The Fussy Evening Hours...

On Friday evening, we went to a neighbor's house for a "post-work cocktail hour." I got a little frantic with trying to herd the cats out of my house... Rob was making a drink, my mother was changing her outfit, I had to grab a cucumber salad I made, and Schwally had recently eaten but he also tends to nurse every 2 hours from 4PM to 10PM (and a feeding hour was quickly approaching). The event was 5:30-7:30PM and it was already 6:10PM. That, and Rob wanted to leave at 7PM to go play hockey.
I was getting tense.
Evie walked over with me & the baby... my mother and Rob not too far behind.
As soon as we got there, Schwally started yelping to eat so I breezed indoors to go nurse. I nursed on the one side and thought that would be enough for him to go on for 30 minutes (especially since we would be leaving in half an hour anyhow).
Nope, it wasn't. He fussed within 10 minutes and I ducked back inside to finish nursing. I made it back outside in time for Rob to leave and spent the next 5 minutes trying to round up Evie to head home. Schwally fussed a lot more and my mom skirted on out and back to my house.
The screaming had begun.
To make this long story short, Max screamed and writhed from 7:30PM until after 10PM.
We rocked, we walked, he held, we soothed, we "shhhh'd!", we put him in a pitch black room, we paced, we gave him a pacifier and even held it in place while we screamed around it, we swaddled and we tried a bottle, and finally, I even tried to nurse some more. Nothing worked.
He acted as if he had to burp... or was really upset at something... like maybe I had clipped the tip of his thumb while trimming his nails (yes, I did this when he was 1 week old, it was awful). Only thing was, this went on and on...

My mother held Max from 9-9:45PM before handing him off to me. I held him until 10PM and he settled in my arms... his tenseness finally going limp. I gingerly walked him into my room and laid him down... within seconds, "W-A-H-H-H!!!"
My mother walked in and offered to hold him so I could sleep. I'd be stupid to pass this offer up.

At 2AM I could feel the "urge" to nurse and popped awake. There was no baby in the room so I walked out to the fold-out sofa to see my mother (in the darkness) laying on her side with Max propped up on her shoulder & swaddled in her arms. She stared at me like a raccoon caught in a dark house at midnight.
I actually had to keep from giggling and asked, "Why in the hell are you still up? You never put him down? Have you been sitting in her... awake... all this time?!."
Response, "Yep. I was afraid he'd cry if I put him down."
Me, "Oh my God, mom."

I fed Max and laid him down - he was fine the rest of the night.

Fast forward to last night,... the following night (Saturday).
My dad arrived in town and we were watching TV (yes, at full volume because my parents are hard of hearing. They can't seem to hear what they are not watching while yelling at one another over the noise of the TV... *sigh*). It was 8:30PM and I had just finished nursing Max for the second-to-last time for the night. He ate at 6:30PM, 8:30PM and, typically, eats one last time around 10/10:30PM before staying down till around 1AM.
I was sitting in the living room because Max was wide awake after his 8:30 feeding. Now, this is new because he has always drifted off to sleep for the night after a 7:30/8:00PM feeding. I went into the living room to play with him since he was so awake. Moments into this decision, the writhing started. I thought, "Well, maybe he is tired after all... I'll give him a pacifier and hold him close till he falls asleep."
Nope.
The screaming around the pacifier began. I burped him on my shoulder... he liked being upright until he started fussing there, too. I bounced and rocked... I looked at my mother, "Its last night all over again."
"Oh no," she said.

Max fussed until 10PM. I suppose I can't complain too much since this time it was only for 1.5 hours verses the 3hrs from the night before, but I went ahead and researched colic anyway while my mother held him. Colic: How to Cope.

We were already doing everything the article suggested so I did relax a bit knowing that we were on the right track to helping Max. At the same time I thought, "Oh no, will we being doing this every night for the next 7-8 weeks?" (The article says Colic peaks at 6 weeks old and suddenly ends at 3 months old. May is now 3.5 weeks old... the age when Colic begins, incidentally).

At 10PM last night my mother handed Max to me and I pulled him into bed with me. He was swaddled and had a pacifier. He was tight but starting to relax... his eyes lolling about in his head. It was evident he was exhausted and maybe even a little frightened at whatever is ailing him. Thankfully this didn't last long and he soon drifted asleep. I turned off my TV and laid in the dark with him... at my side and in my arms.. until 10:30PM. I gently laid him down and snuck into bed with my fingers crossed... he stayed asleep (phew!).
I watched the clock thinking he'd wake up any minute expecting his 10:00/10:30PM feeding but I was greeted with continual silence. I drifted off myself.
At 2AM I awake to Max's sputters and grumbles that he does when he starts to arouse. I counted the hours on my fingers - 5.5hours w/o nursing! WOW! This is a great run albeit slightly painful for me (that's a long run for a nursing mom who's been on another, more frequent, schedule).

Today is Sunday and my folks leave.
I shared the details of the night before with Rob who had spent the last 2 nights out of the house and had not experienced this fussing firsthand.
I am hopeful this was just a phase or perhaps over-stimulation for such a small munchkin. But I'm also prepared for the possibilities that we may be entering hell. I'll post again and share which was this situation falls....