Tooth Update

I've been very bad about updating Oliver's teething. I know other people probably do not care that Oliver has more teeth, but as a record of his baby life, I feel it is important for me to write on here that Oliver got tooth #7 on December 9, and tooth #8 popped through yesterday. He now has four incisors on the bottom and four incisors on the top. With his incisors, he enjoys taking "little bites like a big boy" of his whole wheat Ritz crackers.

Tooth Number Five

Oliver's fifth tooth just came in! Maybe this is why he hasn't been wanting to nap. It's next to his top left tooth. Hurray for chompers!

4th Tooth

Oliver's fourth tooth popped through today. It's finally his second bottom one. The first bottom one came in over a month ago!

Third Tooth!

Never have I updated my blog so many times in one day, but Oliver's top right tooth just came in! He officially has three teeth.

Teeth for Real This Time?

Oliver hasn't been sleeping well since Friday night. I thought it was from the vaccinations he'd received on Thursday. He slept very well Thursday night but was cranky throughout the day on Friday and cried throughout that night. Saturday night was the same, only he was screaming as well. At 11pm on Saturday, we took Oliver to the ER. To be honest, I was a little reluctant to go at first. What would I say? He didn't have a fever or anything. Still, Oliver is not usually a screamer, and I felt something was wrong.

The pediatrician at the hospital was so nice. I liked her a lot. She checked Oliver everywhere and examined every finger and toe. She was slightly concerned about his skin. She said she's reluctant to diagnose it as eczema yet but that we should keep an eye on it. Ollie's pediatrician had also questioned me on any family history of eczema (Grandma Jo had a mild case, and my sister, Julie, had a mild case). It makes me worry, but it also makes me feel good that neither of them diagnosed him with it. The pediatrician at the hospital said the rash on his body was not hives nor eczema, and it went away shortly after. I think it was from stress because that's what my skin does when I get stressed, too. In the end, she deemed Oliver a healthy baby but told me to come back if he developed a fever or any other new symptoms.

Neither of the pediatricians felt teeth in Oliver, but yesterday (Wednesday), there was a drastic change in his gums. His tooth buds are raised more, and I can see a line in each bud that looks like the top of a tooth. Also, looking at the gums straight on, I can see the outline of teeth (where you and I have our tooth roots). I think the teeth have been coming up slowly throughout the week and bothering him, but that's just speculation.

Today, Oliver woke up at 5:30am crying. He was exhausted and kept rubbing his eyes, but he wouldn't go back to sleep. He spent the morning crabby and tired, but he wouldn't go to sleep. Finally, at 7:30am, we gave him some infant Tylenol (don't worry; it's not the recalled lot), and he's been sleeping ever since.

I hope it's teeth because, if it's not, there's definitely something bothering him. If he doesn't have teeth by Monday and is still crabby, I'm going to call his pediatrician and have her check him out again.

It's Official...

...Oliver is rolling over! I came into his bedroom at 5am this morning to nurse him, and I discovered him on his tummy. He'd flopped over sometime between 2am and 5am! As you might recall, on the Friday before last, Ollie rolled over from tummy to back twice (he hasn't done that since). He's going to be a rolling fool before I know it!

In other news, his teeth STILL haven't popped through. He goes through periods where the tooth buds don't bother him at all and other times where he gnaws on everything. Yesterday, I thought I could finally feel the tooth on his bottom left. I'm thinking it shouldn't be long now, but I've thought that many times before. I can't wait to see those teeth!

And Then There Were Tooth Buds

Oliver is teething big time! I'm not sure if it's good or bad that he's teething early. On the one hand, I'd pretty much always prefer to get the hard stuff over and done with. On the other hand, he's not really able to chomp (although he's getting better) or hold teething toys to his mouth for more than 2 seconds at a time.

I can see a couple of tooth buds on his bottom (see the photo!). They've been visible for a few days, but I don't think they're getting any bigger. The last week (since 5:30pm last Friday), he's been very cranky from them, but I think they've been bothering him off and on for a month or so.

Colleen came over on Wednesday and brought about a dozen different teething toys for him. He likes the one that vibrates, but he doesn't bite hard enough to make it vibrate himself. So I hold it up to his mouth and press down for him! Ha. He also has a teething book, a teething blanket, a teething elephant (that he loves, but not for teething), and some cute little teething animal toys. It seems to help. He was in a great mood Wednesday evening and only got up twice that night. Thursday morning, he stayed in his good mood, but by the afternoon, he was freaking out.

I busted out the frozen washcloth from the freezer. He hates it so much at first, but then it must start numbing his gums because he starts sucking on it. Oooh, and my knuckle is working really well. He'll really chomp on my knuckle.

I really hope his teeth pop soon. It's very, very hard to see him in so much pain. Yesterday, he would shriek as he'd chomp on my knuckle. It went as follows: Chomp, chomp, shriek!, chomp, shriek!, chomp, chomp.

Last night, after crying for about two hours straight, he went to sleep. He only got up once at night!!! Well, I guess he got up again at 4am. I woke up to him crying softly, and it brought tears to my eyes. I went to his room. He was wiggling a bit, but he'd stopped crying. I watched him as he fell back asleep (he didn't even need me!).

This morning, he was in a great mood for about an hour, but he started crying again. Now, I'm not one of those moms who can listen to her baby cry and think, "That's his hungry cry." Almost all his cries sound the same to me, except his cries of pain. This morning, he started doing his pain cry. I cry, too, when he does that. I just rubbed his gums (which, by the way, is hard to do because I know it hurts him more at first before it starts making him feel better). Eventually, he fell asleep from that, and now he's napping away.

My poor, poor baby. I wish his teeth didn't hurt him so much. I hope so badly they pop through very soon.

Hurray for Braces!

I have my first invisalign tray in! I put it in last night before bed, as recommended by my dentist. He suggested that putting it in at night can help with the pain. I'm not sure if that's what helped or not, but my teeth don't hurt at all! I actually worried for a bit that it wasn't working somehow because my mouth feels just fine.

The trays are surprisingly thin and completely clear, but they still feel a bit weird in the mouth. I can't bite down all the way with them in, so I've been keeping my mouth parted and open most of the time so it doesn't look like I have a mouth guard in. When I say words with the letter "S," there's a slight lisp, but other than that, you can't tell they're there at all.

The only downside so far is what a pain it is to take them out! They have to be removed for eating and drinking (except water). My weak little nails aren't strong enough to remove the liner (I bent them back three times and yelped in pain and began to worry I'd never get to eat again), so I had to resort to using tweezers. I also have to brush and floss before putting the trays back in, so I think I'm going to have to go out and get a travel toothbrush as well.

All in all, I'm very happy with my invisalign braces. They're completely clear, they don't hurt my mouth, and they're going to give me straight teeth by Christmas! Hurray.

Fun with Teeth

Today, I went to the dentist and got my first invisalign tray! I am so, so excited.

He put on three button "attachments" to my teeth. Basically, this means he glued on a button like piece to three of my teeth. This gives the invisalign trays something to push on for the teeth that need to be rotated. Plus, it helps hold the trays on.

The trays are surprisingly thin and extremely clear. They don't feel too tight, and they don't scratch my gums. Perfect!

My dentist recommended I wait until this evening to put my first trays in permanently. He said if I put them in after dinner & brushing and take an ibuprofin, my teeth pain should be minimal in the morning. We'll see!