Eli has a new trick

He has mastered the flip out. He is now able to go from easy-going baby to what the heck happened we were all happy 0.2 seconds ago. Those of you who are parents perhaps know the cry of which I speak. The coughing- spitting- red in the face- I refuse to breath cry.

For example, we were driving home from a new mom class that Women & Babies Hospital offers every other Friday, both very happy campers. Eli had just been weighed (12.5 lbs!) and then after all the babies are weighed by the lactation consultant you can stay for a class if you like. This week it was on Baby Massage. (I learned a really cool move to help Eli deal with gas pain!) After class we loaded up in the car - Eli having just been quite relaxed.

Less than a mile down the road, it hit. The spit cry. I never know how to handle it when Eli cries in the car and it's just me. Do I pull over? is he hungry? Do we ride this out? Can I sing over his cries? Is it bad to turn the radio up? Can we please, Lord, get all green lights. His little cry was gut wrenching and I pulled over into a gas station thinking maybe he's hungry. (Is this something you only do with first babies?) I can't get him out of the car seat fast enough, fumble around trying to get my shirt up, and regret having chosen the sketchiest trucker gas station in Lancaster at which to try clumsily to discreetly feed him.

He nurses for all of a second and then passes out. Oh, gosh. Thoughts fly through my head like, "have you passed out from hunger?" - surely not. "Did you hold your breath so long that no oxygen got to your brain?" "Are you seriously asleep so quickly after all that racket and after I had to whip'em out at a truck stop"? EAT!

I proceeded to do what I (unfortunately) always do when I can't tell if he's asleep or stopped breathing. First, I stick my finger under his nose to see if I feel hot breath. This almost never satisfies my wondering. Then, I watch his chest or clothing or head to see if I can tell if he's breathing. This second test only works about half the time. If neither of the above tests work, I poke him until he startles or grunts. Sorry baby.

Why do I wonder if my baby is not breathing? Well, I think to a certain degree every new parent may wonder this. However, this initial "normal" new parent wondering (I believe) was compounded in the hospital the day Eli was born. There was a bit of hubub after Eli arrived about his breathing because he was a little early. He didn't pink up right away (most likely a result of being born so quickly) and he did what the nurses called "singing", which is basically a newborn that whimpers, hums, breaths loudly, to get the amniotic fluid up and out of their lungs. They basically took a wait and see approach to determine if any additional help would be needed and sent us to our recovery room. The nurses settled us in for the night and were about to leave when in my blood-lost, post delivery, first time mom stooper asked, "but don't we need to make sure he doesn't stop breathing. Doesn't somebody need to stay awake to make sure he's breathing." He's never had to breath before and maybe it's a lot of work for such a little guy? I don't know. Instead of the nurse laughing at me and saying "Don't be silly. He's fine." She very seriously replies, "make sure to keep his head elevated and call us if you need any help." What kind of answer is that? One that has left me startling my son awake long after the "singing" stopped.

Sorry for the tangent. To remind you where we are in the story, we're still at the sketchy trucker gas station and my very unhappy baby is now peacefully concked out. So, I poke him- to make sure he is just sleeping. He startles without waking. And I put him in his carseat and we finish the journey home.

This along with a few other instances have left me sure that the spit-cry (for now)is almost always an indicator of exhaustion and need for nap time.