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Sleepless nights
Having given birth to my third baby, I thought I knew all about sleepless nights. What a shock when I discovered sleepless nights, literally meant no sleep at all. I was plunged into this nightly occurrence, too tired to think, let alone contemplate when this nightmare would end. |  |
My baby girl had arrived into the world uneventfully, joining the rest of the family, as if she had always been there. Every night she would go to sleep at bedtime and I would climb into bed knowing that I would not be disturbed until the 6am feed. One night everything changed.
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A choking sound came from the cot, where she slept peacefully. This had happened a few times, but I wasn’t worried, as her older sister had done the same. Gastric reflux I said to myself, marching off down to the doctors. In no time, we started on a list of medications, just the same as before. |
Suddenly my daughter became more and more distressed. The doctors tried their best to find out what was wrong. They assumed it was the gastric reflux, so increased all the medications. The screams could be heard all over the house. She would scream the minute she was put down in the cot. The only relief that came was from being positioned on my shoulders, and being rocked up and down.
Night and days became a blur. My daughter screamed continuously for hours on end. Many doctors saw her, but could not explain what was wrong. They would take her off me for twenty minutes to give me a break. Each time I left the surgery, I would be clearly instructed never to leave her with anyone else, not even my husband. They were terrified that someone else may harm my baby. My motherly instinct was to protect my baby no matter how desperate I became. I just knew there was something wrong and that my daughter had not been born like this.
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The screaming went on and on for six months. My daughter would occasionally drift into an exhausted sleep but that never lasted for more than twenty minutes. I would drop everything, snatching whatever sleep I could. No sooner had my head hit the pillow, than the screaming began again.
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Walks in the pram would send any baby to sleep, wouldn’t they? Not my daughter, she would scream so loudly that I would give up and carry her home over my shoulder. What a sight I must have looked, but I was too tired to care.
Car rides were always the cure for any tired child, weren’t they? No not my daughter. She hated the car and screamed even louder, particularly going over the speed bumps. The other children tried to pacify her, but to no avail.
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| Exhaustion set in very quickly. I had absolutely no energy to do anything, except to attend the doctors’ appointment each week. I took phone calls but had no recollection of actually speaking to people. I dragged my body around to do essential things. My other children lost their mother, I was no longer able to do projects and play with them. I became a walking zombie. |
Finally the day arrived when we found the answers. My daughter was due to have an operation to investigate the gastric reflux. But in order to do that, she had to be taken off all her medications. Bingo – we had found the answer – she was intolerant to all her medications. Immediately the screaming stopped and my baby slept peacefully for hours on end. Now I could sleep like a baby once again.
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