So I am not sure what is going on with Olivia but the last few days she has been unusually fussy and her sleeping is off. She is usually a good sleeper and has been since the day she was born. She slept all the time as a newborn enough that the doctors kept insisting I wake her up and nurse her (although I didn't because I thought it was mean to wake a sleeping baby, and I still believe that she will let me know when she is hungry and don't worry she does!) and she went through her phase of waking in the middle of the night to feed but at about 3 months she began sleeping through the night and so have I and I thoroughly enjoy it! Now she is 8 months old and either she has started the terrible twos extremely early or something is up with her! She is fussy and not sleeping or napping well. The other night she woke up at 12:45am and tortured her father until 2:30am when he finally came and woke me up because he was so exhausted from lack of sleep that he needed a break and asked if I could try to put her back to bed. Needless to say yes I did put her back to sleep...after 45 minutes a dose of tylenol and lots of singing and rocking!
Why the tylenol you ask? Well, earlier that day I noticed she had been tugging at one ear and she had run a minor fever, one you wouldn't give tylenol to bring down but I thought it might be caused by an ear infection or she is teething. Either way my baby was uncomfortable and I gave her about half the dose for her weight and it seemed to do the trick. Fever was gone and once it kicked in she went right back to sleep...at 3:15am. The next morning she woke up 7am wide eyed and bushy tailed and thank heaven for my loving husband who was up getting ready to watch the Super Bowl (the game started at 8am Sunday morning for us here in Japan) and get the house in order since we were having guests. I on the other hand got to sleep in until 7:25 which gave me 5 minutes to get freshened up before our guests arrived for the big game.
Meanwhile Olivia needs to be dressed and hair combed, face washed, diaper changed and fed. The latter three my husband did while I rushed to make myself presentable. Although for him washing her face, changing her diaper and giving her a bottle was a huge struggle because she kept screaming out, "Momma! Momma!!! Momma!!!" and then crying at the top of her lungs when she couldn't see me! As cute as this is and as proud as it makes me that she wants me I know that is breaking my husband's heart that although she will say, "Dadda" she doesn't and it seems like she wants nothing to do with him 95% of the time. The 5% of the time she does want him it is because he has something she wants; you know like puffs, cheese, fruit, cookies, pretty much anything she wants to put in her mouth that he might have.
Now on to the shaken baby syndrome. NO I have not shaken my baby!!! But now that I believe she either has an ear infection or is finally getting those highly anticipated teeth she is extremely fussy! To the point where I can finally understand how a parent with no help or reprieve from the daily stresses of being a parent could be driven to shake their baby. Today Olivia screamed for nearly 30 minutes in an attempt to resist napping! (Why are children born with this innate sense that naps are bad and that they should not go to sleep even when they are extremely tired?) I sang to her, I rocked her. Then I decided I should recheck her diaper, take her temperature and be prepared to give her some tylenol if she has a fever. So she got a new diaper, had her temperature taken to which she had a slight fever and a half dose of tylenol. Following which she cried for another 5 or so minutes while I rocked and sang and finally went to sleep. But as she innocently cried I looked right in her eyes and said, "Olivia this is why little babies like you get shook!" It became clear to both of us that Mommy was tired and exhausted and needed a break and Olivia understood that she was nearing Mommy's breaking point. And we both understood how easily a beautiful little baby could end up with shaken baby syndrome.
I am in no way, shape, form or fashion advocating for anyone who has shaken a baby. I am merely saying that I understand how people can easily get to that point. Lack of sleep depletes patience and that lowers the level of tolerance one has for the sound of a crying baby. I don't think that most of the people who have shaken a baby had malice intent when they did it. They just wanted the baby to stop crying. As a parent you get frustrated and many times I have felt like Olivia is just straight up ignoring me and I have wanted to jolt her into attention but I know better. I think the only thing that separates me (and other moms like me) from the people who shake babies is that I instantly recognized my breaking point and was ready to put her in her crib and let her cry it out until I could regroup but I was lucky enough that in that exact moment Olivia knew she went too far and quickly calmed down and just went to sleep.
On a different note, the wife I chose not to be friends with, is not going to be a Navy wife for much longer, sadly enough. I never wished for them to get divorced but merely to get along. I have never met a couple who dislikes each other so much (except for my parents but after 30+ years who could blame them? lol) The other day I found out they were getting divorced via Facebook! Yes I said it, Facebook!!! There was a post by the husband on a public site saying he was selling their dog because he was getting a divorce and moving back to the barracks!!! Who puts their business out there like that? They must really hate each other to just publicize their business like that? Just a thought.
On that note I am going to say, "until next time..." stay posted. Much Love from the Real Housewife of the Navy!
Good blog!
ReplyDeleteCharina