An Agonizing Isaac Night

Whew. We just had a really rough couple of hours with Isaac. He was the most unhappy screaming/crying he's ever been, starting without warning a few minutes after I'd nursed him at around 6 this evening, until about 20 minutes ago when he finally conked out. It seemed like his tummy/intestinal system was hurting him, but it was hard to tell exactly what was hurting. Twice we tried to give him some gripewater and twice he vomited spectacularly. You could tell he was just over the top in pain, and couldn't do anything but cry and scream himself hoarse. It was absolutely heartrending and unbearable, the kind of crying that makes you want to do anything, just anything to make it stop (walk over hot coals? Sure! Slit open a vein? No problem! Anything to make my baby stop hurting). Those moments when he stopped were such a relief, and after he finally started feeling better and fell asleep Josh and I were left totally shell-shocked. Luckily my mom happened to be over for dinner too, so she was able to help both with spelling us with Isaac and with wrangling Eli so we could deal with Isaac.

We suspect the culprit was the two vaccinations he received earlier today (Hep B and Hib), since we've never heard him freak out like this. I called the after hours advice nurse and she said to give him some Tylenol, wait half an hour, and then nurse him a little, then nurse him some more if that went okay (they were obviously the most concerned about the vomiting). So we did, and the Tylenol really seemed to help. I held him and rocked him and he totally calmed down after a few minutes.

Interestingly, the silver lining in all this is that while we were rocking, Isaac wound up in a position where his hand was near his mouth and he started sucking on his hand. (He was probably starving because he'd barfed up his previous nursing.) I helped him move his hand around to find a good place to suck on (which eventually wound up being his thumb) and that kept him calm and happy for a good 20 minutes. I nursed him and then after that he sucked on his thumb some more. I am so excited that he has finally found a way to self-calm, even if he can't quite control his hands yet.

God I hope he stays asleep tonight. He's been doing so well with getting on a schedule at night, I've already gotten dependent on it. What I really should do is stop screwing around in here and go to bed, but let me just back up and jot down a few more things for the record first.

Today was a super busy day (and it was wildly successful until this evening's meltdown). We started out by going to the BSG (where Mr. Fatty weighed in at 14 lbs 2 oz!) and then from there we went over to San Anselmo to see Mom and to go out to lunch with my coworkers, and then off to Isaac's doctor appointment. Isaac was a bit fussy at the end of the BSG but then after I nursed him the second time he conked out and stayed asleep all the way through lunch (ahh the sheer pleasure of being able to eat a whole meal in peace, without gobbling) and until we got to the doctor's office. (For the record, he's 14 lbs 2 oz, 25" long, and has a head circumference of just over 15", which puts him at 97%, 100% and 50% respectively. Go Fatty Fat Boy!) Even in the doctor's office he was pretty mellow and only cried a little bit when the shots went in, then he was fine and nursed and then conked out again. He was so conked that I was able to stop off at Safeway on the way home, then go pick up Eli at daycare, and he slept the whole time, until well after we got home. I even had time to put away the groceries and everything. Go me!

Some other Isaac observations: he's nearly out of his size 1 diapers, and I think he's pretty much outgrown the newborn/0-3 month clothes too. Love that biggy big boy! He's getting really good at holding his head up, and he's definitely social smiling now (although he's still not tracking really well). Those moments when he cracks a big grin and looks you right in the eye are complete parent crack--you get a huge hit of joy off it and you'll do anything to get it again.

Ok I'd better stop now and go to bed. I think I'm over my post-traumatic stress now and I should tank up on sleep for tomorrow. And who knows what tonight will still bring. Sigh...parenting, never a dull moment.