The "C" word...

No mom wants to admit that their baby might have the dreaded c word...colic.  I knew Genevieve cried and screamed a lot.  It was awful.  I was always nervous when people would come over because who wants to be the lady with the crying baby?  Going out in public...next to impossible.  I would pray that she would be asleep or that I would be somewhere that I could breastfeed her constantly.

She would also cry and scream when she had to poop.  It would also take her a long time to poop, usually a couple of hours from the first grunt and sign of discomfort.  We called her pediatrician and were told that it is completely normal.  We were also told that babies cry and it would pass.

She also started having a skin issue.  It looked like a chemical burn to me.  There were dry, raised, rough patches on her arms and her legs.  It wasn't eczema and it looked awful.

She also would not nap during the day.  I was lucky to get 2 fifteen minute stretches and I had to be holding her.

Since I was having a hard time emotionally post-partum, I went to my mom's house for a couple of weeks.  Chris was working overnight shifts as well as still serving, so he wasn't around much to help.  While at my mom's house, she confirmed that Genevieve's crying and screaming wasn't normal at all.

I started researching like crazy.  Everything I read pointed to colic.  My question though was what exactly is colic?  Colic is really just a term that is given to babies who cry when there is no other medical diagnosis.  Basically colic is just like IBS or fibromyalgia...there is something wrong, but no one really knows what.

While doing research, I came across several studies that said there was a 95% success rate in reduction of fussiness in colicky babies by using probiotics vs only a 7% success while using gas drops.  95% sure seemed like a good number to me!

Okay, now I need to research probiotics.  I came to the conclusion that it needed to have 3 strains: L. Reuteri, lactobacilius, and bifidobacterium.

Chiropractor treatment was mentioned as well, so I scheduled an appointment with the chiropractor who was able to get me into labor since she specializes with infants and children.

I started the probiotics on a Tuesday and noticed an improvement the next day.  You could no longer feel bubbles of gas moving around in her tummy.  You could no longer hear the bubbles either.

She went in for her chiropractor appointment on Thursday.  Dr. S examined her and asked me if she had trouble moving her bowels because she had some locked vertebrae in her lower thoracic upper lumber region.  Dr. S also did some neck adjustments which was supposed to help with reflux.  The doctor then did a muscle test on Genevieve.  Genevieve sat on my lap while I held out my right arm.  Dr. S. had me hold my arm strong while she pushed down while pushing on various spots on Genevieve.  She determined that there was an issue with Genevieve's immune system, particularly in regards to bacteria.  She gave me a homeopathic to take for 5 days.  (I breastfeed so the homeopathic would go through the breast milk to her alcohol free.)

Genevieve actually pooped and fell asleep before we left the chiropractors office.  She took 2 three hour naps that day and slept well that night.

I am happy to report that Genevieve no longer cries and screams during all waking hours.  She still cries, but is easy to calm 99% of the time.  She also naps during the day.  Typically she takes 3 two hour naps, but not all the time.  She sleeps at night from 10 pm to 6 am, eats, and is back asleep until about 8 am.  For a breastfed baby, this is awesome!  She no longer has "silent reflux."  Silent reflux is where you can hear stuff coming up after a feeding but the baby doesn't throw up.  She no longer arches her back during and after feedings.  Also, her skin issue cleared up a week after I started the homeopathic.

Here is a link to an article that kind of sums everything up: http://www.healthychild.com/digestive-problems/treating-reflux-and-colic-in-babies/

One of the things I am now wondering about is the use of antibiotics during labor and birth and the incidence of colic.  I ended up having an emergency c-section (read about that below if you are interested) and was given a lot of antibiotics via IV b/c I was showing signs of infection after having my water broken for 36+ hours before delivery.

Also, I wanted to avoid using Zantac because there are a lot of potential negative side effects when used on young infants.  I would have put her on it if nothing else worked, but I wanted to try alternatives first.  I also had to eliminate dairy from my diet.