Babies, you think you know them, then BAM!

Is it gross that I want to nuzzle that armpit?

You know I just whined yesterday about not getting any sleep, and not knowing what was wrong. We had a pattern, it was just a bad pattern. Lay Oli down to sleep, he screams, fights, then sleeps for 1-2 hours, then repeat cycle. Talked to his pediatrician yesterday and she suggested going back to solids at night. We had stopped since it seemed to be giving him constipation. She also suggested Pedialyte but he wasn't having none of that.

That picture to the right was taken at 9:45 p.m. last night. What made it happen? Who knows.

All I can say is that last night, we changed it all up.

• We gave him a mix of apples and prunes. He gobbled up half a container, I'd say about 2 ounces.
• No bedtime routine, just played with him and let him stay awake till he showed signs of fussiness. Which also meant no bath last night.
• Started swaddling him and when he screamed, I said, forget this (I might have used some other f word but you know what I mean). So no swaddle last night.
• Waited longer than the usual 3 hrs to feed him; he was fighting the bottles and then only drinking 2-3 ounces. So we waited till he was tired, and then he ate 5 ounces.
• And, we brought him into our bed. 

I remember being pregnant and saying that I had no plan for birth. We'd go with whatever was happening and make decisions as we went along. If I'd had natural labor and delivery, I was going to put off meds till the last possible minute because I wanted to walk around. But, Oli turned that little plan upside down as well by trying to come out butt first so I was screaming for those pain meds as soon as I walked into labor & delivery. Same now that he's here. We have no plan. We planned to have him sleep in his crib and he did great so far. but, you know what? It gets very tiring getting up out of a high king sized bed an walking to another room every 1-3 hours. As soon as he's over this teething/demonic phase, he'll go back to his crib but for now, for everyone's sanity, he's in our bed. But, we have learnt to never say never.

We'll never let our child watch tv before he's 2? Hah, if 15 minutes in front of the TVmeans I can switch over the laundry, take the dog out onto the patio and get dinner done, don't you give me the side eye. My kid seems to enjoy Say Yes to the Dress as much as I do.

Not saying he didn't get up in the middle of the night, oh he did. For diaper changes, for feedings and then once, I think maybe just a bad dream. But, we didn't have 2-3 waking screaming hours! And, this morning at 5:45, I had this happy baby:

Oh yeah, there's a new (deputy) Sheriff in town!

A reminder

that I might possibly be married to the best guy in the entire universe. Before we had a baby, it was well known that Jeff could sleep hours, if allowed. Typically, he needed 9-10 hrs of sleep a night whereas I could get by on 6-8. He also required regular naps whereas I turned into a beast if I napped. Let me tell you that this man has slept less than me in the last few nights and has possibly helped me keep my sanity. Why? Because our precious, our wonderful, our beautiful (if I put enough adjectives in, I'll forget the raging beast he was in the middle of the night) little boy is possibly teething (I say possibly because really, since he can't speak and tell us, we are just guessing).

What does that mean for our household? The days aren't that bad, we play, we eat (not as well as a week ago though), we nap. But at night? We scream. Why, yes, I said "we" because I believe I might have screamed last night too. He goes down fine the first time, up after 1-2 hrs, then it's a fight to get him back asleep. And it's off and on throughout the night. Ambesol and Tylenol together aren't helping the wee one. So, last night, in desperation, I just laid him down next to me and tried to sleep because getting up out of bed ad walking to the nursery every hour was not working. I think he might have slept for 3 hrs like that but I slept fitfully because I kept expecting him to wake up. And, at 4:30, I was at my wit's end, rocking him, walking with him, trying to feed him, give him his pacifier, anything!!! Nothing was calming him down to the point that I sat in my rocking chair, crying with him. I could hear his pain but I couldn't do anything about it. And, I was exhausted. Jeff walked in and took him from me. I went back to sleep for another hour before my alarm went off and Oli was crying again :(

At this moment, I'll try anything, do anything to have this for at least 4 hrs at a time at night:

So, parents, tell me your remedies, please?