Little Myla kept crying no matter what her parents did to calm her down. At one point, the young parents even visited a doctor and got her checked, but nothing happened. Then Chris discovered a pin in Myla’s cradle and was astounded to learn how it got there......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Stephanie met her husband, Chris, in foster care. Both of them were orphaned at a young age and soon became each other’s whole life. They got married shortly after completing high school and decided to start a family.
Chris operated a small restaurant in Florida, and the income, though not great, was at least sufficient to feed the family. However, when the pandemic happened, things began to deteriorate, and with a newborn child, expenses grew while income decreased.
Concerned, Chris began working multiple jobs to support the family, while Stephanie decided to work remotely. Thanks to her sewing classes back in school, Stephanie was able to find a job at a small business that primarily manufactured clothes for women.
The business was doing well, and Stephanie was never out of work. She skipped meals and was exhausted at the end of the day when the client lists were long, but more work meant more money, which meant a happier and less stressful month for the year.
Myla was only a few months old then, and while her mommy was busy working, she often stayed quiet. She had always been a very obedient baby and never troubled her parents. That was a huge relief considering that Chris and Stephanie didn’t feel the need to hire a nanny because their income wouldn’t support it.
However, things started changing after the night Chris and Stephanie heard Myla crying terribly. “Wake up, Steph! Myla won’t stop crying. She must have wet her diapers again,” Chris said, attempting to rouse her.
“I’m exhausted, Chris,” Stephanie remarked, closing her eyes. “Could you please take care of it today? I had too many clients, and I don’t even have the energy to get up now!”
“All right, just tell me where you keep her diapers. I’ll go look,” Chris said. However, when he checked, nothing seemed wrong with Myla’s diaper. Thinking she was hungry and perhaps could be crying because of that, Chris brought her to Stephanie. “I guess she’s hungry, honey, and you know I can’t do anything about it!”
“Ahh… Nobody told me going to be a mother would be so hectic! Get her here,” Stephanie cried, trying to wake herself up. “What happened, baby? Momma is here. Is my child hungry?” She began soothing Myla and feeding her, but neither worked. Myla wouldn’t stop wailing.
“I think there’s something wrong, Chris,” Stephanie said after a pause. “I remember feeding her at the right time. She doesn’t seem to be hungry, and her diaper is fine. And she never cries like this! I’m genuinely concerned.”
“I believe it happens with newborns, honey. Let’s watch her for a few days. If it doesn’t stop, we’ll take her to a doctor,” Chris replied, cradling Myla in his arms. However, Myla wouldn’t stop crying.
Stephanie had to take her and sing her a lullaby finally. When Myla eventually fell asleep, she silently placed her back in the cradle, but she began wailing again.
It continued all night. Myla would cry as soon as she was placed in the cradle, and she wouldn’t sleep until Stephanie sang her a lullaby. So finally, her parents had to take turns sitting on the armchair holding her so she wouldn’t cry again.
Things went on like that for almost three days. In the end, tired of having sleepless nights, Chris and Stephanie decided to visit the doctor. However, the pediatrician couldn’t figure out why Myla couldn’t sleep.
“She’s perfectly healthy. And I think it’s just a phase,” the doctor suggested to them. “Some babies have it, and your child could be going through that too. Don’t worry; it’ll be fine.”
But that night, the same thing happened. As soon as Myla was placed in her cradle, she’d burst out crying. Nothing they tried seemed to work until she was taken out of the cradle and Stephanie sang her a lullaby.
“You’ll have to take a leave tomorrow, Chris,” Stephanie told him one evening. “I can’t handle her alone. I have huge orders tomorrow, and if I don’t finish it on time, they’ll cut my pay, and you know we can’t afford it.”
“It’s fine, honey,” Chris said. “I’ll take a leave, don’t worry.”
The next morning, when Chris went to fetch some coffee and placed Myla in her cradle, she began crying again. He brought the cradle into the kitchen and gently shook it to get Myla to stop crying.
When that didn’t work, he took her out of the cradle and began singing. Suddenly, he noticed something sparkly peeping out from beneath the sheet of the cradle. As he looked closely, he discovered it was a tiny pin. What is this even doing there? Chris was perplexed.
“Is it something you use for sewing?” he inquired of his wife, who was busy with her orders.
“Oh goodness! Where did you find it? I’ve been going nuts trying to look for it everywhere!” Stephanie retorted from her seat.
“Well, honey, now we know why Myla couldn’t stop crying as soon as we put her in the cradle!” Chris said. “It must have been poking her all the while she was sleeping.”
“But how is that…” Stephnie had a flashback to what had happened. She’d changed Myla’s sheet a while back. In fact, she had made a new one for the baby with special embroidery and had forgotten to take the pin out after the final touches.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe I was that stupid! I’m sorry, baby.” Stephanie glanced at Myla, who was fast asleep in her daddy’s arms.
“It’s okay, let’s try placing her back in the cradle now,” Chris said calmly as he lowered her. Surprisingly, Myla slept for more than a few hours that day and didn’t even cry once.
“It’s not your fault, honey,” Chris consoled her. “You were just trying to work so that our baby doesn’t suffer. But don’t worry, from now on, we’re going to hire a nanny. We know we can’t afford one full-time, but we can hire her for the mornings, and after returning from work, both of us can look after Myla.”
“Yeah, I think we should do that,” Stephanie responded, gazing over at Myla who was sleeping soundly. “Don’t worry, honey,” she said softly into Myla’s ear. “Mom and Dad will not let you get into any more problems. Promise.”
What can we learn from this story?
Sometimes the answer is right in front of us, but we don’t see it. If Stephanie and Chris had simply checked Myla’s cradle, they might have quickly learned why she had been sobbing all along.
Please be careful when you have a newborn at home. Fortunately, the pin discovered in the cradle wasn’t large; otherwise, it could have harmed Myla.