It goes without saying that seeing your child in pain is one of the worst things to witness, especially when a quick kiss from mommy doesn't fix the problem.
Hannah is without a doubt one of the happiest, best babies I've ever seen; so smiley, super cuddly, go-with-the-flow...that is, until her belly starts to hurt. Then my poor baby girl is so uncomfortable that she practically turns blue from crying. As much as it hurts her, it may even hurt me more to have to sit back and watch her in such pain & know there is little I can do to comfort her.
Dating back to when she was 2 weeks old, we had our suspicions that her stomach bothered her. This was when the doctor had advised me to cut dairy out of my diet since I'm nursing. It seemed to do the trick for a while, but she suddenly became uncomfortable again. So, all soy products went out the door for me. This barely made a difference, if any.
5 months later with several doctors visits and 2 trips to the ER and we still have no answers as to why our baby girl has this discomfort. It's exhausting to get through what we call a "sad belly day"; both because its hard to watch and because she doesn't let you put her down on these days. She's especially clingy to me when she's not feeling well, which can be difficult when Eric wants to spend time with her and all she does is cry for me.
It's also hard when Lyla needs me. Whether its needing help with a task or just wanting to read books or do a puzzle, it's almost impossible on days where keeping Hannah happy means constant walking and bouncing. I've tried to include Lyla by playing "marching band" around the house where we shake shakers and sing songs as we march around. But I feel terrible telling her that mommy can't do something because Hannah needs me. Ive always said that when moms get pregnant, they should grow an extra set of arms along with their big belly.
Whatever is going on with Hannah's belly is also effecting her sleep. For the last couple of months (where her belly as been at its worst) she has only been sleeping a max of 2 hours at a time, and waking as often as every 20 minutes. Needless to say, it's exhausting.
We have an appointment with the GI specialist next week and all I can do is pray for some explanation. I like to be as organic as possible when it comes to my kids; only giving them medicine when it's extremely necessary, strictly sticking to breast milk instead of formula for the first year, etc - but seeing hannah this way makes me hope that maybe there IS some medicine out there to help her, or that adding formula will help (although doctors doubt it since breast milk is specifically formulated for her)
All I want is an answer. I am going to be extremely upset if we leave that appointment next week with no answers and I have to continue to watch my baby girl go through spurts if such discomfort. It's been one of the most difficult things I've had to go through as a mother.
