Before I forget...

Remember, the last 6 weeks have seemed like one loooong day to me. So it's easy to forget what happened any given day, night, moment or whatever.

I began keeping a journal of Emma's behavior just before Tami stopped by the Thursday before Christmas. So I have the First Good Night documented. When Tami was holding Emma what she really must have been doing is laying hands on her, because that was the first night Emma slept, ate, and went right back to sleep - ever. She went to sleep around midnight and slept next to me in bed. She woke up at 1:30 and nursed while I was lying down. She actually drifted off to sleep. She awoke again at 4:30 and, with a bit more help, went to sleep. I think the morning began around 7:00 am. It was blissful. Maybe not much sleep, but a peaceful baby is a blessing.

Well, we've made progress since then in the stretches of sleep, but not in getting there. It's awfully hard for Emma to go to sleep. She gets easily worked up and is hard to settle down.

So, Tami stopped by again (bless her) Tuesday night. We talked about Emma's behavior (extreme fussiness at night, hiccups following every feeding, gassiness, discomfort, difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in nursing on the left side). She thought it might be worth it to take Emma to see our chiropractor, Dr. Sparks, especially considering she didn't get that first check-up that Joseph had the week after he was born. She must have done the laying on of hands again, because we had our Second Good Night! I've already forgotten the details (it was two nights ago!), but I remember she woke, ate, drifted off to sleep, was put back down on the love seat (yes, she mostly sleeps on the couch, wedged into the corner of all places), and slept. It was wonderful.

Yesterday (Wednesday) during the day did not follow suit. She was irritable, very fussy (she's usually calmer in the daytime), and wanted to nurse constantly. By the afternoon, though, she wouldn't even nurse, she just screamed. She finally had a BM and calmed a bit, but Aaron came home early it was so stressful (my hero). So I took her to see Dr. Sparks last night around 6:00 pm. He very honestly said that fussing in babies could be caused by a million and one things, so he might not be able to help. But when he looked at her, he found a pinched nerve in the middle of her upper back, and a bit in her neck (just where Tami felt tightness the night before). He asked me to have her nurse in a normal cradle hold on the left side, because many time babies will correct the problem themselves. (I guess he thinks that her difficulty in latching on/nursing on the left side has something to do with her pinched nerve. Makes sense! I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't relax and turn her head.) He said he wants to see her today again, to see if it helps (if not, he'll help me figure out Step 2), but added that in his experience girls are much fussier than boys. Don't I know?

Maybe it had nothing to do with Dr. Sparks adjusting her back, but Aaron and I noticed a marked difference in her behavior last night. She did not get the hiccups one time (and hasn't); she didn't fuss when she nursed on the left side (although she still had a harder time), she did not cry once going to sleep last night and (here's the best part!) she slept! She nursed around 9:30 and after being rocked by Daddy, fell asleep around 10:30. She woke again around 3:30, ate, relaxed, was rocked by Daddy (she was beginning to get a bit frustrated with me) and went to sleep again by 4:30. We began our morning at 7:30 when she awoke again. Read it again! 9:30, 3:30, 7:30! Aaron and I slept! But, even better, Emma was calm and relaxed. God gives very good gifts.

She's been fussier this morning, but still without fussing on the left side and also without hiccups. I am almost positive Emma needed that adjustment. I know many people are skeptical of chiropractic care (I was). But after my own experiences with headaches being cured and awesome pregnancies, and now this change of behavior in Emma, I'm a believer. But, as he said, it could be any number of things causing her behavior, and this change could be a coincidence. We go back again today. Time will tell.

Oh, and I know this post is unnecessarily long and detailed and redundant; and full of goofy, cheesy optimism and excitement. But I'm a postpartum, sleep-deprived, first-time-Second Mom. I've got my rights, you know.