2-year molars and 2 week wait...

I'm just going to jump in here as if I've not been MIA for four months... :)

Two weeks ago, my sweet little boy morphed into a tyrannical, moody little monster. He isn't sleeping well and his attitude just stinks. He gets so easily frustrated, and is super whiny-fussy about everything. It's been trying on my patience and has caused me to seriously reflect on my parenting and what I may have been doing wrong. I've seen other toddlers act this way, and I admit that I looked down my nose at those parents, thinking MY children would never behave that way. So, I've stood here dumbfounded at this sudden turn of events, wondering at which fork in the road I went astray.

In the midst of all that reflecting, I also applied some good old-fashioned problem solving. I had to do this a lot when Henry was an infant, unable to communicate when or why he wasn't sleeping or eating well. I noted that at around the same time his behavior changed, he developed a round of diarrhea and diaper rash. I noticed occasional rubbing or pulling at his ears, but with no fever. I noticed more frequent chewing on toys, fingers, or his shirt. Then it hit me - these are all his classic teething indicators. He's had all of his first year teeth for a handful of months now, so this could only mean he's cutting those dreaded 2-year molars. O' Happy Day.

I feel absolutely rotten for him. While he is acting rather rotten, I know it is because he isn't tolerating this misery very well. And, we're two weeks into this... with the possibility that we're not even close to the end. The cutting of these particular teeth can take days, weeks, or months, for some kids. He is still my darling, lovin' little boy, but he's hurting and just plain uncomfortable. I hate this. So, we'll keep up the ibuprofen as needed, and I'm offering him cold stuff to chew, like teething rings, a chilled wet washcloth, and crushed ice. And, we'll wait it out.

Meawhile, I am thrilled to update about our second baby. We're nearing the end - I'm almost 36 weeks pregnant now, and yes, I'm counting the days. Not long after my last blog entry, we learned that we are expecting a little girl. We've named her Stella Claire, and we are SO excited to meet her and have her in our arms. The pregnancy has really been uneventful - for which we are so thankful. I've been more uncomfortable this time than I remember being with Henry, but all the circumstances are different now. My blood pressure has been more manageable with this pregnancy - good news for all.

At my appointment last week, Dr. McMillion informed me that Stella was measuring 10-14 days ahead. Of course there is no exact science to that - she is basing it simply off of fundal height. However, it gives us reason to investigate. So, we scheduled an ultrasound for about two weeks from now at almost 38wks. We'll see just how big she is then, and though the doctor didn't say so explicitly, I think it was implied that we'll talk at that time about options, if we find she is in fact large. If she continues growing at this proportion, she'll be better than 8lbs at the sonogram, and could potentially be 9-10lbs by 40wks. Let's sing another chorus of O'Happy Day! I really hadn't been looking forward to another induction, but I'm also not too interested in birthing a sack of potatoes. So we wait for two more weeks and see where we stand. My instinct is telling me Stella isn't waiting for 40wks anyway. I think she's planning an early arrival, which is really alright by me.

Now, if I keep up some posting, I owe lots of pictures. Maybe I can make that happen.

Photo Update: Tooth

Here, if you make a funny squinty face, you can see the lower left lateral incisor I posted about last week. The new top tooth has been harder to see, let alone photograph, but if I get a good shot of it, I'll add it here too. And, no, that's not war paint - it's squash! :)

Plural:Teeth

STOP THE PRESSES!

I just got Henry up from his nap, and while on the changing table, in good light, I discovered he has also just cut his LOWER left lateral incisor as well. I have no idea when this one cut... sometime in the past week because I know I checked there last week. I totally missed it since I was watching the top so closely.

So, now the count is up to six!

Another Tooth!

Just got the report from the Tooth Fairy. She has bestowed Henry with his fifth tooth as of yesterday or this morning. It is his top left lateral incisor. I have been watching for it as he's displayed all [his] classic signs: disrupted night time sleep for the past several nights, looser and more frequent stools (oh yeah - someday he'll thank me for sharing that with you all), and grabbing at his ears for several days. I really think it must have cut within the last 24 hours because though I could see the swollen spot in his gums about two days ago, a swipe through his mouth yesterday still did not turn up any hard enamel. Today, though, it's official - the new little pearly white is there in all its glory. Bless his heart... I hope this means we'll all resume sleeping again... except that while admiring his new addition, I think I noticed slight swelling where his top RIGHT lateral incisor will appear. ;)

More Chompers!

Sometime in the last 24 hours, Henry's top right central incisor came through. It looks like its neighbor to the left is also just days away from making its debut. This makes a total of three teeth that have officially come in (with the fourth on its way.) It's been interesting waiting for these top teeth. We've been expecting them since early March when the pediatrician noticed they were close. Unlike the bottom central incisors, which broke through in January at nearly exactly the same time, you could really see these top teeth coming. As time got closer, the gums thinned, revealing the large teeth just beneath the surface. I had noticed this before the pediatrician confirmed, and I couldn't believe those were actually his teeth - they were so big!

I'm almost scared to mention it, because it would be my luck that as soon as I say it, he'll never sleep again, but for the past week or so, we've really been sleeping well around here, at least at night. Two nights ago, though, we had a rough one - he woke near 3am and we were up and down with him until around 6am. Then, last night, good again - I'm wondering if the bad night had anything to do with this new tooth. It at least helps me make sense of a random bad night when I'd just begun to have hope that I might someday enjoy uninterrupted sleep again on a regular basis. ;)