Poor Baby!

So Ashley has a sore mouth. She has just enough of an overbite that she can bite her upper jaw, just behind her front teeth. It wouldn't be so terribly bad, but she has been aggravating it with her fingers, making her entire mouth a huge raw mess. We've been putting baby orajel on it and giving her baby tylenol, but it has just been getting worse. She's been so horribly cranky, too...no sleep, no food...just plain miserable.

Finally, I decided our methods must be flawed. It's day # 4 with no reprieve in site, so I went to CVS to get some antibiotics for her mouth. The only thing is here in the States, you can't get antibiotics over the counter. Unlike Mexico, where they give you what you need (to be continued in some other post), you have to get a prescription, bla bla bla, pay more money, bla bla bla, go broke just trying to keep your family healthy yada yada yada. So, I made a plan. I wanted to get an edge on whatever infection she may have, get rid of the pain, and start the healing process.

What was the culmination of that plan scared my wife, let alone poor Ashley. I got some adult ambesol, some canker sore treatment, some tiny toothbrushes, and peroxide. When I got it all in order, I started with using a q-tip and the ambesol to numb the area. Then, the tiny toothbrush with baby toothpaste, scrubbing all of the accumulated "stuff" off and away. Then, I used the other side of the q-tip to put peroxide all over the area. Finally, it was time for the canker sore medicine to coat and re-numb the area. Ashley really loved it! RIGHT. She screamed like we were killing her for about 5 minutes, even after we stopped "helping" her.

When it was all over (but the crying) Ashley fell asleep for about an hour, the first complete hour since last Friday night. Consequently, Erika and I got a full hour of un-interrupted sleep too! As Ashley woke up, she screamed for a few minutes and I thought maybe it didn't work, but she soon calmed down and was ready to eat, again for the first time in days. She had eaten a bit here and there, but not a complete meal since Saturday lunch time.

Now, it's just keeping her mouth clean and her fingers out. Nothing but cold food, either. She's been awake now for 2 complete hours without acting like she's being tortured, so we're going to claim the victory on this one. We had to hurt her pretty bad to help her, but it was worth it because now she's so happy. Until tonight when we put the ambesol back on, and give her another dose of tylenol. :)