Great News, Storms, and Gripe Water

Our condo is going on the market tomorrow. IAMSOFLIPPINEXCITED!

There was a huge storm that rolled through our area on Friday night. Somehow I managed to sleep through most of it (I guess my ear plugs work better than I think), but Baby G did not. I wondered, pretty annoyed, why he was up at 10:30 as a flash of lightening lit the room.

I love thunderstorms so instead of turning on the light, I opened the blinds a bit. And the sight I saw! Or, rather, didn't see.

It looked like a white wall was placed between our building and the one across the street from us. Lightening flashed, thunder clapped, wind howled. No wonder Baby G work up.

The street light in front of our unit went out so I ended up having to turn on the light. It flickered, but never went out.

Hubby had to work yesterday and right before he left he woke me up to tell me there were a lot of power outages and downed trees so I should probably call my parents to make sure they were okay.

Confused, I asked how he knew this. He said, "Face.book."

Ah, yes. I forgot. This is how we get all of our information these days!

Later, as I waited for Baby G to wake up for the day, I watched the news. It was all focused on the storm. Downed trees and power lines, several people dead, hurricane force winds. I wish I had seen this storm on radar; it had to have been huge if it hit Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

I called my parents and they were without power. Since temperatures were supposed to be near 100, I told them they could come over where there was AC. I said I could use some help with Baby G anyway, since I had to start packing up our stuff to get it out of the way before Monday.

My mom came over while my dad went out to find batteries for his radio. And am I so happy she did!

Baby G decided to take a half hour nap in the morning, which was close to normal, and then refused to sleep unless it was at my boob while he nursed. Every time we put him in his crib he would scream. Tears would fall down his face. We tried giving him gas drops, thinking that maybe he was having trouble with that, but they didn't calm him down enough to be able to fall asleep. When we picked him up he was frantically turning his head, looking around at all the boxes on our bed and piling up in the living room, and his whimpering would start again.

He was happiest being held by my mom, watching my every move as I went from one room to the next, brining things out and putting them in boxes. Considering our living room has had a different look to it nearly every day this week from Hubby and I trying to clear out anything we won't need for the next three months, I don't blame Baby G for staying awake. Everything that was famliar to him was starting to look unfamiliar. He could tell something was up and it wasn't making him happy.

It took me a good part of the day to pack stuff up. If it hadn't been for the storm, I don't think I would have asked her to come over. And I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much done. So in a way, I am glad things turned out the way they did.

Baby G took another 20 minute nap in his swing (where I also fell asleep and could have slept much longer). I knew he needed more sleep so I nursed him and he fell asleep for another 30 minutes. I decided to just let him stay where he was instead of trying ot move him to his crib.

Last night was the first time I broke out the gripe water. I have been trying to stay away from things like gas drops and gripe water. I'm too scared of them becoming crutches we rely on all the time. But Baby G, who looked exhausted but still acted wide awake and alert, still would not go to sleep. It was 9pm by this time and I could tell it was going to be a long, rough night, resulting in me getting up, not Hubby, so I decided to try the gripe water.

And it worked! I didn't give him the recommended amount, but I gave him what he seemed willing to try, stuck a pacifier in his mouth and said good night. And that was the last I saw of him until 3:30 this morning.

My mom was amazed that Baby G wouldn't just conk out from being awake so long, but said that sometimes there are days like that. Hopefully we don't have too many days like this again, but at least I know that if all else fails, try gripe water!