Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Thank Heaven for Tooth Number Eleven

On Friday, January 28, I went out with my friends after Oliver went to bed. Andrew stayed home, and his friend Drew came over. Oliver woke up every 1-2 hours, screaming and crying. We had no idea what was going on because he always sleeps through the night.

The next morning, I felt his gums, and I could feel a bulge on his bottom right. His top two molars had come through recently, so I knew he was getting his bottom one. I also knew that teething is only supposed to last about five days. We had a week of sleepless nights. Oliver would go to bed at 7:30pm and get up at 9pm, 11pm, 2am, 4am, before getting up for the day at 5am. It was rough. A few of those nights, we gave him a bit of generic infant Tylenol (dye-free), and it would help him until about midnight, but then the wake-ups would continue.

Most mornings, his nose would be stuffy. I figured it was a side effect of drooling and fussing and crying at night. Of course, most pediatricians swear that stuffy noses are not a side effect of teething. He's also been shoving his fingers in his ears and mouth nonstop. He doesn't have a fever, so I felt fairly confident that it's not an infection.

Andrew's not good at feeling the gums. I'd feel them every day and update him, "I can feel the point of the tooth through the gum, but it's not through yet!"

Well, today, I would like to say, the gum has split! I can't feel the tooth yet, but I can see the dark hole where the gum is split. I should be able to feel the tooth tonight or in the morning.

So, to all the pediatricians out there who say teething doesn't cause stuffy noses and only takes a maximum of five days, I would like to say, "Shove it." Oliver teethed for thirteen days, and he had a stuffy nose when he woke up.

It's a relief to know the tooth is here. I'm looking forward to interrupted sleep and a less crabby toddler! I'm also glad I won't have to see him writhe in pain anymore (at least, until the next molar decides to make an appearance).

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