Teething BITES!

Well, here we are at 7 months with one tooth who has shown himself to us on the bottom left middle and a tooth trying to get his way out on the top right middle.  Kind of surprising seeing how normally the bottom 2 come first.  My little guy is just proclaiming that he will be doing things in life his way!  :)

I sure don't like the teething process.  It breaks my heart for him.  Granted, there's mass amounts of drool pouring out of his little smiler all the time and he is gnawing on everything-kinda resembling a beaver!, but the part that is the worst is the pain side of it. 

When Carter started getting his first tooth, I was back and forth on whether I thought he was teething or fighting a cold.  Turns out I think it was a bit of both.  He had an extremely runny, stuffy nose for about 10 days.  Towards the end, he developed a low fever (about 101) and had a few difficuly nights.  My little sleep-through-the-night guy had me visitng his room about 6-10 times a night.  It broke my heart because there is nothing that can truly be done to help.  Yes, we givve him the cold teethers, a wet washcloth to suck on, tylenol to help the pain and lower the fever, but in the end, they are all temporary fixes.  It's just one of those rites of passages a baby has to go through to get bigger.

The bottom tooth has peeked through!  This was yesterday before the fever. 

Last night was round two of this.  Actually, it started mid afternoon.  My mom was watching Carter so I could go clear out my old classroom of some of my items and she said he woke up after about 45 min from a nap (which is usually 1 1/2 - 2 hours) and was screaming.  Carter isn't a big cryer, much less screamer, and definitely doesn't usually take much to calm down if he is upset.  She said nothing was working.  Not feeding him, holding him, leaving him be, distracting him...he was unhappy.  Neither of us quite knew why.  Until....I put him down for another nap and mom and I were working on organizing my closet.  When I got him up, he was very hot to touch.  The fever was back.  The drool was flowing.  The tears were pouring.  He's teething again. 

Mom left and we were waiting for Zach to get home from his business trip.  The weather in Dallas had delayed him hours and hours but he thought the likelihood of getting delayed was small.  I don't like staying alone overnight (and haven't yet since Carter was born, call me a wimp, I know!) so I was praying Zach was getting home.  He called and said it seemed as though they were going to leave.  PHEW!  I wasn't looking forward to being home alone, with a teething baby, who has a fever and is miserable.  Even though I would insist on doing the night time tending to Carter, it's still comforting knowing someone else is there to help. 

My poor guy screaming from his pain. 

We sent this to Daddy to convince him to do all he could to get home!

Tough Teething.  Blah.

Teething BITES!

Ohhh teething.  How unfair for these lil ones.  About a month ago Carter seemed sick:  runny nose mixed with a lot of congestion, low fever, fussiness.  It was accompanied with a chin outbreak and some ear pulling.  So, I was back and forth on whether Carter caught what Zach had or was teething.  Turns out it was a mix.  Lucky boy!  The beginning was not fun, those symptoms caused him to have sleepless nights for about 4 nights.  I was in his room anywhere from 6-10 times per night.  Not like him.  Usually, it's zero!  But, lo and behold, his first tooth popped in on the bottom center-the left one.

Mom came over Tuesday night to spend the nigth with me since both of our hubbies were gone.   On Wednesday she watched Carter while I went to my old classroom to clear it out of some of my old stuff.  When I got home she said Carter was very upset and wouldn't calm down easily.  She was not sure what it was seeing how she tried everything to calm him.  Because his nap was so short (45 min usually 1 1/2 hours) he was still very cranky when I was home, which is just not like my happy baby.  I put him down for another nap and Mom and I got started on an organizing project in my closet.  When he got up, he was very hot.  He had a 101 fever.  That explains it.  Definitely teething again.  His top tooth on the right is coming in, which is out of the norm of the 2 lowers showing up first usually.


 Mom left and I was waiting for Zach to get home from a business trip.  Long story short, his flight was cancelled because of rain in Dallas.  I don't do good staying home alone - in fact, I haven't stayed alone with Carter yet overnight.  Mom has stayed with me every time.  But, she was already back in Arlington.  My choices were be a big girl and stay or drive all the way to Arlington when Carter was already snug in bed for the night.  I decided to stay.  I was not excited to be alone, with a teething baby who had a fever and didn't feel good.  The good news:  though I was in Carter's room a whole lot that night, I did good and so did he! :)  I didn't go to bed until around 4:00- half because Carter needed me, and half because I can't sleep when Zach is gone.  But, though I was running on 2 hours of sleep the next day, I felt pretty good.  And the better news was that Carter woke up a much happier lil man!  His tooth hasn't quite come through, but his pain must be subsiding a bit. 

My happy guy before I left on Wednesday- lower tooth and all

In all his misery:  poor guy.  We sent this to Daddy to convince him to come home!

Back to his smiley self the next day!

Now, I just hope that this teething process is speedy and maybe will even grace us with multiple teeth coming in at a time to get through it as quick as possible.