I hate to say it

I hate to even utter these words but I think...Julian is colicky. It pains me to admit. He's been having regular bouts of evening fussiness for several weeks now but it seems to be extending into the day AND throughout the night. No more easy sleeping. I just never thought he was colicky because when I think of colic, I think of inconsolable crying or wailing. He is consolable *most times* although we have to change up our method of doing so every 30 seconds (which is extremely exhausting) and he rarely gets that worked up that it turns into a full-blown screaming. But the night time is rough. After he nurses he'll cry and moan. I end up having to lay with him on my stomach and pat his back until we both eventually fall asleep. Before it was eat then right back to sleep. Now it can go on for an hour or more. I'm so.very.tired. And even during the day we have these bouts. Even the magic sling is losing it's effectiveness.

And believe me, we've been looking into possible medical causes, just like every other parent of a colicky baby, since there are so many theories and myths behind the cause of colic. Yes it could be gas, yes it could be acid-reflux, yes it could be something in my diet, yes it could be that I have an overabundance of breast milk causing him an oversupply and yes it could be nothing at all but a phase. We are looking into EVERYTHING but unfortunately every explanation sounds reasonable and there is no real "test" to confirm any of it.

We did have a bloody stool episode (one diaper and very little blood) that greatly indicates a dairy allergy which would easily cause fussiness. This means NO DAIRY FOR ME in order to find out. You know how hard that is?? You should see the list of things that have dairy, things you'd never think had it, do! And most times there is a dairy allergy there will also be a reaction to Soy so it isn't a matter of me switching to soy. Nope..if I want ice cream I have to eat "Rice Dream." Follow me? But anything to see if it helps him. And a dairy allergy is very different from lactose intolerance so I can't even do the Lactaid. But it doesn't mean he'd be allergic to dairy for the rest of his life either.

The only problem is that it won't be out of his system for up to 3 weeks. It's not like we can try it for a couple days to see if it helps. We can try this for a month before realizing it's not the cause. Yes switching to formula would be easier...for me. If this is the problem then he'd still react the same to formula and then he'd be missing out on all the other wonderful benefits breast milk provides. All the millions of anti-bodies that help him from getting sick along with tons of other health benefits to him and I. If he has to deal with this then I'll deal with it right along with him.

So really I'm thinking there are 2 issues, 1. a dairy reaction and 2. Normal newborn Colic/fussiness. But let's hope we figure it out and manage it very soon for our sake, and more importantly, for his.