Whenever a baby is fussy or won't eat or feels a little warm or won't sleep, I blame teething first. This is funny, in part, because of just how much I blamed teething for those very happenings with Harrison when in fact he was never teething. Well, I mean, he did eventually get teeth...but not until he was two weeks shy of his first birthday and he wasn't fussy, didn't have a problem eating, ran no fevers, and slept fine with pretty much each new tooth. Go figure, eh?
What was concerning, however, about Harrison teething was the fact that we were still nursing at the time. Now I know plenty of mamas nurse through teething, in part because their kiddos teeth so much sooner, but I'm kind of wondering how. You see, although it didn't happen a lot, there were a few times during the months of post-teeth and pre-weaning that Harrison bit me. I may have been able to block from my memory a lot of the pain associated with labor, but somehow the whole getting bit while breastfeeding thing has been harder to shake.
The good thing, though, was that we were on the downhill side of nursing at that point, and I knew I wouldn't have to deal with the teeth for long. Technically we did nurse until 16 months, but at that point he was just nursing in the morning and before bed because solids were his big thing by then. Unfortunately, it would appear that I'm not going to be so lucky this time around...
Because old habits die hard, any time that Raegan has been super cranky or fussy, I have of course blamed it on teething. I know I've been doing this because I find myself sticking my finger in her mouth to feel her gums whenever she seems out of sorts. My little litmus test had been coming up negative, just like with her brother, until today. This afternoon as I was trying to get her down for a nap, I happened to run my index finger along her gums, and wouldn't you know it? I felt two sharp, little bumps. Bummer. Further investigation in broad daylight after the nap confirmed the presence of white protrusions on the front/bottom/left of her mouth. Double Bummer!
My goal with nursing is a year; anything after that is gravy, but I really, really want to hit the 12 month mark. How am I going to do that if these teeth decide to chomp on me? Of course I have no idea if she'll do that or not, but we are nowhere near turning her over to solids if she does. Shoot - she's tried all of two veggies and some oatmeal and rice crackers so far - that's IT.
So, really, it's kind of Mama or bust (ha! that's my worst pun ever).
Suggestions? Advice? Sympathy? I'll take it all.
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