Yesterday, after my hubby and I took Hunter swimming we were changing his diaper together. (Yes, we do cutesy stuff like that, help each other change diapers.) Hunter grabbed my hand and put it in his mouth. I was shocked to feel a scrape and exclaimed, “Honey, I think Hunter has top teeth!” My husband immediately put his pinky finger in our son’s mouth and rubbed it across the top of his mouth to see for himself. Imagine his surprise when Hunter’s teeth left a nick on his finger, from the jaw side. Hunter’s teeth were not on top, there were two bottom teeth on the left side of his mouth. This came as a surprise to both my husband and I since Hunter’s personality has not changed at all. Since early April we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for Hunter’s first tooth to arrive. We’ve also been dreading it because of all the parents who have warned us about the pain he will be in and the sleep we will lose (sorry, the sleep I will lose, my husband sleeps through everything!). Hunter has been a drooler since day one. He’s never really been a fussy baby unless he’s hungry, wet, or has gas. Yet, since April, every time he drooled or I mentioned he was being fussy, my co-workers always replied with, “Oh, he must be teething!” Of course, my husband and I got tired of checking and waiting, and nothing happening. Eventually we just forgot about it and figured, he’d get them when he got them. It would be easy to tell when it all began because of all the signs that go along with a baby going through the teething process. We had no clue!
My friend called me earlier in the day, before the discovery, to tell me she and her family could not make it to our planned game night. Her husband had just called her at work (he’s a teacher, so he’s the househusband for the summer) and was extremely frustrated with their teething son. Their son had been crying for a good twenty minutes and the husband refused to give him any type of medicated relief, even teething tablets. They felt it just wasn’t a good night. I told her it was fine. I made some suggestions, I told her of things I used when I thought Hunter was teething and though he wasn’t, the stuff still seemed to calm him down. I also told her that a co-worker suggested dipping one’s finger in rum and rubbing on my son’s gums. Don’t worry, we didn’t do that. My husband is an attorney for the juvenile court system and didn’t want to worry about being the lawyer who had my parental rights terminated for accidental intoxication of an infant.
Getting back to my girlfriend and teething infant. She thanked me for the advice, but I’m sure she took it with a grain of salt since I repeatedly told her we have yet to go through the teething process with Hunter. So, again, you can imagine my husband’s and my surprise when we discovered two teeth had already broken through the gums!
I knew my son was a good baby, laid back, relaxed, but I had no idea I’d gotten that lucky. This can only mean one thing; his teen years are going to be hell!