The dirtiest word I know

Colic. Sorry, probably thought this post was going to be a lot more exciting or at least a little racy, eh?
Addie was diagnosed with colic at three weeks old. Which is also about the time Jordan and I completely lost our minds. We were glad to know what it was that was making our baby cry constantly, and that it was nothing serious, but that really didn't make dealing with it any easier. Colic usually entails digestion problems and, with a newborn's underdeveloped nervous system, basically means they have a very difficult time soothing themselves and cry inconsolably, sometimes for hours. In layman's terms - her tummy hurts and she cries about it.

I felt a little ridiculous calling her doctor to say, "Um, I need an appointment because my baby is crying." What baby doesn't cry? But when I was trying to make an appointment for her, she was literally screaming so loud the nurse couldn't hear me on the phone - I think that encouraged her to get us in that day. Her doc told us that most babies outgrow colic by five to seven months. Even in our sleep-deprived state, we heard that and answered, "come again???" I remember Jordan saying something along the lines of, "we'll take six weeks instead."

Well, 12 weeks in to her little life, she's still got it, although it's become better or we're just better at dealing with it. I am officially a professional at the 5 S's of soothing, we both swaddle like it's our second job (which it is - and we even did a bang-up job of swaddling in a very cramped space when she was screaming on an airplane a week ago) and we both bounce/rock constantly ... even when not holding the baby. We have also become extremely adept at finding white noise - the kitchen venthood is a favorite, followed closely by the vacuum cleaner and hair dryer. One night Jordan finally just layed Addie on the kitchen island (in her nap nanny, mind you) near the venthood.

The worst part is knowing that she's in pain and not being able to fix it. And the second worst part is just when Jordan and I look at each other and breathe a little sigh of relief that she's over it, it comes back with a vengeance. On days like today, when she's been crying most of the afternoon and I'm hoping I can finish this post before she wakes and cries again, I just remind myself that she has many more happy days than unhappy and I'll see that sweet little smile again soon. That smile makes everything worth it.