We are so happy to report Jayce had finally had a great night AND a good day!
Mom and Dad Trumpower watched the twins yesterday evening so we could go to church. We left refreshed, albeit it tired. I feared we were returning to yet another evening of Jayce screaming. Still no answers on what is hurting him, but our best guess is that his poor premature digestive system is just struggling to handle the demands of constant food and processing. He screams and screams for hours. Sometimes it is only 1-2, but other times it’s like four hours straight.
It’s so hard to hear. He gets so exhausted.
So it was such a relief when we arrived and our parents said he’d been quite all evening!
The night has been peaceful as well. The kids slept the entire time except for eating. The transition back to sleep was mostly smooth. On my portion of the night, Jayce only had a brief spell of unhappiness before instantly falling asleep!
The night time crying can go either way. Sometimes it is normal-kid crying, in which case it’s just an endurance game to see if you as the parent can outlast one (or two) crying babies.
Other times, though, Jayce does his pain screaming at night after eating. Those nights are the hardest because neither of us sleep. We stand clustered around him, distraught but powerless to do anything. To see him eat and go back to sleep during the night was like a sign of reassurance. Maybe his digestive system is finally figuring things out.
This morning, we packed our gear for a trip to the Pigford grandparents. Jayce managed to poop, pee, and spit up all at the same time during one diaper change. Even during that, he remained calm. I don’t think I can recall a single diaper change yet where he has not cried for the duration. It’s awesome to see him getting used to regular things.
In fact, he was so chill today, at one point we looked at each other and said, “What’s wrong with him!?”
I remember turning a similar corner with Justine. One good day does not mean all the nerve-shredding nights are behind us, but if this is the first step on a general trend upward, we are all for it! Life is so much more pleasant when you are not being screamed at most of the day.
We switched formula this week per instructions from the pediatrician. We’re hoping this helped. The kids have always been on an incredibly expensive specialty formula for preemies. The doc wondered if he had a food allergy, so Jayce is now on an even more expensive specialty formula with allergy-friendly ingredients. We need more days of testing before we know.
He has lost a little weight since being on the new formula. We don’t like that. His specialist will evaluate the situation on Monday.
For now, the kids are with Grandma & Grandpa Pigford. We are driving off to our second parents weekend! So excited to have some breathing space and couple time. Huge shout out to my parents for coming alongside us during this challenging season. They truly have been the difference between insanity and survival.