Warning: Do not read this if you're on the fence about having children. It will make you definitely not want any. Hell, it's making me not want any more, and I actually do want more children.
This is about teething and the havoc it wreaks. It can be pure hell.
When people told me about the fussiness, rashes and red cheeks, loss of appetite, loss of sleep, fevers, and so on, I braced myself. But we didn't get that here for the first six teeth. We certainly got all of it for teeth numbers 7 and 8.
There were a few nights where my little miss simply wouldn't sleep. She was up from 11-2am, and again from 3-5am. Usually she wouldn't even be fussy, she just refused to go back to bed, and was fine staying up and playing. Other times she would wake up and just cry and cry until finally some random act (like giving her my cell phone) would calm her down.
A few nights, I made a bed on the living room floor so I could lay down and watch her play and attempt to let my body rest. Several times I woke up on the floor, realizing I'd put her back to sleep and went to my makeshift bed to wait and see if she'd actually sleep, before finally going back to my actual bed.
Once... I woke up on my floor-bed, and went into panic mode thinking I fell asleep and she escaped the room even though the door had been blocked off. I searched the apartment for her, thinking she was playing in the dark. Finally, I rushed into her room to see if she was playing in there only to find her fast asleep in her crib.
And even then, I spent a moment wondering how she got into her crib before I remembered that I had put her there, and fell asleep waiting to see if she'd fall asleep herself.
I was so tired that it took me that long to remember.
And that, ladies (and gentlemen?) is the truth about teething, and how rough it is on everyone.
