Strike 2

Just last week I was telling someone how nice it was now that we were past Gabbie's nursing issues from the previous month. Due to a forceful letdown (we - the lactation consultants and I - at least think that was the problem) she would eat for a couple of minutes until I had a second letdown (or first if she was particularly cranky) and then pull off and scream in such a heartbreaking manner that I would start to cry as well. It was nearly torture to get her to eat, but we finally made it through. I discovered that if she had just woken up from a nap she would eat pretty well, and then that translated into her eating well nearly all of the time.


Then we had a stressful week. Two Fridays ago, we started the day at the emergency room after Gabbie threw up bile and then was having a hard time staying awake. The problem seemed to just be that she ate too fast after her longest stretch of sleep yet (9 hours - boy were we freaked out when we woke up and realized that she slept that long), because there was nothing physically wrong with her. We capped that day off with a trip out of town for three days, followed by another 3 days traveling just the two of us (Aaron had to work). She started waking up in the middle of the night (I shouldn't complain, because one middle of the night waking is really good for a baby her age) which is completely out of character for her.


This past Friday was another really stressful day for both of us. She had to get vaccinations (during which she let out the most heartbreaking cries yet) and a new brace fitted. I started stressing out that it was my last day home alone with her before returning to work.

And she started a nursing strike.


Now she'll eat for maybe a minute (five if she's in a peaceful mood, and that has only happened twice) and then start screaming at me. It's hard to be calm when she's doing this. It's so incredibly frustrating, for both of us I'm sure, that I feel like yelling right back at her. I've tried all the tricks in the book and nothing is working. Yesterday was even worse, but I'm sure being away from me all day had something to do with that.


We regularly have conversations with her telling her that mom is just trying to help her, not hurt her, that she's fine, that she doesn't need to cry, she just needs to eat. EAT DAMNIT. Obviously the frustration gets the best of me sometimes. All I want her to do is eat peacfully. It's impossible to reason with an infant, unfortunately. I just feel so bad that it's so stressful for both of us. After each battle with the boob (as we call it - have to add humor to make it bearable) her dad comes and swoops her up, gives her a little stern talking to, and then a big cuddle. Then it's mom's turn to cuddle and we play patty cake.


It's a good thing she's so cute. Otherwise, this would all be impossible to take. Someone knew what they were doing when they made babies the way they did.