A windy week...

Particularly in the latter half of this week Mabel has been suffering with bad wind of an evening (perhaps a bit of colic, though I don't know when wind becomes colic?)
Roughly 2 hours of unsettled inconsolable crying where we feel really sorry for her since its clear her tummy is sore.

Previously, not knowing otherwise as complete novices, when she squirmed and cried for no apparent reason during these times, and we became exasperated. And sometimes we still do. I also used to secretly wonder whether she liked me much (since I wasn't able to settle her) and thought she didn't like to be held (due to the wriggling). As they say, it takes time to get to know your baby, read the confusing signals and gain confidence in looking after her. I now realise this is very true and have gained new ways to help the situation. Now, when we have back arching / leg tensing and crying I hold her really close with one arm, bend up her knees with the other and move them in a clockwise (apparently the way) motion. It doesn't always work for the whole time but she stares up at me with her big eyes and inbetween the sharp cries and leg extensions (often followed by large noises) she does settle slightly and we certainly seem to be able to avoid her becoming hysterical. Obviously there is still room for walking the room, bouncing etc but we have moved away from the manic tense rocking and learnt what soothes our baby (of course every baby is different). Only time teaches you these things I think!

Anyhow I have been trying to work out what can help her with tummy ache from wind:
- Infacol seems to just make her bring up more milk - not sure if this is a good or bad thing?
-Colic massage strokes she likes, but I can't see any change if we manage to do a few sessions in a day or none, therefore again unsure if they work, though I will still do them
- Gripe water is my next attempt today..
- The bupa website (www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/c/colic) has some good information and suggests cutting dairy out of my diet may help. This website also suggests some changes to diet may help: www.babycenter.in/baby/breastfeeding/breastfeedingdiet

Oh no, definitely no cereal now then. Will give it a go...after the gripe water! And a small amount in tea or coffee surely doesn't count?

Last night the normal bedtime routine even faced changes due to the wind issue. She went  down at 7 but was back up by 8 screaming. By 10.30pm and 2 potentially unnecessary feeds I was preparing myself for a tough night. However, at about 1 in the morning I think we found the problem.
Monster poo arrived.
And my oh my was it a monster. It was right up there with the largest volume of poo I've ever seen. Unbelievably the nappy held most of it with just a minor leakage up the back and side. So amazed was I by the quantity that this morning I have weighed it. That's right, I weighed the poo. And it was a huge 10oz (admittedly allowing some for the nappy, wee etc. Don't fear it didn't go directly into the kitchen scales)
No wonder she was fed up. And she was so so good whilst I pulled the soiled vest over her head and somehow got poo everywhere yet again (where is G Kisby the master nappy changer and his clean OCD when you need him?) I don't usually find any baby smells offensive but this one seriously made me heave, so much so that I had to keep turning round (maybe it was the infacol?) When I had finished the worst of the clean up I anti bac'd (gel) my hands before dressing her again. Then went to the bathroom to give my hands a proper wash only to find yellow staining right up near my elbow. Unbelievable.

Needless to say when we were all done and I put her back in the moses basket I swear I heard her utter, 'phew' under her breath before quickly falling fast asleep a much happier baby.
To be fair we all feel better after a good visit...