Misrepresented August 23, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Friends, Little Man Dallin , trackbackIt seems I may have misrepresented our child. You see, our friends, Daniel and Lydia, have requested more pictures of Dallin awake. So far, they have only seen him sleeping, and they would like to see his eyes.
Yeah. Okay.
When Dallin isn’t sleeping, he looks like this:
Or some form of this picture anyway. He is has two moods. He is either sleeping, or screaming, and since we prefer his sleeping mood, that is when he gets photographed.
I must make one tiny disclaimer, (and trust me, this is tiny) every once in a while, Dallin ACTUALLY SMILES. We have to give the poor baby a break. He suffers from Acid Reflux, and the medication the doctor gave him has helped him somewhat. Instead of screaming ALL THE TIME, he just screams most of the time he is awake. He must be held at all times in an upright position, so he hangs out in the Snugli on my person, AT ALL TIMES. It is amazing what you can do with a baby on you all the time. I can make sandwiches, do laundry, email, take my dogs to the potty, and take pictures with my baby hanging on me like a baby Kanga.
Once a day, and once during the night, Dallin will smile. And when he smiles during the night, it’s like he’s saying, “Hey, I’m gonna make this night worth it to you. If you just keep feeding me, and changing my diaper every hour, I will smile for 12 seconds.”
When he smiles, the moment is so fleeting, that I haven’t dared to grab the camera and miss the 10 seconds he is happy and content. However, for your reading enjoyment, I did grab the camera and take a few pictures.
So he’s not smiling here, but he is awake and not crying. This was a moment to document.
Dallin’s million dollar smile!!!
Please, enjoy these pictures because I sacrificed A LOT to capture him smiling. 
Comments»
So cute! Connor had acid reflux (and still does) so I TOTALLY understand! Luckily, his has gotten much better the older he gets. Hopefully, Dallin’s will do the same…not that that brings a whole lot of comfort right now but…
He is totally so cute!!! Have you tried cutting dairy out of your diet (if you are nursing)? It helps a bunch, usually!
He is beautiful Emily! Thanks for taking those pics. So sorry he is so sad all the time, that is hard. But, glad he has a great mom!
Gotta second the suggestion of cutting out dairy!!
Elizabeth screamed for a few weeks. I ran out of milk and didn’t have the energy or inclination to get more from the store. 2 days without milk, no screaming. Got more milk, more screaming. A huge lightbulb moment for me.
As it turned out she had an actual milk allergy, that she didn’t grow out of until age 2 or so. I know you love cereal Em, try going 3-4 days with minimal dairy (no milk, sour cream, yogurt, ice cream, etc). It won’t hurt and if it helps, you’ll think me and Laura are miracle workers!! LOL.
Got your email. Will reply tomorrow.
Hugs and love from the South.
Rebecca.
Ohhh!!! I love the pictures! Acid reflux bites, poor guy! I feel for him. It sucks just having indigestion during pregnancy, so I can not imagine being a baby and not understanding why it hurts! Glad you are doing so much, I feel a bit lazy in comparison!!
Hey Emily! Oh, your little guy is adorable! Oh, I miss having you for a neighbor! My little girl had acid reflux (I think) and took Xantac for a while, but I didn’t refill it and she’s doing fine except she spits up a LOT, but is always happy about it. Just curious, by the way, how long did your Hannah like to be swaddled? My Madelyn suddenly will not nap unless she’s swaddled because now she can roll over and kick her legs and wave her arms and I’m wondering how long I’ll have to do this….she’s almost 5 months now and other than that, happy all the time. My little man Casey is really easy-going. I hope you guys are doing well. Love,Bethany
dont know how I found your website, (random friends of friends blogs..) but I started reading and really enjoy it. Had to comment on your adorable kids. They are gorgeous. Also this particular post as I have a 5 month old and he suffered from the acid reflux and colic as well. Same situation…except he didnt really ever sleep night or day. Had him on my person all the time for the first couple of months. He is getting better now, sleeps about 9 hours at night but still not much during the day, and at least he has stopped crying. Reality was like your situation…if he wasnt sleeping( which was never) he was crying- which was almost always. It was by the grace of god that we survived. REALLY. But he is happy now and we are grateful. Hang in there.
Amber,
I’m glad you found my site and you enjoy reading it! It’s always nice to hear that someone else besides my dad reads it!
I was hoping you had some words of advice for me! We are literally loosing it around here. I anytime he is sleeping, my free time is tied up researching how to fix his problem. So far (as of today, which really, doesn’t mean much yet) we may have found something that helps him a little. We both took a two hour nap together, so I am feeling quite recharged today.
Any tricks you have, send them my way!
Thanks for the comment. We’re certainly trying to keep it together.
Emily
not sure if anything I could say you havent heard before. We tried everything in the book and the advice from others but nothing REALLY helped…oh here and there things were a bit better but nothing that changed the situation. I will share all the stuff regardless…white noise, we got a humidifier and had that thing running non stop once he was in the crib…however here is the evolution of his sleeping. We slept upright on the couch for literally the first 6 weeks. then we spent a lot on a vibrating bassinet that I had next to the bed. at 6 weeks we flipped him on his stomach and that was a miracle, he actually slept several hours at a strech…however getting him to sleep was and still is a challenge( lots of vibration, patting his bum so that he bounces a bit is the only way)then with each week or so till about 3 months we got between 4-5 hours max each night. Then he outgrew the bassinet and went to the crib which really was good. it was about the 3 month mark that it changed- he stoped crying all the time. We also had him on nutramigen formula from the time he was 2 weeks old. So not sure if you have tried that. All I can say is I always carried him around, gave him lots of baths, sang to him( which he likes and would often stop crying to hear me)very vigorous bouncing/movement, gave the reflux meds and have just prayed lots. We never felt either of us could be gone long because both my hubby and I needed eachother for a break. Its heartbreaking to not be able to soothe a baby, and start to loose it mentally especially with little sleep.