drugs

i learned yesterday that baby orajel can be toxic to infants.  This medicine may cause a rare, but serious blood problem called methemoglobinemia.  also listed are nearly two dozen side effects.  crazy.  well, i read that online, and had in my mind that i would dutifully go straight to Walmart to get some teething tablets to help us in our time of need.  but i stopped by Old Navy first to check out those $8 dresses that they were advertising.  well, as it turns out, Mo just cut his fourth tooth yesterday, the most intense moment of which was in the dressing room of Old Navy.  sorry that you had to hear that, Old Navy patrons.  so, as he was screaming bloody murder, and the both of us were becoming sweaty hot messes (him from crying and me from trying to get him to stop crying), in my moment of weakness, i actually pulled the toxic orajel from my purse and used it one last time.  he cried for another few minutes, and then he calmed down.  and he survived one more use without getting that rare but serious blood disorder.  whew!

oh yeah, by the way, he had ONE tooth for TWO MONTHS, then he cut THREE teeth in three WEEKS.  poor guy.

anyway, i got the teething tablets home, and opened it up, and guess what?  it was completely empty.  sheesh.  i went back, and walmart was pretty cool about the whole thing and let me go get a new box without even looking at my receipt.  and i was, surprisingly, on my way back home in no time.  i didn't feel mad about it, i just thought, man, if my baby was in intense pain from teething and i didn't have an extra $8 to spend on teething tabs, maybe i would be desperate enough to steal them too.  i prayed for that family, and hoped they were doing okay.

also, Shane and i went to buy some more infant motrin (also for the teething-pain-and-feverishness), and found that infant motrin is TEN TIMES more expensive than children's motrin.  the only difference?  the dosing.  but you know what?  i couldn't bring myself to get the children's motrin, because it says right on the box that it's for children ages 2 and up.  our little baby is only 8 months.  :OI  Shane tried to be the voice of reason, telling me that he uses children's motrin for babies all day at the hospital, that it's very normal and okay for the babies... we  could still use the syringe from the infant motrin we had, and he could bring more syringes from the hospital... but i just couldn't do it.  i don't know.  he's our little baby!  my crazy, illogical, mom-worry brain was on and i couldn't turn it off.  i'm sure i'll come around before the next time we have to purchase motrin.

and shame on you, motrin-makers.  ripping off parents of babies like that.

love,
me

picking my battles

i'm sure over the years my sweet and precious child will do things that irritate the dickens out of me.  i'm sure of this because he has started to already.  one thing that he's started to do is grind his little teeth together.  it is a step worse than nails on a chalkboard, if you can imagine, and it happens pretty often through the day.  i have thought to try to intervene, but really, what can you do?  he's teething (which sounds miserable, from an onlooker's standpoint) and i think it's supposed to just stop happening over time anyway.

i can see the white spot on his gums where his second upper front tooth is supposed to come in, and i've had my eagle eye on it now for one week and one day.  he's been ultra-sensitive, with some weird sleep patterns, and some mild fevers (all teething signs for mo).  a week ago, he actually slept on me all night--first time ever in his whole life that he was able to snuggle and sleep.  even though he was in pain, and it was a sweaty, sleep-less night for me, i kind of liked the snuggling.  anyway, i'm hoping that once these enormous two front teeth come in, he'll be golden for a little while.

he's also still a little sick, so his nose has been runny.  i pick my battles there too--if i wipe his nose too frequently, it'll get raw and he'll complain more and it will become more and more challenging to wipe.  if i wipe too infrequently, he'll get snot all over all his toys and i'll eventually have to spend some time wiping those down as well.  find the sweet spot, and i'll be able to wipe with little objection and not have to go snot-searching on Mr. Elephant.

interestingly, in the mix of intense teething and this cold that has seemed to last an eternity (a two week long eternity, but still), he has also started to hate peas and mixed vegetables.  so much so that he's completely gagged and spit up with peas on the last three attempts.  he has also rejected avocado.  avocado, people!  who the heck doesn't like avocado?  if it weren't so expensive, i might be tempted to eat one at every darn meal.

anyway, i might try mixing these foods with fruit or cereal and see how that goes.  mixing with meat has only produced the same puke-y results.  no one ever really told me that parenthood involved so much trial and error.  ha.

love,
snot patrol

five silly monkeys

we have a book called five silly monkeys, and it's the nursery rhyme, "five little monkeys jumping on a bed, one fell off and bumped his head, mama called the doctor and the doctor said, no more monkeys jumping on the bed."  cute book.  never thought very critically about the rhyme until after the 10th time or so:

* would monkeys really jump on beds?
* are monkeys top heavy?  i would think that not all of them would have the same exact injury.
* why does mama have so many monkeys in her house?  why are they allowed to just play willy nilly in her bedroom?  gross.
* why are all the monkeys male?  where are the females?
* what kind of doctor did mama call?  would that really be his only feedback?  wouldn't he want to see what the extent of the head injury was?

in addition to thinking a lot about the lives of fictitious monkeys, i think a lot about moses's boogers.  and since he's sick, it's really on the radar a whole lot these days.  this morning, he had the biggest clump of green/brown boogers under his nostrils that i had to use several wipes, tissues and paper towels to get the layers off.  it was incredible.    i regretted not taking a picture for the rest of the day.

welcome to my world.

and today, the 24 hours before he turns 8 months, he has officially cut his third tooth.

love,
me

adding a meal

who the heck knows anything these days.  we added a third meal of solids (dinner, basically) last week, after and also reinstituted one of the milk feedings and completely changed his schedule yet again.  now, no more crying at night!  he used to just fuss and wail as we finished up his bedtime routine and got his jammies on, then cry for anywhere from half an hour to two hours going to sleep.  guess what?  he might have just been ravenously hungry.  poor little guy.

anyway, i thought i'd write it down, since, as i mentioned, much of this blog is for my own memories, possibly for reference for the next baby.  and no, we're not pregnant.

this is how the day has been going for about a week now:

6:30 am wake and breastfeed
7:30 am breakfast of cereal and fruit
8:30 am nap
10:30 am wake
10:30 am feed
11:30 am lunch of meat and veggie and fruit   
12:30 pm feed
1:30 pm nap
3:30 pm wake
4 pm feed
5:30 pm meal of meat and veggies and fruit
6:30 pm bath
6:45 pm feed
7 pm bedtime


it had been pretty smooth sailing (no crying!) for about five days!  it's kind of fallen apart over the next few days, mostly because of missed timing and naps in cars and a cold.  poor guy.

we got a convertible car seat this week, as well as a crib and a dresser for mo.  it's been a big week.

love,
mum mum mum

missing a meal

nobody tells you when you can rearrange your baby's schedule.  i suppose the baby can, but without using actual words, it can be kind of hard to understand.

when mo was a newborn, he ate about 8 times in every 24 hour period (it seemed like all i ever did for a while there).  over the last seven months, we've slowly dropped feedings and kind of got stuck at the number 5 the last couple of months.  over a week ago, we added a second solids meal, and i think it's caused mo to spit up more and eat less overall.  he's also been really fussy, but who knows why with any certainty?

anyway, we kind of accidentally dropped a feeding yesterday (and another day this week) due to timing and life events.  the first time, he had a crappy night sleep, but yesterday [after having one of the worst meltdowns of his life], he was just fine through the night (they, whoever "they" are, say that a baby's night sleep could have to do with the calories that were eating during the day).

today, i decided to officially go for the 4 feedings schedule, and he had the best day he's had in a long time!  i suppose this entry is mainly for myself, because it's tremendously tedious and boring.  so, since i'm the only one reading at this point, might as well write down what his schedule was today, for my own recollection down the road.

6:30 am wake and feed
7:30 am breakfast of cereal and fruit
8:30 am nap
10 am wake
10:30 am feed
12 pm nap
1:30 pm wake
2:30 pm feed
3:30 pm meal of veggies and meat
4:45 pm nap
5:30 pm wake
6:15 pm bath
6:30 pm feed
7 pm bedtime

he cried/fussed for about 25 minutes after i laid him down for the night, but it wasn't as bad as it's been.  let's see what the next day holds.

love,
21-pound weight-lifter