For all those publications and websites that state “diarrhea, fever, congestion, body rashes, and vomiting are not symptoms of teething” come on over to casa de brehm and eat your words. Barrett has been a spitty {even more than usual}, congested, poopy mess {three blowouts in one day} for a good week and we’ve invested in baby orajel, two different sippy cups, one new bottle and tylenol. I am fairly certain, in fact, that the same people who invented bed bugs also invented teething and have built an entire industry around making money by preying on the emotions of helpless individuals. We are in the thick of our first bout with teething and let me tell you, it’s fun. I would even gander to say I’ve not endured such fun since I took the ACT, participated in two-a-days for high school volleyball or even went through labor. Yes, we love teething. I say we like we are feeling Barrett’s pain and in a sense, we are … because we, too, have lost a fair amount of sleepy times over his swollen gums and I have found myself swollen over his fits with feeding. Poor babe B had been running a low-grade temp for the past week and slowly refused feeds as the days edged on. Though in the past, Barrett would acquiesce to taking a bottle, that luxury has currently been eliminated from our lives and we have been in a holding pattern until the teeth take over their territory. {Any tips for bottle bribing would be appreciated!}
Being first-time parents, Adam and I questioned if the symptoms {whining, fussing and drooling, oh my!} our otherwise happy-go-lucky little one exhibited were indeed attributed to teething or perhaps something more sneaky. To illustrate just how clueless I am, my friend Nicole had to point out to me that indeed, teeth were trying to get on past those gums… “So he’s starting to get his teeth?” she said. “Oh, is he? We’ve been thinking maybe that’s what’s up”, I replied. “Well, I saw the white in his gums…” “Oh really?!”. So, after a few days of a partial nursing strike and crappy nappy and night times, we decided to be those parents and take him in to get the once-over from the pros. Sure enough, it was determined that we would need to ride out the storm until the pearly whites push on through. For three nights, Barrett tossed and turned and moaned and groaned and life at the Brehm house was a bit bleak.
But… with the presence of a magnificent white muncher increasing daily on his gumline, we were assured that this too, shall pass. One thing I’ve realized when it comes to baby Barrett {and all babies I assume} is that much like the weather in Nebraska, if you wait a couple of days, the outlook will be drastically different. In trying to get out of swaddling, trying to get into napping sans mommy’s arms and packing on the pounds, it took but only a tincture of time {in the words of my dear dad} to get to the intended goal… and teething proved to be no different. As of yesterday … the 10th of October … Barrett officially has his first tooth. It would appear that its next door neighbor is not far behind and thus the gnawing and drooling continues.The thing that truly bites is that while he’s gotten past the first one, there are 19 friends to follow.
Barrett has reached the eight month mark and it’s impossible to believe that just months ago, he resided inside of me and now he is a scooting, babbling little human… with a tooth to boot. I often look into his sweet hazel peepers and find my heart all warm and fuzzy with the realization of just how much I love this little man and how much we are so much more than we ever could have been without him. At eight months, Barrett has his very own personality and although I am a bit biased, I feel it’s safe to state, he wins over the hearts of friends and strangers alike with his coy smiles. He is scooting to and fro and as for crawling, I would assume it’s just around the bend as he spends ample amounts of time rocking back and forth on his haunches trying to will himself forward. He stands at his “piano table” and gleefully smacks and pounds away. He takes in everything around him… ever the studier … ever the investigator. He weighed in at 14 pounds 3 ounces at his most recent appointment and he is more and more of a person and so far from infanthood with each passing day {sigh}. As we live in it… inside of each day… they seem so long and it seems as if these times will be forever. But, with each passing month, it goes so fast. It all goes too fast.
Before we know it, one tooth will be twenty and scooting-will-be-crawling-will-be-walking. So, one might say these realizations would make those long days and short nights easier and help me keep me centered in the trenches. Ha. I still believe teething bites… and I suppose, eventually, this will be quite literal.
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