And the crying has stopped

2 years of crying that wouldn't stop.  The first 6 months or so, he cried 6-8 hours a day.  For the next 12 months, he cried 2-3 hours a day.  For the last 6 months, it was 1 hour a day.  It was less than a month ago I posted this about Ben's crying.  Over the last week or so, something happened.  The crying stopped.  I don't mean that Ben doesn't cry any longer.  He is two years old, so he cries when he gets scared, he wants something, or he is frustrated.  But the extended crying for seemingly no reason hasn't happened in over a week.  We have had reprieves before, which made the return of the reflux cry even harder for me to manage, but I wonder if we haven't come through to the other side finally.

I did the math figuring the low end of those crying estimates.  In the last 2 years, I have survived 1990 HOURS of Ben crying.  Of those 2 years, Dave was gone 9 months, so I managed it alone.  That number doesn't count Liam's meltdowns or crying.

Ben is still refluxing; he spit up a tablespoon or so Saturday morning.  I just hope this change in crying means we are through the worst of it.  I hope I get to see his rare smiles more often.

"Happy hour" at our house

The longest time of the day is the time from when Liam wakes from his nap until Dave gets home. Ben will often refuse to nap and be over-tired. Liam is usually cranky. In reality, this means everyone is crying. Here is a video of a typical "happy hour" in the Routhier house:

Ben has been on Zantac for 1 week now. We are seeing some improvement. He used to cry when he burped and spit up, and that crying has stopped. The screeching scream he was doing when he cried has stopped, as well. However, sleep has not improved, which means we are still having lots of crying due to being over-tired. He will not sleep in the car and does not fall asleep nursing. He won't fall asleep with rocking, and often fights falling asleep for hours. He has a well-baby visit next week, and I am hoping for some answers at that visit.

Yesterday we tried to go to a Pirate storytime taught by our neighbor in downtown Montgomery. I made sure that Ben nursed right before he went in and was focused on whether he would fall asleep in the sling during the storytime. I was so focused on Ben that I forgot about Liam's fear of new environments and strangers. Liam took one look at the crowded room and started tantruming. With Ben in a sling, I couldn't hold Liam close enough to calm him, and we had to leave. Lesson learned: arrive at actvities before anyone else or don't bother going.

A brief glimpse into our long, dark days, i.e. Reflux sucks

This picture summarizes Ben's opinion on reflux; actually it summarizes all of the Routhier's opinion of reflux.

Ben's crying started soon after we got home from the hospital. I remember the "witching hour" with Liam and how Liam got the evening fussies, but Ben's crying was something completely different. By 2 weeks old, he was having difficulty sleeping. By 3 weeks old, he started screaming when he scried. He'd arch his back, throw his head back, and let out shrieks at the end of his cries. We went to the doctor, but they dismissed it as colic. It was clear to me it wasn't colic as Ben seemed to be in pain. Finally at 7 weeks, we saw Liam's doctor. The firrst thing she asked is if Ben arches his back, and when I said he did, she said it was reflux. We have a prescription for Zantac and are really hoping it helps as we have all had enough.

If you plan to watch the videos, I recommend turning the sound down on your computer.

In this first one, you can see how Ben arches his back in pain. Dave is supporting his head as he is throwing his neck and head backwards as he arches his back. He'll stay in this position while crying for 1-2 hours.

In this second video, you can hear the shrieks Ben gives as he cries. Don't be fooled by his stopping crying at the end of his video. Ben will take a short break before contuing the screaming. That night he screamed for about 30-40 more minutes before stopping.