6 weeks and colic

Both Dan and I have decided that at 6 weeks we hit rock bottom. Dan's best friend was visiting us from California, which was something I had planned for Dan to thank him for all of his support during our pregnancy. It also happened to be the week we had not planned for. I knew something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. What we did know however was that our little Aya couldn't seem to sleep, she cried when she was awake, and she wasn't eating well. When I would try to nurse her she would come off the breast after a minute or two and scream. I would assume I must not have enough milk on that side and switch her to the other, only to watch Aya repeat the same actions. She would nurse frantically for a minute or two, come of the breast, and scream. I would try to burp her but nothing would happen and she would continue to cry and cry some more, before we would eventually be able to bounce her to sleep. I felt like I was always waiting for the next feeding in hopes everything would be better. I had counted on feeding being a relaxing time for me and Aya, but it ended up being the opposite. Feeding Aya wasn't relaxing at all; rather it was stressful. It made me anxious and it definitely didn't seem to calm our daughter.

So, we called our pediatrician. Our pediatrician was very kind. She listened to our story with gentle sighs and watched me feed Aya. She said she seemed to be latched on well, and she was encouraged that Aya had gained a lot of weight. She guessed Aya was showing signs of colic and gave us a long list of things we could try to soothe her. She told us to get help. I looked over at Dan and I saw tears streaming down his face. Dan never shows emotions in public and rarely with me. When I saw him, I started to cry too. As we left the doctor's office I used the bathroom and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I looked so bad, and I really didn't even care. When we left the clinic, Aya finally fell asleep in her car seat. Dan and I looked at each other and almost without saying anything at all, both decided to just drive until she woke again. We called my mom and told her we needed help.