I Think This Counts As A Bad Day
It's Tuesday afternoon. I just got Audrey down for a nap after three excruciatingly long hours of crying. My only explanation is that I think her mouth was bothering her. She still has no teeth to show for her many months of teething. Today, was the worst yet. I could not settle her down. She seemed to be hungry but she would try to eat and then pull away as though it was to painful to continue. Then she would turn away and suck her thumb (which she loves) that also seemed to be painful and she would reluctantly pull it out of her mouth sobbing.
I tried rocking her, walking with her, changing her diaper and then her clothes. I tried to lay with her, put her in her crib, sit with her. Nothing worked. It was awful. I was proud of myself for remaining pretty calm although I did feel terrible for her since she was so uncomfortable. Finally I decided it was time to try some Tylenol. I gave her half a dose and waited for it to kick in. It took a while. She enjoyed chewing and sucking on a frozen cloth for a while and watching 'Baby Einstein' while sitting on my lap. She became so tired, I suspect from the Tylenol and the endless crying, that she practically passed out. At this point I proceeded to feed her and she was sleepy enough to ignore the pain and eat a little.
Once she was napping I pumped since she really hadn't ate much. On top of having an unhappy baby I have milk supply stress, AGAIN! Since Audrey woke up at 6:30 this morning I missed my morning pump which I rely on for my work days which are tomorrow (Wednesday), Thursday and Saturday. I attempted to pump after she ate this morning but expressed less than a measly ounce. Just now I pumped almost two. I've been popping Fenugreek pills like popcorn hoping for a miracle.
Also, Peter is sick with what seems like a stomach bug. He went to work anyway and I'm sure he'll be exhausted when he gets home. I can't think of anything better than two parents who have had a very long day dealing with a grumpy baby. I can hardly wait!
I wanted to ask for comments from any of you who may have teething tips and stories for me. Remember the worse the stories are the better I will feel after which I'll feel guilty for complaining about my tiny difficulties. I need all the help I can get. You know how useless reading about this stuff can be. If I was a certain blogger I could ask and receive 1263 helpful comments if I wanted. That just totally blows me away.
I seem to be writing a lot of grumpy, sad, feeling sorry for myself posts lately. I should stop that.
UPDATE: Wednesday morning, she went to be at 8:30 last night and slept well all night. She seems more herself today. Grandma will be babysitting while I am at work. Tylenol will be supplied just in case...
13 comments:
Your daughter is a beauty. My kids (4 and 18 months) went through months of teething before teeth actually popped through as well. Ask your doctor about Baby Advil, because ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory while Tylenol is not. End the end though, nothing really seemed to help but the dang teeth coming through. And of course, we are still going through it with the 18 month old.
Poor Audrey and poor you. Nothing is harder than knowing your baby is in discomfort, and you can't do anything to alleviate it. I agree with the previous comment, ask your doctor about the advil. I used to let my kids gum on my finger while I rocked them. They seemed to be like the pressure on their gums. Also, don't give up on the breastfeeding, Audrey isn't rejecting you she's just expressing her discomfort.
Teething is hard! Cam had teething symptoms for months before they finally broke through. Motrin worked well, also Tylenol. We used Oralgel too. Teething rings, cold stuff. Good luck and hope she sleeps better soon!
Mama D-lightful,
Giving baby whole cucumbers from the fridge will help too. You give them to baby with skin on them so baby can hold on and suck to her content without the problem of choking.
On the milk front, I always drank a glass of dark beer when my supply got a bit low. Just make sure you don't down one though, right before feeding baby, for obvious reasons.
It is widely debated whether or not it helps relax mom or if the hopps or ingredients help. All I know is that it worked for all four of my kids.
I despise the smell and taste of beer. (NASTEEEY!) but it did WONDERS for milk production in about a day.
I know what you are going through..pumping and work is difficult. Just keep pushing through !!
ps. who knew that peaceful little cherub was giving you such fits??? hehe. What a dolly!
Okay ... I TOTALLY feel your pain ... I mean Audrey's pain ... no, really ... YOUR pain.
I did a post about this just a few weeks ago, and while you can read it here, I'll just cut to the chase and tell you that Shannon gave me the best advice ... try using Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets -- Shannon said you could find them at any drug store, but so far, I've only been able to find them at CVS. And they melt instantly, have no bad taste (like orajel) and work well! And don't hesitate to give the little one some relief with a whole dose of Tylenol... it's okay. Really, it is (just so you know, I keep orajel around and pull it out when things get ugly ... and they did last night)
One more thing... our Pediatrician said no Baby Advil until Hunter is 6 months old, which kind of stinks, but Tylenol seems to be working just fine.
Also, I found that a bottle with cold and very watered down juice seemed to feel good to him, and also, last night, when NOTHING would calm him down, cold pear sauce from the fridge on the rubber spoon seemed to work, too. Go figure.
Hopefully Audrey and Hunters stubborn teeth will break through soon! I'll keep you and Audrey in my prayers this week.
Look at me giving teething advice! Woohoo!
gibee, I completely forgot those...my youngest is three. Yes, they do work!! They sell them at WalMart.
I find that with my baby, rubbing his gums (after washing my hands of course) seems to make it easier for him to nurse! Hope that helps a little! Nikkie
Your daughter is an angel! I hope the end of her teething pain is near. My daughter seems to be going through the same thing. My sister-in-law bought me this pacifier-like feeding contraption where you can place fresh fruit inside a little mesh sack with a handle screwed on. The baby can hold it and chew on the fruit without the worry of swallowing large pieces since the mesh acts as a strainer. I find that a cold piece of apple sometimes helps with my daughter's teething discomfort.
On the subject but off topic slightly: once those teeth are there, look after them. Even before the teeth come through it is recommended you wipe out babys mouth with a cloth after feeding.(breast or bottle) You can unknowingly cause decay in your youngsters teeth by offering fruit, crackers, bottles of juice etc.My 17 month old has 5 cavities to deal with. I feel like the bad mom. But I never thought i was doin anything wrong. Nursing moms should read in the LLL website on dental care and caries. Please moms read all you can on the topic and pass the info along. I wished I had done more research sooner! Little A's pain is real. Give her the pain releif. Our public health nurse says that if you don't give the full dose, you may as well not even bother. The doseage on the bottle is the lower doseage anyways. make sure you are dosing her according to weight. Which im sure you know. (sorry). Love from (foxymama)
Ahhh, dang... My Finn is 7 months and he has been teething for about 2 months I feel like, but the last few weeks it has been horrible... so hard too, not really being able to help much.
She is Gorgeous! Ouch, I SO recall the teething pain. All 4 of my children teethed early; but we were able to keep up with breastfeeding.
Regarding the milk supply issue--I worried about that a lot with my first, but my fears were put to rest when I began pumping on one side (with the electric pump) while nursing him in the football-hold on the other side. This feeding was the first thing I did upon arriving home from teaching the AM Kindergarten class. The combo of the pump and his nursing action brought on a good let-down and I would have a bottle ready to go for the next morning. I did pump at other times, too, but never had the same 'great' results.
peace :-)C
It's your blog - post as many grumpy and sad posts as you need to! And don't feel bad that 35268 people don't comment. You have many wonderful comments - I'd take quality over quantity any day!
About the crying - it is ok to take a short break and let her cry. Infants are very sensitive to their mother's mood. If you feel overwhelmed and frustrated, she's likely to feed off of your emotions (even if you try not to show them). Just like with adults - when a baby is irritable because she isnt feeling well sometimes even your best efforts will set her off.
I only say this after my 3rd break today. I feel like such a horrible mother for abandoning my baby. But every time, my breaks are short and I'm better at comforting her once I return.
I'll echo what others have said about pumping while feeding. It takes some coordination (especially when the babe keeps grabbing at cords - try covering the pumping side with your shirt). I've also found that tilting my head back and taking long, deep breaths helps (maybe if only because I tend to slouch otherwise). I also tend to let myself get dehydrated so I try to push myself to drink plenty of water....
gosh...have a I given enough advice yet? I certainly don't have it as together as I probably sound. Call it lack-of-sleep-induced delirium :)
I'll be interested in hearing what you find to help with the teeting. It's been so long since I've gone through that with a little one that I don't remember what works and what doesn.
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