Olivia is cutting her top teeth. Altough it is most certainly a big milestone, it is not one that will be fondly remembered.
That is, unless you enjoy lack of sleep and watching your daughter struggle through the discomfort. During the night, an hour doesn’t go by when Olivia is crying out because of her sore gums. Even the Tempra and the herbal liqui-caps cannot hold of the pain for long. Last month when she was going through the joys of cutting her bottom teeth at 5 mths, she wasn’t this bad. She had a lot of drooling and some interrupted nights, but they were never this intense.Â
When I heard my doctor mention he didn’t want to have any more children because he “didn’t want to handle the nights again”, I didn’t really know what he meant until now. Sure, the 1st couple of weeks were no picnic as expected, but it’s been 6 months and I can’t remember when I’ve been able to sleep more than 3 consecutive hrs. When was the last time I could come home from work and flop on the couch and just veg? It doesn’t happen any more. From end of work day until 10:00 it’s all baby. Yes, it is easier to entertain her and she doesn’t need to be constantly held, but other than the odd hr here and there, it is not possible to get into any project, etc. without interruption.  After 10:00 there is some time available, but this can’t be taken advantage of because a) way too tired and b) need to get sleep in anticipation of another up and down night of sleep.Â
But, no matter how bad I think it is for me, I can’t imagine how Sonia does it. Even though I am awakened from my slumber every hr, it is easy enough for me to fall back to sleep immediately. Sonia has to get up and deal with the situation. I have deep respect for her tolerance and dedication. She must be at least 10x more tired than me.
 Yes, It will get better. Yes, I do envy those parents I know that have babies that sleep soundly through the night. But I couldn’t be more satisfied with the progress of Olivia. And the ultimate kicker: We’re on the tail end of the teething. The other parents’ babies, well, they haven’t yet begun. Heh Heh…
I will post pictures of Olivia’s toothy grin on her blogsite. That is one of the nicer sides of teething, this nice new smile. It’s something to see indeed.
Here are some sites to follow up with: