To Scream or Not To Scream?

Sometimes I can fix whatever is making Molly scream. Sometimes her diaper needs to be changed. Sometimes she’s hungry. Sometimes her pacifier has become lost.

But sometimes, nothing I do can possibly make her happy. Yes, I can interrupt her screaming. But really, what’s the point of that? We get 30 seconds to a full minute of peace before Mount Molly erupts again.

So if nothing I do has any effect, why should I do anything at all?

Parenthood, Week Three

Here are ten additional things I have learned:

1. Molly definitely has acid reflux, and needs to take Zantac.

2. Molly almost certainly does NOT have acid reflux, but she may be colicky due to a food allergy/intolerance.

3. I really am willing to do just about anything for this new little being, including giving up my favorite foods (cheese, yogurt, anything dairy or soy) for at least a week.

4. Breastfeeding can give babies acne.

5. My cranky hours are between 3 and 5 am.

6. Coincidentally, the hours Molly are most likely to suddenly be wide awake are between 3 and 5 am.

7. It is possible for a baby’s rectum to shoot poo 6 feet across a room! (more from Jeff on that one…)

8. My baby is the only being I personally know with more gas than myself. We will definitely tease her about that later on. She may look like a little lady, but she certainly does not sound like one.

9. You can survive Christmas without giving anyone a present. Although next year, as the new baby will no longer be new, I suspect we will have to resume with the gift-giving.

10. I may not have been born a good parent, but I really am learning to become one. (I have a still-living and thriving child to prove it.) And it does get easier…

Unexpected Holiday

I don’t think it’s any secret that this holiday season hasn’t been what we expected — starting off with the blizzard when we took Molly home from the hospital. We never expected she would suffer from something like Acid Reflux (or whatever it really is that causes her to wake up screaming) and I never expected I’d be feeding my daughter Maalox from an eye-dropper.

I certainly never expected to feel like a failed parent so soon. Nothing makes you feel more helpless than to hold your child while she screams bloody murder for fifteen minutes — all because you have no idea what might be wrong with her. Like many other men, I have this compulsion to fix things, but there’s no fixing Molly. We don’t even know what’s broken.

However, as many have already said, we have a beautiful daughter who we love very much. And if Anna’s own infancy is any guide, Molly will grow out of her problems.

Let’s hope next year brings just as much Joy but without nearly as much frustration and worry…