Teething

Emry has been sick but once in her 15-month life span. That included a fever and slight rash for a couple of days. She’s never had a cold, runny nose or any other ailment I have been able to deduce…until Tuesday.

When Ed arrived home, he picked her up and remarked that she felt a bit warm. Since we had just been standing outside in the very warm sun for a few minutes, we didn’t think a lot about it. But he called me at work about an hour later and asked where the syringe for the Tylenol was. The fever was mild, but it hadn’t gone down.

That evening, our little girl was not our happy, busy little peanut she typically is. She just wanted to sit in our laps, sucking her two fingers. Since she was still running a temperature, I gave her some more Tylenol before bed. Like her mama, she moans and whines in her sleep when she isn’t feeling well. I checked her several times that night and she slept until about 6:30 when she joined me in bed to just lay there, fingers in her mouth watching the fan until about an hour later. By then, she wasn’t warm anymore but she still wasn’t quite herself. She didn’t eat her typical hearty breakfast (she eats more than I do in the morning!), she wasn’t as lively and she was drooling more than she ever has in her whole life. I was pretty sure by then a new tooth or two were starting to make their way in.

Emry teeths SLOW. I mean, her gums will swell up for four or five weeks before the very edges of her little teeth just poke through the surface. Slowly, they’ll push their way into place. All four have been this way and they don’t seem to have particularly bothered her. I kind of expected these to be the same and her fever would soon disappear leaving behind swollen gums for the next month. By the time I left for work, though, she was feverish again and cranky.

Ed gave her some Tylenol and then put her down for a nap once the medication made her listless. Not quite an hour later, she woke up screaming. That is not at all like her, so Ed rushed to see what the matter was. She fought him as he tried to change her diapers. She didn’t want to be held or walked around, but she also didn’t want to be put on the floor. She didn’t want to play, or read, or be distracted. She crawled back and forth on the couch, stopping to roll onto her back and just cry. Ed said she looked like a little zombie, eyes glazed over and crying more in frustration at crying than in pain. About a half hour later, it was over. She was tired, but content again.

That evening as she happily feasted on spaghetti noodles, I happened to get a glance into her mouth and there it was: a tooth – the left incisor on her top, halfway in and ready for use. It certainly had not been there a few hours ago. My best guess is, it cut through and pushed into place in one painful half hour.

Now Emry is as happy as a lark again. No fever, no pain, no listlessness. She’s happily playing with her blocks as I type this and then we’ll go for a run. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t remember a thing about the appearance of her newest tooth. I just hope the others don’t come in the same way!