You know that expression “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone?” Well, it’s true for me at this very moment.

When I had Ari, I didn’t know a thing about babies. I had some babysitting experience with older kids, but no one under the age of five. Suddenly, in 2008, I found myself with a tiny being who cried and pooped a lot and I had to figure out how to care for him.

At first, in the hospital, he was resistant to nursing. He was in the NICU for three days and the nurses gave him formula. Getting him to latch on was a challenge. Fortunately for him, he had a persistent Jewish mother who would not stop until he ate her boob.

Once he figured out how to latch on, he was hooked and nursed continuously, 15 minutes on each boob every three hours, for one year.

Flash forward to 2011. Samara came barreling into the world on January 22nd, and I thought to myself “I know about babies, I’ve had one before. What could be so different?” Well the answer to that question is: “Everything.”

As soon as I pushed her out, I initiated breast feeding right away. I was thrilled when she latched on immediately. It wasn’t a struggle like it was with Ari. I spoke too soon. After latching on, she would eat for five minutes and then pass out.

I thought maybe this was just a phase. Infants don’t eat very much, and after all, as the doctor in the hospital told me, they don’t need to, their stomachs are the size of a grape. But her boob snacking continued on.

She is now six weeks. She’s still a “boob snacker,” but what’s worse, is that every night from
7pm – 11pm she screams bloody murder. Yes, for four hours straight every single night, no matter what I do, nurse her, hold her, change her, rock her, she just screams. I guess this is what they call “colic.”

I had no idea what colic was, because Ari never had it. Let me tell you, it is not fun. It’s not easy for me and it’s definitely not fun for her. I am going out of my mind. By the end of the colicky period, I have a headache, and my sanity is questionable.

I had no idea Ari was an “easy” baby. To be fair, no baby is easy per say, and Ari had, and still has, major sleep issues. But he was never colicky.

Colic is intense. I keep telling myself, this too shall pass. I’ll tell her about it when she’s a teenager.

Was your kid colicky? Is your baby colicky now? Were you colicky? Colicky is a funny word!