Surviving "Colic" (Wastebasket diagnosis MD's use when they don't know what is going on)

We have survived 10 weeks of new parenthood! Marcus is really breaking us in. He had a tough few weeks where he spent a lot of time screaming. I just thought to myself that I never knew babies cried this much. I slowly realized that his was not a normal amount of crying- especially when my mom and grandma told me that they each had 5 kids and they were not as bad as him. So I did some research and decided that he had many of the signs of acid reflux. All babies have "reflux" but for some reason he was in a lot of pain and could only let me know by screaming. Now that I have read way more information, it is obvious to me that he had many symptoms that are not normal but being a new mom, I just thought all babies were like that. So we started him on Zantac which didn't help right away but gradually seemed to help. And then I stopped eating dairy which helped even more. He no longer screams like he did. I am not sure if he has an intolerance to the milk proteins in dairy or if the dairy was contributing to his reflux. I wish babies were easier to figure out. But I am just happy that he seems content most of the time. He still doesn't nap for very long and has nights where he is up a lot. So I am waiting for that day when I get more sleep. But he smiles a lot and is making so many sounds. I am enjoying motherhood so much more now.

We haven't been up to much else. He isn't the easiest baby to take places. My family was all together the past few days so we spent a lot of time at my parent's house and went on a few short excursions. Tom and Monique were visiting from Nebraska and it was fun to see my new neice Ridley. And see how much Christian has grown. And Amanda was visiting from Utah. I miss having her close by but am excited for her as she starts grad school. Matthew just left for college this weekend and it is hard for me to see him move away. So I am getting used to the idea that my family is becoming more spread out. We had a fun few days hanging out and remembering old times.

Otherwise I have just been trying to figure out what does and doesn't work for Marcus. I still have 2 months before I go back to work and I really hope he sleeps more and is even more content to not be held all the time by then. It is amazing how the day just flies by and I feel like I didn't barely leave the house or get much done. So I haven't updated my blog because it doesn't feel like there is much to share.

Ross will post some pictures of Marcus. He is growing and seems to change all the time. Our world does revolve around him so sorry that he is going to be the focus of much of our updates.