For the last couple months I had been waiting for the day when Kayla would finally get a tooth.  She showed some of the classic signs for teething; like drooling and wanting to chew on EVERYTHING.  Whenever she was fussier then normal or didn’t sleep well, teething was a possible culprit we just couldn’t catch red handed.  I just couldn’t wait for her to finally get some cute little chompers.  I got ecstatic when right after 6 months I saw something in the gum line that hadn’t been there before!  I was glowing with pride when the doctor said she was probably teething since her gum line looked red and irritated.  Then the REAL teething began.

Fussy child

For a week or maybe more, Kayla had become a handful because of what I assumed was teething pain.  She was always wanting to nurse, waking up more frequently, and generally fussy.  I never looked forward to the weekend more because the prospect of Marshall taking her off my hands for a while danced in my head.  I started to give her Baby Orajel, which at first didn’t seem to work.  I checked some on-line sites for teething which had some moms saying they swore by the stuff, and an equal amount thinking it was useless.  I used ibuprofen when she got really bad, but I hated having to use it too often, so I went back to the Baby Orajel, thinking maybe I was doing something wrong with it.  After another close examination of the directions on the back, I began to think I just wasn’t giving enough.  Small pea sized drop?  I was using probably a needle point drop of the stuff.  I used a bit more and it seemed to work but it could have been other things I was trying so I wasn’t convinced.

One day I tried it on myself.  I taste her baby food, so why not?  Baby Orajel wasn’t going to hurt me and it would solve the puzzle of  if it really worked.  I took a very small needle point drop of the stuff and rubbed it on the outside gums of my front teeth.  I understand why she makes a face and starts smacking her lips after you give her the stuff now.  I don’t know how, but I numbed the tip of my tongue a tad and I probably looked very similar to her trying to understand why her mouth tingled.  I can tell you with complete conviction now, Baby Orajel works.  At least on me.  It didn’t last long, or truly numb anything for me to the point where I couldn’t feel anything, but on a baby?  Sure, I can see it helping with some pain.  I wonder if any other moms out there have just TRIED the damn stuff.  I went back to using less, totally didn’t need more then what I had previously been using.  I may be odd for trying it out myself, but it’s much nicer then second guessing the stuff all the time.

About a week ago, on the 24th, she woke up and seemed to be in a MUCH better mood.  Went down with a fuss at nap time and was all giggles and smiles.  I thought we were getting a nice reprieve from her teething pain.  After half the day had passed, I checked her teeth and that’s when I noticed the fine line of a tooth had finally cut it’s way fully through her gums.  We had a bit of relief for a few days before it started up again, but now you can see the tops of her two bottom front teeth peeking through.  Now she’s back to getting fussy, and clings to me like no tomorrow when in pain, but at least she has teeth.  Somehow, that isn’t as wonderful as it was before…

Can you see ‘em?

Teeth-hance!