I survived a demonic headache and a screaming child
Wow.
I survived, thank God.
The baby was just screaming her head off last night. No amount of consolation could bribe her into calming down. Refused the bottle. Refused the cuddling. Refused the smiles. Refused the carrying. Refused to be laid down. No diaper alert. Refused the talking. Refused the singing.
Absolutely refused her daddy.
I on the other hand was battling a demonic headache that would not go away. It had been growing since I woke up in the morning and had finally reached its peak by evening. Perfectly timed with the baby screaming her head off. Things were relatively fine all day and by evening time which is usually her time to sleep, she just couldn't stop screaming and crying like her universe is in shambles.
Duston was just clearly frustrated. He had some work to do but it's very difficult to ignore a screaming fussy child. I felt like I was being drowned in the sea of self-guilt and demonic headache at the same time. Crazy thoughts were going through my head and I had to fight them all off. So despite my shitty condition, I had to do something. So I took the baby and tried to calm her down.
Baby: 1
Mommy: 0
Mercifully, she finally calmed down. We swayed as I held her close to my chest and she was still battling the sniffles from her intense crying. Then she eased up. Crisis abated. However, the swaying was making my head spin at the same time and I really felt like throwing up. I had to put her down again. She was fine for a few minutes until she realized..."WHAT THE? WAIT A MINUTE! WHY AM I ON THE BED? THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
I was already very groggy. Duston would pick her up again and try to calm her down doing just about the same thing as I was doing. Swaying. But no amount of swaying was gonna bribe her to calm down. She was flailing her arms and bending backwards. If she had enough strength in her fists, she would have punched him too. It was a disaster.
I had to drag myself out of the bed again to take her and then she would calm down...but ONLY if I held her and we would be swaying. This scenario repeated itself several times in the evening. My head was not getting any better. I was waiting for the drug to kick in but just before I would reach the center of peace in my head...I would hear a baby screaming her head off nearby.
It was really getting late. Way way past her bedtime. She wasn't hungry. She wouldn't take any bribe of feeding. She just wants me holding her and that's it. You know, it's not really too much to ask really. I completely do not mind holding her all night if I have to. But either I make my headache worse and be utterly useless to her was not going to improve both our conditions.
So I laid her in the crib. Duston unhinged the rocker and I rocked her crib and stayed there till she finally, FINALLY relaxed and closed her eyes to sleep. Duston had long gone back to work on the PC. I dragged myself to the bed for that much needed rest with the hopes that my headache would finally go away.
I think it had been an hour later...I heard something again. I sleepily looked at Duston who didn't hear a thing since he had the headphones on. From where I was laying down, I could see the crib moving. Uh-oh. Here we go again.
Sure enough, there is the Shamsa baby crying again. Apparently she slid off from where she was lying down and had assumed some weird position only a baby can muster. This has made her horribly uncomfortable. So I laid her back in her original comfy position. Checked her diaper. Poopy-free. Pee-free. Then I rocked her crib and made eye contact with her till she fell back to sleep again.
This time..it was real. I finally got my sleep and so did she.
I learned something that night and no matter how much crap your body is going through, none of that matters to a crying baby. The baby always wins in the end. You just can't fight it. Baby always takes over and that's it. Case closed. You want a good night sleep, calm the baby first then you deserve a good night sleep.
I love Shamsa so much. I really do. Oh God, I really do. And she's only six months. It seems that the older a child is the attention-seeking behavior is climbing the charts at an amazing pace. I'm like OK..this is alright. She needs it. I am the other parental unit here and if she wants mommy, then I will give mommy. If she wants her daddy, daddy's here. But when crisis is reaching panic stage, she just wants mommy even if mommy is pounded senseless with a headache.
But if she is still like this when she turns 4, I think we will need to discuss better ways of handing such a crisis. She will need to work it all out in the bathroom where she can scream all she wants.
I survived, thank God.
The baby was just screaming her head off last night. No amount of consolation could bribe her into calming down. Refused the bottle. Refused the cuddling. Refused the smiles. Refused the carrying. Refused to be laid down. No diaper alert. Refused the talking. Refused the singing.
Absolutely refused her daddy.
I on the other hand was battling a demonic headache that would not go away. It had been growing since I woke up in the morning and had finally reached its peak by evening. Perfectly timed with the baby screaming her head off. Things were relatively fine all day and by evening time which is usually her time to sleep, she just couldn't stop screaming and crying like her universe is in shambles.
Duston was just clearly frustrated. He had some work to do but it's very difficult to ignore a screaming fussy child. I felt like I was being drowned in the sea of self-guilt and demonic headache at the same time. Crazy thoughts were going through my head and I had to fight them all off. So despite my shitty condition, I had to do something. So I took the baby and tried to calm her down.
Baby: 1
Mommy: 0
Mercifully, she finally calmed down. We swayed as I held her close to my chest and she was still battling the sniffles from her intense crying. Then she eased up. Crisis abated. However, the swaying was making my head spin at the same time and I really felt like throwing up. I had to put her down again. She was fine for a few minutes until she realized..."WHAT THE? WAIT A MINUTE! WHY AM I ON THE BED? THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
I was already very groggy. Duston would pick her up again and try to calm her down doing just about the same thing as I was doing. Swaying. But no amount of swaying was gonna bribe her to calm down. She was flailing her arms and bending backwards. If she had enough strength in her fists, she would have punched him too. It was a disaster.
I had to drag myself out of the bed again to take her and then she would calm down...but ONLY if I held her and we would be swaying. This scenario repeated itself several times in the evening. My head was not getting any better. I was waiting for the drug to kick in but just before I would reach the center of peace in my head...I would hear a baby screaming her head off nearby.
It was really getting late. Way way past her bedtime. She wasn't hungry. She wouldn't take any bribe of feeding. She just wants me holding her and that's it. You know, it's not really too much to ask really. I completely do not mind holding her all night if I have to. But either I make my headache worse and be utterly useless to her was not going to improve both our conditions.
So I laid her in the crib. Duston unhinged the rocker and I rocked her crib and stayed there till she finally, FINALLY relaxed and closed her eyes to sleep. Duston had long gone back to work on the PC. I dragged myself to the bed for that much needed rest with the hopes that my headache would finally go away.
I think it had been an hour later...I heard something again. I sleepily looked at Duston who didn't hear a thing since he had the headphones on. From where I was laying down, I could see the crib moving. Uh-oh. Here we go again.
Sure enough, there is the Shamsa baby crying again. Apparently she slid off from where she was lying down and had assumed some weird position only a baby can muster. This has made her horribly uncomfortable. So I laid her back in her original comfy position. Checked her diaper. Poopy-free. Pee-free. Then I rocked her crib and made eye contact with her till she fell back to sleep again.
This time..it was real. I finally got my sleep and so did she.
I learned something that night and no matter how much crap your body is going through, none of that matters to a crying baby. The baby always wins in the end. You just can't fight it. Baby always takes over and that's it. Case closed. You want a good night sleep, calm the baby first then you deserve a good night sleep.
I love Shamsa so much. I really do. Oh God, I really do. And she's only six months. It seems that the older a child is the attention-seeking behavior is climbing the charts at an amazing pace. I'm like OK..this is alright. She needs it. I am the other parental unit here and if she wants mommy, then I will give mommy. If she wants her daddy, daddy's here. But when crisis is reaching panic stage, she just wants mommy even if mommy is pounded senseless with a headache.
But if she is still like this when she turns 4, I think we will need to discuss better ways of handing such a crisis. She will need to work it all out in the bathroom where she can scream all she wants.