One Night Stand

(Chapter Six: Cries In The Night)

Olivia turned on the lamp beside her bed as she heard the soft cries of one of her daughters.

"Is that Sophie?" Elliot asked from the doorway.

"Yeah," she said with a tired smile amazed at how quickly he was learning to tell them apart.

"It isn't quite time for her to eat again. What is up?"

"I don't know, maybe she is wet. Come here angel," she said picking up the baby from the bassinette. "Isabella is still asleep."

Olivia carried Sophie down the hall and laid her on the changing table as she changed the baby's diaper.

"She was a little wet, but I'm not sure that was the problem. Maybe I should try to nurse her."

"I'm going to go check on Izzy and make sure she's alright," Elliot said as Olivia settled into the rocking chair with Sophie.

He returned a few minutes later to see Sophie refusing to nurse.

"She's not hungry?"

"I don't know what is wrong with her, El."

"We'll figure it out."

"How is Isabella?"

"She is sleeping. I turned off the light and brought the monitor in here so we wont wake her. Come here baby doll," Elliot said taking Sophie from Olivia and cuddling her close to him, but it only seemed to make matters worse.

Now the baby's soft infantile cries had become full blown screams and she had tiny little tears falling from her eyes.

"Sophie, what is it baby?" Elliot asked bouncing her gently as Olivia tried not to cry. "Tell daddy what is wrong."

He felt her forehead and laid her down on the changing table to inspect her.

"She doesn't feel warm, but we should check just in case. When was her last dirty diaper?"

"This morning," Olivia said as the thermometer beeped. "No fever."

"Has she been slobbering more than usual or biting on her hands?"

"She always bites on her hands."

"She could be cutting teeth."

"She is only three weeks old."

"Some babies get them early. And they start coming in a while before they actually get teeth. Maybe her gums are hurting her. Do you have a teething ring or any medicine for her?"

"No," she said as tears began to rise in her eyes. "I didn't think I would need it until they were older."

"That may not be it."

"She is awful young to be teething. The baby books say it starts around three months. She isn't even a month old yet."

Elliot put the tip of his finger in Sophie's mouth to try and feel for teeth coming in, but she screamed and turned her head fighting him off.

"I don't feel anything and I can't see anything. But she won't really let me look."

Elliot picked up his screaming daughter and laid her against his chest as he kissed her forehead and patted her back. It was obvious she was in pain of some kind and not knowing what was wrong with their baby had them both worried sick.

"Okay, baby girl," Elliot cooed to her in an attempt to comfort the baby. "Where is the pacifier?"

"In the bassinette, but she rarely takes it."

Olivia walked back to her room to get the pacifier and check on the other baby. She returned a few minutes later as Elliot paced the floor trying to soothe Sophie.

"Here baby," Olivia said placing the pacifier into the little girl's mouth, but it didn't help much. "I don't know what to do for her," she said as she began to cry herself.

"Why don't you take her and walk with her for a few minutes? I am going to call the pediatrician."

"You're calling the doctor?"

"Or we could take her in to the emergency room. But I don't think they will do anything for her. She isn't running fever or vomiting and she doesn't have diarrhea. She isn't coughing or constipated and there is no rash. I don't think she is teething. My guess is colic. I just want to call him and see what he thinks."

"Colic? Okay," she agreed nodding her head as she took their daughter from him.

Elliot kissed her forehead and wiped the tear from her cheek.

"We'll figure it out."

Olivia paced the floor with Sophie laid against her shoulder. She hummed softly and patted the baby's little back as she cried.

"How old is she?" Elliot repeated as he spoke to the doctor. "Three weeks," he answered.

"Three and a half," Olivia corrected.

"Three and a half weeks. She weighs just over six pounds."

Olivia watched as Elliot listened to the doctor.

"No fever, no, no. She doesn't want to nurse. No, no. We have tried everything we can think of. He said it is probably colic," Elliot said lowering the phone to talk to her.

"What do we do for her?"

Elliot listened for another minute.

"Okay, thank you doctor." She watched as Elliot closed his cell phone and took the crying infant from her.

"El? What do we do? Can he give her antibiotics or something?"

"No. Some babies just get it. They don't really know why. He said to try laying her across your knees and rub her back. Or massage her belly. He said sometimes sounds like the vacuum cleaner or dryer will soothe a colicky baby."

"It is three o'clock in the morning, I can't run the vacuum cleaner. How long does it last?"

"Usually until they are three or four months old. They don't really know what causes it. He said as long as there is no fever or anything she will be alright. He said they have an appointment in a couple of days and he will check her out then. If she starts running fever or acts sick before then we should bring her in. With colic the crying comes in spells and she can have them several times a day and they will usually be about the same time of day. But he said it varies a little with each baby. Eli had it for a while and when he used to wake up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep, I would take him for a ride in the car. Sometimes that helped. He didn't always go back to sleep, but it would usually stop the crying at least."

"Is it contagious? Should we take the other baby out of the bassinette?"

"I don't think so. Right now we should just comfort her and do what we can to get through the night. If she doesn't calm down soon I will take her for a drive. Tomorrow I will go get another bassinette and I will keep one of them in here with me. We can take turns getting up with Sophie when she is bad like this and that way it wont wake Isabella up."

"But they have never been apart."

"Liv, if we keep them together Izzy won't ever get sleep either. They can still nap together and sleep together some. I just mean on the rough nights Sophie can sleep in here with daddy."

"So what do we do for her now?"

"Well, it has been just over an hour since she woke up. Maybe you should try to feed her again. If she won't nurse I can try to give her a bottle."

Elliot turned off the living room light and the room was lit only by the light of the television and the aquarium in the corner of the room.

Olivia sat down on one end of the sofa and tried once more to feed her daughter. Sophie fussed and had a little trouble at first bit eventually gave in and began to nurse. She whimpered and whined softly as she stared up at her mother, but never turned away from Olivia's breast.

"There," Olivia said softly as she kissed the baby's little forehead. "Mommy is so sorry I can't fix it baby. Try to relax, you need try and go back to sleep."

"We all need to go back to sleep," Elliot said rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, well in about twenty minutes it will be time to feed Isabella. And in a couple of hours you have to get up and get ready for work."

"My daughter is sick, I think I am more needed here. I can take a personal day. You are going to have your hands full with both babies if she cries all day. And what kind of father would I be if I just took off and left her when she isn't feeling well? You are not alone in this anymore. Let me help."

"I appreciate the help Elliot and I understand you wanting to be here. But if this lasts until she is three or four months old you are not going to be able to take off work every time she has a crying spell. I am going to have to learn to juggle this on my own."

"I'm just thinking I should take off tomorrow. This is our first night with this and if I am home tomorrow it will be a little easier on all of us. You and I can take turns catching catnaps if we need to. And maybe we can get some idea of what helps her when she is like this so we can get some kind of game plan here. I will go get another bassinette and set it up in here. Then on nights like tonight we can put one baby in the bedroom with you and the other in the living room with me. It might be a rough few weeks, but we will get through it."

"I'm glad you have some idea what to do. Have you dealt with this a lot?"

"She is my third. The Maureen had it and of course, Eli. It will pass."

"I hope it does soon. I hate that she is crying and I don't know what is wrong with her. I feel like my baby is in pain and I can't stop it. This is the most horrible feeling in the world."

"She seems to have calmed down now. Why don't you let me take her and burp her. I take the carrier into the bedroom with me and keep her in there if you want. You can feed Izzy and try to get a few hours sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said softly. "She is calmed down now. I have a pacifier and I will sit in here and hold her and rock her until I get her back to sleep. Then I will move to the bedroom. We will be fine mommy. And you are right next door if you want to come in and check on her. And I will be right there beside her if she should wake up again."

"Okay, but if she wakes up again come and get me."

"Okay."

Olivia knelt in the floor beside the sofa and kissed her daughter's little head.

"Sophie, try to get some sleep baby. Mommy is right down the hall if you need me. I love you, angel."

Olivia watched as the baby whimpered and stirred, but didn't cry.

"Try to get some sleep, Liv. We are fine."

Olivia nodded her head as she stood and made her way back to the bedroom. She took Isabella from the bassinette and changed her diaper, then nursed her and rocked her back to sleep. When the baby was sleeping soundly in her little bed, Olivia climbed back into bed to catch a few hours sleep before they had to get up again.