"Just 'cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town." -- George Carlin

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Life is getting better

Life with Monkey is getting better.  The Zantac seems to be helping.  He still has his moments when he'll curl up in a little red ball after feeding and act like he's in pain.  I call him my 'little kidney bean' during those times.


I dropped my basket a bit last evening when he did the 'cycle' as I call it now.  On Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays, DH has 'raid' nights where he is semi-obligated to participate in his World of Warcraft game.  We've been trying to make it so he can continue that but it's been hard for me to take care of Monkey for that long of a stretch by myself. 


When Monkey's having an acid reflux moment, he'll feed for a long time, then be upset until the next feeding and possibly until the following feeding.  So it's an endless cycle of feeding, changing diapers, walking and rocking -- all the while Monkey is screaming, grunting or making milk gurgling noises loud enough that I can' nd it possible to take a nap.  After about 4-6 hours of this, I tend to have hard time dealing.  Last night, I just broke down and cried while sitting on our bed rocking Monkey.  DH stopped playing and took him over for a bit which helped.  At the next feeding, he finally went down and slept for about 3 hours giving me a much needed break.


He's becoming a little more alert during the day and early evenings.  Which is both good and bad.  It's good because I like to see his little eyes open and his little brain working as he examines everything around him.  Plus, his 'smiles' seem to be turning into real smiles (or as the books call it, a social smile).  Even his eyes seem to 'smile' a bit.  It's bad because he definitely wants attention and I want to give him attention, however, if he's caused me to be up all night, it's hard to muster up the energy and be happy about it.


But tonight, DH is going to take over for a couple hours and I'll take a nap.  So maybe I'll have the energy to play with Monkey tomorrow!