Who needs sleep?

After six consecutive nights of almost no sleep, I felt like I was approaching the end of my rope yesterday.  The lack of sleep was hard on Tye, hard on me, and hard on anyone who had to deal with me (sorry, Tyler).  I had already cut dairy out of Tye's diet again (fearing her body may, like her father's, not react kindly to it), and I was considering an expensive trip to the non-insurance-accepting naturopathic doctor to see if she might be able to diagnose an issue.  For several hours Saturday night, Tye tried to sleep on my chest.  She didn't want to nurse to sleep as she usually does, so I patted and shushed her and sang to her as she fitfully drifted off.  When asleep, she would begin to whimper, and eventually the crying woke her if I didn't manage to shush her back to sleep.  It was a pitiful, heartbreaking pattern.


Yesterday, Tyler, Tye, Mico and I were walking around the Renegade Craft Fair with Ines and Marquise, checking out the locally handmade Tshirts, jewelry, toys, soap, sweaters, and scarves, among other things.  This craft fair is like Etsy in real life, a craft fair on steroids with a strong hipster leaning.  Of course, I love it!  


After Tye woke from her nap in the Ergo carrier, she leaned backwards to stretch and instantly, I understood what had been bothering Tye for the past week.  I caught a glimpse of her upper gums, which were swollen and purple with two thin white lines along the ridge.  That's it- Tye's upper teeth have been pushing through this week.  


Last night before bed, I gave Tye a few doses of homeopathic teething remedy and we put on her amber teething necklace (which children are not supposed to wear to sleep, but because Tye sleeps right next to me, we sometimes do).  The night was so much better.  She still woke crying more often than normal ("normal" excluding the previous 6 nights), but we had one three hour stretch of beautiful, uninterrupted sleep.  It was heavenly.  At one point in the night, I watched Tye as she fell asleep after nursing.  She whimpered a bit, then raised her arm to her mouth in a slow, gentle movement, touching her upper lip before her arm fell back to her side.  The poor girl.


Today, Tye's upper left front tooth has partially broken through the gums.  She's wearing her teething necklace and must be feeling better- she slept for over two hours this morning and is an hour into her second nap now.  While it's hard not to beat myself up for not realizing what was going on sooner, I'm mostly thankful that we have an explanation for Tye's discomfort and thankful that the natural remedies we're using seem to be effective.  She certainly looks happier today!  Just think- soon that grin will be a whole lot toothier...