My little changeling

Last weekend Nathaniel and I had a wonderful opportunity for a night away. It truly just fell into place. First we found out the ND Glee Club was performing in Omaha, and of course Nathaniel wanted to go. Then George offered us a free hotel night with some points that would be expiring before he could use them. And lastly, my in-laws kindly offered to watch the non-nursing kids. Then, to make the deal even sweeter, a friend decided she and her husband would go to the concert as well, so we made plans for dinner out beforehand. Lovely!

Or it should have been.

Except the faeries stole my sweet Rachel and left something crazy in her place.

That baby took me for a ride on Saturday evening the likes of which I have never experienced with my prior four children. She napped contentedly on the drive, and smiled and cooed from her carrier while we waited for our table. She nursed well while we waited on our entrees.

Then the screaming began. Not fussing. Full fledged, "Is she okay? Is something on the inside of her clothes scratching her?! What is wrong with this child?!?!" screaming. It lasted through dinner. Nathaniel held her out in the little entryway for a while. Then I did. Then my girlfriend, Lisa, did (God bless her). Then I did some more.

I have never even had to take a child out of a restaurant in the middle of dinner. I know it happens. I've seen and sympathized with other parents. But not my babies!

We were hopeful she'd fall asleep, worn out by the wailing, on the short drive to the concert. She did stop crying and looked drowsy. We got into the church where the Glee Club was performing, sitting near the back. The Alumni Association president started an opening prayer. That's when the screaming began again.

The church is old, so there wasn't a cry room. In fact, there was no where inside I could go without disrupting the performance. I slipped into the foyer to the women's room, where there was a chair, and tried to nurse her again, but she wasn't having it. So I took  her outside, and there we stayed. In recounting the story later, Nathaniel began to say that I'd only heard the first couple songs, but in truth, I didn't even see the Glee Club make it to the front of the church.

I walked with her, sang to her, got her situated in her wrap so I could give my arms a rest. Nothing would console the poor kid. Screaming. Non-stop screaming. I decided to pray a rosary, because it's part of my Lenten plan and I had nothing better to do. The Joyful Mysteries were a good reminder of the blessing that a baby is, even if that baby is screaming and inconsolable. I thought, at one point, that she was finally drifting off to sleep, but the minute I moved back toward the church, she let me know I was mistaken.

I handled it all with, I must say, remarkable grace and cheerfulness for a long, long time. Right up until a well-meaning but poorly received (by me) gentleman - the aforementioned Alumni Associate president - stepped out to let me know that the student center across the way was open if I wanted to go inside and warm up. What he intended as a gesture of kindness, an escape from the cold in a place where no one would mind the screaming, was heard by my frazzled mind as "Please just go away!" and as soon as he left, I burst into tears.  And of course that's when Nathaniel came out to check on me, which didn't help the tears, because he's the one person from whom I've never been able to hide my emotions.

After some brief discussion, we decided it was time for me to call "uncle" shortly before intermission. Lisa's husband, Ian, walked me back to my car with Rachel's carrier, and I left for the hotel. Lisa and Ian kindly brought Nathaniel to our hotel after the show.*

Guess what happened when we got to the hotel? In fact, maybe it was in the car on the way to the hotel.

The faeries brought Rachel back!

As you all would expect as a wrap to this story, she was an angel at the hotel. I laid her on the bed, from where she smiled at me and cooed. After nursing, I put her in the pack'n'play and listened to her chatter to herself for half an hour before she fell asleep. She woke once in the night to eat and went back to sleep directly like the good baby she is.

My sweet little changeling.

*You may have noticed a distinct inequality in which parent was caring for the baby throughout this story. It's true that I took on the majority of the baby work, but only because I knew the concert was much more important to my Glee Club alum husband. That, and because Rachel likes me better. We're dealing with a major mama's girl situation here. If she wouldn't calm down in my arms, no WAY would Nathaniel be able to make it happen. But he offered! Do not be in any way concerned that I was abandoned by him to deal with the changeling. He's a very helpful dad, as I hope you all know.