What happened to my baby?

So, I guess we jinxed ourselves? Lately, Dax and I have been doing nothing but gloating how awesome Harlow is, what a great traveler she is, what a great nighttime sleeper she is, etc. etc. Our baby just whimpers when she needs something and remains relatively patient until those needs are met. Well. All of the sudden, a new baby has emerged. This one can start screaming so loudly and forcefully that you are certain when you reach her something is terribly wrong with her. Something life threatening. But, when you get to her side, you realize that nothing is wrong, except she is just unhappy with her current conditions and wants to be attended to. It has taken us several nights to really believe this. At first, we would run to her, snatch her up and inspect her head to toe. Does she have a fever? Does she have a rash? Are her gums swollen or teeth popping out? Is her diaper wet? Are her clothes too tight? Is she hot? Is she cold? Is she hungry? Is her stomach upset? Does she have an ear infection? Once we rule out the most obvious of inflictions, we are left stumped, and stumped is not a good place to be at 2 AM in the morning. Why is it that our once calm and gentle baby has now realized that she can scream so loudly that her bleary eyed parents are jolted awake like we have been shocked by an electrical current? Even after several days of this new screaming behavior, we are still just as shocked when it is emitted from her mouth. I happen to believe that she scares herself it is so loud.

Every parent knows there are several levels of crying. The 1st level is a whimper or a fuss. This is the level we are most used to around our house. The 2nd level is a more urgent cry. Usually it is a specific cry for hunger or if baby is sleepy or needs her diaper needs changed. This is also a level we are used to dealing with at our house. Then, there is a 3^rd level of crying that says “attend to me NOW” and usually means something is very wrong. This is a cry we rarely deal with. Apparently, there is a whole new level of crying, Level 4. This one requires a set of earplugs or you may risk hearing damage. I know most of you are thinking, “She is really exaggerating. There is no way Harlow can scream THAT loud”. Come on over for a visit. You can take the night shift.

All kidding aside, I still am not totally confident something else is going on with my Boo. Maybe she IS teething and it hurts more when she is lying down? I know she still suffers from frequent constipation, so at our doctor’s visit this week for shots, I am going to try and get some answers. But, my gut feeling is telling me that nothing is really wrong and this is just another dimension to our daughter’s personality. How delightful ;-)