Cold Nights

There is nothing worse than a baby with a cold. I know, you're thinking, "what's the big deal with a little runny nose, maybe a sore throat or cough, and feeling a bit run down?" That's how it might be for me or you, but for the Bean it means sleep deprivation. For her and for her parents. For three nights in a row she "slept" in our bed, tossing and turning every quarter hour, unable to breathe out of her nose, unable to learn how to breathe out of her mouth. This is when a Soothie-reliance is not to be desired. She's just so miserable. In turn, following now several nights of sleep deprivation, I'm miserable. Alex and I are sleeping in shifts, taking turns cuddling the baby, and patting her butt, and trying to re-position her to be the most comfortable. We've used saline solution. I bought the NoseFrida. I tried constant nursing. But there's nothin' but time that's gonna help this baby breathe freely again. She's not sleeping at night, she's not napping in the day. Our poor little Bean is running on about 8 hours daily sleep, and she is so not herself. She cries when she bumps her finger or if you look at her the wrong way. She's still eating, but her appetite is not up to par. She's still easy to make smile or giggle, but she's a meltdown waiting to happen. And if she (me) doesn't sleep soon, there might be a family-wide meltdown on the horizon. Oh baby girl, why oh why do you get a cold every time you look at another kid?!?