If teething was an art, it would be a painting of bright red smears on a black canvas. Hence, ugly. And ugly describes Sidney’s experience with teething the past few weeks.
I see two tiny mounds of opaque whiteness protruding from Sidney’s lower gum. Like camel humps rising above a dune, the tooth is barely visible and apparently it is enjoying its nearly incognito status. Initially when I described the eruption of her first tooth to friends and family, I heard repeatedly: “oh, the tooth will just pop out overnight!”
Look *really* closely and you can see the camel. Just kidding! Oh, and thanks freedigitalphotos.net.
It has been three weeks and I have to accept that this tooth missed its overnight debut. And keeps missing it.
Sidney doesn’t care for this process either. I know when she is in serious discomfort from teething; not due to her screaming but to her refusal to take medicine, cold teething rings or her ice pop (you know, that contraption that looks like one of those ring pops from childhood but the top, aka the candy gem, twists off so you can stuff ice cubes in it). Normally, she will gladly suck on her ice pop then let it melt all over the kitchen floor before painting water circles on the ceramic tile floor.
Reasoning with a 10 month old is, of course, absurd, but I attempt to tell her the medicine, ice pop, homeopathic teething pellets etc. will make her feel better. Her screams rise in decibel which I am afraid is merely one notch away from breaking my Tiffany wedding champagne glasses.
I don’t like giving Sidney medicine. Not because she throws a tantrum and thrashes her head from side to side (OK, so I don’t like that either) but because I just don’t like the potential side effects of medicines. But I also don’t like nights of restlessness, screaming and even less sleep than I usually get, so CVS tylenol wins out at bedtime.
I recently discovered the benefits of Humphrey’s teething pellets and by golly, they work! At least long enough to settle her down to nurse whilst awaiting the arrival of the elusive sleep gods. I have tried several homeopathic teething remedies and thought I tried them all. Fortunately I bitched about Sidney’s teething woes to my dear friend Facebook and learned of Humphrey’s existence.
Thus, the work of teething art continues, but at least some of the ugliness is subdued thanks to both old and new medicines. Perhaps when the work of art is complete, my description will go from “ugly” to “cute.”
highneedsbabyandhermom 