Colic (kah' lick)--from the Greek word for "pulling my hair out!"

As I write this post, my beautiful, cuddly, sweet little baby is screaming her lungs out for no apparent reason. She has been doing this for the last 2 hours, almost non-stop, except for very brief nursing times. She cries whether I hold her or not. She is clean and full, not hot or cold. I have given her three different types of tummy relaxing drops, one over-the-counter, one herbal and one prescription-strength. I have read The Happiest Baby on the Block and tried to channel that "calming reflex." I have changed my diet to attempt to isolate any potential foods that might be upsetting her. We hold her every which way except upside-down. She continues to cry.

I hate colic. I hate that I can't make my baby feel better. It seems like she is in pain, as she pulls her feet against her, clenches her fists, alternately cries rhythmically and then in screaming desperation. And yet I cannot help her. "Colic," I have learned, is more likely to happen to the children of teenage parents, to premature babies, to stressed-out moms--this all seems highly unfair, since these are the people who are already facing challenges; to add colic is just wrong! I am not a teenager, and Amelia was not a preemie, and I do not feel particularly stressed-out (except when she is colicky!). But colic strikes even the full-term babies and the 30-something, not stressed-out moms. So here we are.

Hateful really. This too shall pass...