Teething bites!

Have I mentioned that Finnegan is teething? Probably. Well, it all
began when I noticed a tooth on March 6th and since then there are five
more teeth coming in and Finnegan has some good days and some terrible
days. Today was one of the terrible days.

The morning started it fairly well until I had to change a very messy
diaper and then it was bath time which is also crying time. I just
don't have the same finesse that Doug has and my bathing technique is
more akin to torture as far as Finnegan is concerned and it his
screaming just stresses me out. However, after the bath I gave him a
massage and all was forgiven and Finnegan fell asleep. He looked so
beautiful that I put him in a basket and put some rabbit ears on him to
take the "My First Easter photo." I got my photos just in time for him
to wake up and figure out what I was up to.

Around 2:00 p.m. Finnegan's teeth were bothering him to the point of
constant crying and all the usual remedies just didn't work; tylenol,
ice cube in dish cloth, teething gel, ice water, rubbing of gums and
dancing. Finally, after nursing he fell asleep for about 30 minutes.
Maybe all of the above finally kicked in and did the trick? Not sure,
but it worked.

While he was asleep I tried to get some baking done and managed to mix
the batter for banana bread and my new favorite cake, chocolate peanut
butter cake. Yum! I was alerted to his waking with the sound of his
fire engine siren wake up call. You can imagine. And I was off to feed
and diaper him. It didn't work. He kept swatting at his face and I
knew he was in pain. I tried all the usual things all over again,
except tylenol and nothing worked. So, I put him in the baby bjorn
(carrier) and wore him around the house for a while.
He didn't like that either. He was in pain.

This scenario was repeated many times throughout the day and by 6:30 I
was really tired and beginning to wear down due to the crying and
fussing. I know it's not my fault, but it's hard to hear a baby cry
for a long time. I was hoping that Doug would be home soon, but he
told me it would be a late night. I had to hold on a little longer.

I ate some leftovers and then tried to watch the news, but Finnegan
wouldn't sit still or stop crying. I tried to put him to sleep, but he
wouldn't sleep. We went through the same drill; diaper change,
nursing, rub the gums, teething gel, dancing, ice water, ice cube.
Nothing! Then I found a bite on the back of his head and applied some
hydrocortizone to stop the itch and that seemed to kick in after 20
minutes. Okay, 7:30 p.m., Doug wouldn't be home for a while so, it was
time for drastic measures. Maybe he was ready to sleep.

We laid down at 7:45 for a nap and after nursing for about 15 minutes
Finn drifted off to sleep and so did I.
9:45 the phone woke me up and it was Doug, he'd be home soon. Finally!

Finnegan roused from his nap and wanted to eat and then Doug arrived
just in time to change Finn's diaper and play with him for a little
bit. Refreshed from his nap, Finnegan was sweetness and light with
Doug and I was just exhausted. It wasn't fair. I had to take care of
Finnegan for 12.5 hours of difficulty and then he's the easy baby with
Doug. Just figures. And then he went straight to bed, easy as pie.

Doug wasn't hungry and so I ate my dinner by myself, entered all of
Finn's information into the babytracker and I sat in silence while Doug
watched the Simpsons. Funny how it really irritated me. I checked my
email and then Finn woke up and needed feeding. When I walked down the
stairs with him in my arms I accidentally bumped his head on the
handrail and he didn't even cry, but Doug must have thought I did it on
purpose because he scolded me about it. I'm sorry, but it was dark and
I was wobbly on my feet. Anyway, Finn ate heartily and went to sleep.

The past four weeks have been the hardest for me because it's hard to
treat the pain and irritation of teething. It's a delicate balance to
maintain between over medicating and letting nature take it's course.
Another contributing factor is that Doug is working really long hours.
The first week of teething Doug was out of town. The second week he
was back home, but working really long hours catching up at work and
preparing for his computer class that he teaches for the University of
Washington. Last week, Doug had the flu and I banished him to the
guest bedroom and made him wear a surgical mask and did not allow him
to touch Finnegan because I didn't want him to get sick. It worked.
Finn and I caught a mild cold due to a cold walk around Green Lake last
Tuesday, but we did not get Doug's bad flu. This week, Doug has been
putting in some really long hours and I'm having a hard time getting
through the long days because I feel like I need a vacation. I live
for the weekends when Doug can take over for a few hours and give me
some breathing room.

Most husbands don't know what it's like for us moms at the end of the
day. We start watching the clock when you are supposed to be leaving
work, which is about an hour before the normal arrival time. When you
aren't home at the regular time we wait. Thirty minutes goes by, 45
minutes, an hour and then our reserves start to wane especially with a
sick or teething child to take care of.

For me, I can go the extra hour or two, but 12 hours is long for
anyone. I've heard husbands say that they work hard at work too. This
is true, but they can walk away from their frustrating project or
irritating co-workers, whereas a mother cannot abandon her child. And
the sound of a crying baby is like a bleeting sheep calling for his
mother for comfort and consolation.

Here it is 1:47 a.m. I've been on mommy patrol for 18 hours since 8:00
a.m. yesterday and I've got about 15 more minutes before "I lay me down
to sleep." I hope that most people reading this entry don't get the
impression that I'm complaining, I'm not really. It's just hard to
tell it like it is without sounding like a winer.

At the end of this day, Finnegan is asleep, the house is clean (fairly)
and Doug is resting too. I've been able to vent my frustrations with a
journal entry and I feel much better. Knowing that no two days are
alike, sleep is calling me with the hopeful thought that Finnegan's
teething will be easier after a good night's rest.