lot to say, I suspect. :)
It's like she's saving it all up and then she just has to vent.
Can you have PMS at such a young age?
When my goddaughter was born, her mother told me that first day in the hospital: "She's a moody girl, I can tell". I said "Oh c'mon, she's only 3 hours old, you can't tell ANYTHING yet".
Her mother was right. She's nearly 15 now and actually a teenager for real. But that girl was BORN a teenager, mood swings and all. All of which she thrusts mainly on her wonderful parents. Kids are like that; they know it's OK to vent to mom and dad.
In a way, it's kind of a compliment. Rowan feels safe enough with you (and your ILs) to be who she is. Even when that involves a cranky day.
She'll get better at balancing.
I hear you there!! Not fun when they are like that eh?
I went to the Jays game the other night... Guess who I passed walking on Front St??? DAVID SUZUKI. I almost stopped to ask for a pic with him, but chickened out. Thought Jeff would like to hear this particular my "famous person sighting".
Kiss to Rowan from Ethan. we are waiting for Baby Mills to be born soon.
To give you a little hope, we have some friends whose daughter was 'chiante' (her words) for the first 4 months. Then, all of the sudden, after that, she became a perfect angel.
Gab had moments of fits but never for more than a couple hours. Louise had a little colic, but not enough so that I would say she was a crier. I am just waiting, though, for revenge with the third. I had thought that Louise would be awful given that Gab was so good, but we've been lucky. I am thinking the teenage years are going to be ugly. Hopefully, she's going through that now so that you won't have to when she's 14!
Best of luck with everything!
Wow! I totally know where you are coming from - I have to laugh at myself because reading this story made me nostalgic for when my little boy was like that! is that crazy or what? Not that I'm ready to go back to those newborn days anytime soon!
Unsolicited advice: swaddling! Check out The Happiest Baby on the Block!
Tell Jeanne she has a selective memory.....I remember Todd screaming and screaming for days. Isn't it wonderful what time can do for you......heh heh! B
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