Whac-A-Mole

I have huge sympathy pains for mothers whose babies do not sleep through the night. This was our reality with Braeden the first few days after coming from the hospital. He was waking up every two hours screaming and crying, which is very rare for him (his sleep pattern is now slowly regulating). The anaesthesiologist explained that if the body has two pain areas, usually one pain area becomes worse than the other, meaning that Braeden could be experiencing massive amounts of pain in either his mouth because of teething or his feet because of the surgery. Or Braeden could be experiencing muscle spasms in his legs, which we can only wait out. As a parent, it is both difficult and frustrating to figure out what to do in these circumstances. Do we elevate his legs because he feels pressure? Does he need to breastfeed? Even though we just fed him solid foods an hour ago? Do we give him more pain medications? When do wean him off of pain meds? Does he want to be lying down even when he is screaming his head off?

Since Braeden can't communicate, it is hard to know what next steps are. We are always guessing, second guessing, trying anything we can to calm him down. In a way, it is normal for parents to feel like they are playing the game whac-a-mole when trying to comfort their child. Eyes darting back and forth, trying to figure out just the right thing to make the crying stop. But when the guessing game is exacerbated by the surgery, it can make it feel like you're playing three whac-a-mole games at the same time instead of just one.

As we come through these challenges, one week after surgery it's been a relief to see him slowly coming back to himself, laughing lots and swooning all the old ladies at the grocery store.