Uppers and Lowers and Molars, OH MY!

For the past couple of months, Carder has been working on some teeth.  As I have said on this blog many times, he sleep has been absolutely shitty less than stellar.  He has drooled like a mad man off and on for weeks now.  When you looked into his mouth, lighter colored swelling in his gums that gradually descended as the days went by were a sure sign that his upper lateral incisors were coming in.  As he is 15+ months, it was high time for them to show up.  I thought that his lower lateral incisors were also trying to come in, but the swelling in his gums wasn't as evident, so I wasn't sure. 

 

And as the days have passed, the list of foods Carder will eat was dwindling rapidly.  Foods he used to eat with no issues are now on the banned foods list - he has taken a bite, chewed a bit, and then spit them out.  I was beginning to think that I now had a picky eater on my hands.

In the past two weeks, both of the upper and lower incisors have broken through his gums on his left hand side.  The upper incisor on the right looks like it will break through any day.

Last night, after an extremely difficult meal where he turned down his latest favorites, I felt around his mouth.  I discovered that his lower incisor on the right is just beginning to break through the gums.  And, as if having 4 teeth breaking out at the same time wasn't bad enough, I can feel the tips of a molar breaking through on his upper right as well.  A MOLAR people.*

So the refusal to eat foods he had to gum now makes sense. ** And his latest attempts to swallow baby goldfish crackers whole and then gagging them back up.

Tooth count 8 (with #9 sure to arrive any day). 

*I have always heard that molars were the worst and was dreading them, it turns out our pediatrician was possibly right - when you have a tough teether, molars are often not any worse than the other teeth. The only real difference I have seen is the drop in foods he would eat.

**Thank goodness we still have a stash of purees.  He ate inhaled 2 pouches for dinner last night...

Feeding Strike! Again! Ugh!

When Carder isn't feeling well, the first thing he does is slow down on his bottle feedings.  This had been happening and Carder just wasn't acting himself.  He was fussy and pulling at his ears a lot.  He also was suffering from a very stuffy nose that was filled with bloody boogies every morning.  (Reading between the lines, sleep also deteriorated at this point).  So, on Monday 4/16/12, I took him to the Pediatrician to see if perhaps he had an ear infection or if he was suffering from allergies or another virus.

The Ped looked him over and said that his ears were fine.  He didn't rule out allergies and suggested children's Zyr.tec.  He also suggested that perhaps we were working on some teeth and that would explain the ear tugging.

By Wednesday 4/18/12, Carder was flat out refusing the bottle again.  And when I say refusing, I don't mean that he just turns his nose up at the bottle when it is offered.  I am talking back arching, screaming, wiggling to get out of Mommy's arms refusal.  After struggling to see inside his mouth and almost losing an eye to see it a quick glance at his gums, it was apparent that he was working on getting his upper left Maxillary tooth.  A few google searches later and Dr. Mommy had concluded that since this tooth was much bigger than the bottom, it could be the culprit for our refusal to eat.  After all, the bottom teeth caused the bottle rejection issue - for a week at a time.

But this time, he was refusing to let us get fluids into him through our normal means of a straw or syringe.  At least he was taking a water from sippy cup.  So we upped his solids feedings to 4 times a day with larger servings.  We had gone to my in-laws for a visit with them, Derek's sister, and Derek's grandfather for the weekend. But Carder was too interested in the new surroundings and all the people to drink anything.  We left shortly after arriving for fear that another trip to the ER for fluids was in our future. (Luckily, we have avoided that so far.)

Since he didn't do well with his sippy cup at Day Care, we were afraid to send him.  My MIL came to stay with him while I went to work.  After 7 days of refusing the bottle, we had also added waking up SCREAMING to our list of symptoms.  On Wednesday (4/25/12) we returned to the Pediatricians office.  This time he was diagnosed with a double ear infection on top of the teething.  Carder got some antibiotics and some ear drops. *

Thankfully, the screaming at night has stopped.  But, he still is sleeping like absolute shit.  And even worse?  He used to go down for bed at around 8ish at night.  Since Sunday (4/29/12), he has been fighting bedtime terribly.  He will fall asleep in my arms and when I go to lie him in the crib, he wakes up, flips over, and stands up in his crib.  Sunday night it was 10:00 before he finally went down for the night.  Monday was a little better with him finally drifting off at 9:30.  Tuesday night was another 9:30 night.  And once he reaches that “overtired” point, he is clingy and wired.  We tried lying him down to see if he just needed some alone time.  Nope - he stands in his crib and jumps up and down.  He squeals with delight when you open the door to check on him.  It is like he is all hyped up on sugar or something.  I broke down and bought some room darkening curtains for his room to see if that would help (no such luck yet). 
Once he finally goes down, his nighttime sleeping has recently involved waking up as frequently as hourly.  Usually I get things taken care of (laundry, eating dinner, spending time with Derek, having a few minutes of “me” time) after he goes to bed.  The last few nights, after hours of rocking and soothing my sweet little boy to sleep, I plop down and stare into space like a zombie – absolutely spent.

But sleeping isn’t our only problem.  In addition, he is still refusing the bottle (that is for 2 weeks straight now, just in case you lost count).  I absolutely abhor, detest, cringe at the thought of offering him the bottle right now - the screaming and throwing himself around to avoid the bottle is terrible.  Maddening, even.  I am so afraid that he is going to throw himself back and slam his head into the arm of the chair or fall to the floor.  It totally stresses me out and I dread every bottle offered.  It’s just a waste of formula at this point.  (And that crap is too expensive to waste!)  And making sure he gets enough fluid is like an all day marathon.  And you have to make sure you don't let him know you are stressed about how much he is drinking (or the lack thereof) or he will refuse to take the sippy. **

I am taking him back to the pediatrician this evening to see if his ears are cleared up or if we are still battling both ear infections and teething at the same time.  Hopefully this will end soon.***

Needless to say, I am – once again – exhausted.  This explains my blogging/commenting absence.  (And why his 10 month post was posted today.  Without any pictures.) 

*We have tried Tyle.nol and Ibupro.phen for the pain.  Ora.jel, too.  None seem to help a bit.  At least the stuffy nose/bloody boogies has cleared up.

**We have also tried small plastic cups, ped.ialyte, juice, and all temperatures of formula in the sippy cup.  The only thing he is "drinking" is water.

***I am afraid that due to his age, this is "the end" of our bottle feeding days and that he may never pick up the bottle again.  If only I had known, I would have savored that last bottle.  Every last second of it...

A Tooth!

Carder's First Tooth has finally appeared.  I would post a picture of it, but we struggle to get a peek at it - much less get a picture.

So far, only the top is peeking through.  It is his lower left incisor.  I think the right one won't be far behind.