Where’d My Monkey Go?

I heard somewhere that if an adult had to go through the same teething process as a baby, he or she would have to be hospitalized for the pain. HOSPITALIZED. I’m quite sure with Synape Forte being pumped into his or her veins on an hourly basis. And we wonder why our poor little babies suffer so much when those sharp white buds pierce through their gums?! It’s absolutely heartbreaking, holding a screaming baby in your arms while he wails away, unable to sleep or remain still for any minute of time because IT HURTS SO MUCH!

Last Thursday was horrible. HORRIBLE 😦 I got home to Beauty looking VERY flustered. She told me that he had been a handful the whole day (it takes a lot for the incredible Beaut-Cat to admit defeat) – that he had moaned non-stop the entire day. She had tried to put him down for his 9:30 nap and instead of chatting to Po (the Teletubbie) for a few minutes and then drifting off, Luca got up in his cot the second she closed the door and screamed. That’s where it began … and it was all downhill from there. She tried putting him onto her back (which I told her to stop doing when he approached the 7kg mark – he’s now just over 10kg – to save Beaut from any crippling back pain) which usually worked like a charm and had him calm and subdued in seconds. Not this time. Screamed on the floor, in the cot, on her back, in the playpen, in the high chair. He wouldn’t eat (and subsequently hadn’t pooped), wouldn’t drink his formula or any other liquid, wouldn’t laugh or smile. So not Luca. So scary for us! I honestly thought that there was something wrong with him so I whisked him off to the GP (he also had a rash on the back of his legs and on some of his body) who informed me that it was literally just his teeth that were worrying him and that all I could do was treat the pain, so that he would be able to sleep and hopefully eat something. Well, that night was one for the books. He wouldn’t take his night bottle and after 30 minutes of unsuccessful “old-school” rocking, humming and bum-patting to get him to sleep I popped him into his cot to let him get on with sleeping for the night. Dave and I sat staring at the AngelCare. Nothing. I checked to see that it was on. Yes. HE WAS ASLEEP! Stupidly, I sat on the couch for the rest of the night, surfing the net aimlessly, instead of heading STRAIGHT TO BED. At around 22:40 I heard a noise from the monitor and after waiting a while (usually he would just kick around a bit and then go to sleep again) he starting crying. Screaming. Off I went, to find him standing in his cot, crying his heart out. The crying that sounds like he’s trying to say something. Kinda sounds like, “Ayyyyyyyaaaaaaayyyyyyyaaaaaayayayayaaaaaaa!” with lots of tugging at his mouth and thrashing his legs and arms around. I remained calm for as long as I could, but no amount of marching up and down the passage would help. The fountain in the front garden, which usually puts him into a water-trance, was useless. I couldn’t get any Calpol or Stopyn down him with all the screaming and breath-holding, so we did what we thought would work. We popped him into his car seat and head off around the neighbourhood *sorry neighbours* This was already around 11:15pm. Well, we drove and we drove and we drove. He would start to drift off and then he would yelp in pain and start the crying all over again. I eventually climbed over the seat to get into the back with him and took him out of the car seat to lie on my chest, which seemed to work wonders. We drove until around half past twelve and slowly pulled into the garage, popping him silently back into his bed. He slept until 4am and then started again. OY! Thank god I have a very flexible job with VERY reasonable and understanding employers. Dave was convinced our angel of a baby was gone for good. It was tough. I take my hat off to all the moms and dads who have colic babies, babies who don’t sleep well. Just that one night felt like an eternity to us. One night!

Sheesh … so glad to have my happy little monkey back 🙂

Really glad it’s all over (for now – only one blaady tooth made an appearance, so I am expecting a repeat performance in the near future) and now I can focus on the fun things … planning his baptism and 1st birthday party!