The C Word.

No, not that C word. Although, chances that I have uttered that word over the last week or so are great. No, the word I have in mind is COLIC. Oh, God, colic. It seems that our dear Charlie has been blessed with stomach issues, or gas, or reflux, or all of the above, and whatever it is that is bothering him is at its worst from 6pm until about 10:00 at night. This results in screaming fits so awful that it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and ties my stomach in knots and makes me want to drag Mikan by the hair to the nearest 24 hour vasectomy clinic. Words do not do justice to how horrible the screaming actually is. He cries until he is purple in the face and stops breathing and gasps for air, which makes me sob helplessly as I watch my boy in so much pain and know that I cannot fix it right this instant for him, and... well, since there are no words to how awful the screaming episodes are, here is a picture of what invades our house every evening for hours on end:



I don't know what's worse, the screaming or the fact that I just admitted to the 2 people who read this blog that I saw the shit-pile "I Am Legend". But between the hours of 6 and 10 most nights, Charlie is not unlike the zombies from said movie. I have thought more than once during these episodes that he wants to slowly kill me, or suck the will to live right out of my body. During the day and after the screaming occurs he is sweet as pie, barely makes a peep at all except when he is hungry. But OH LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL it is horrific while it is happening at night. We are all miserable for hours on end every night, most of all probably Ella, since she really can't comprehend WHY he screaming the way he is. Dinnertime is ruined (this now consists of me or Mikan shoving some kind of food down our throats before the crying starts), any chance of quality time with Ella is thrown out the window since Charlie has to be held, rocked, bounced, swayed at the exact right intervals and rhythm and held with just the right amount of firmness in the exact right position (except that it doesn't really matter, because he screams anyway, no matter how you hold him). I know that this, too, shall pass, and we are trying everything in our power to find SOMEthing that works to help him feel better. But for the love of all that is holy, this sucks. Hard.