Billy is teething and has been having trouble sleeping lately. The binky always fixes everything, though. When he wakes up in pain we just pop the binky back in and he falls right back asleep.
Last night it became acutely clear that more than a tooth was at work.
Before midnight he had already woken up three times crying for the binky. But after midnight was a whole different story. He woke up screaming in pain. The binky was not enough to settle him. In fact, he still had the binky in his mouth. He screamed even through trying to rock him to sleep. Finally, exhaustion took over and he went back to sleep.
A half hour later the whole process repeated. Only this time add in dry-retching and difficulty breathing. OMG. I was so afraid. But I got him to settle back down and relax (which relaxed the breathing) and go back to sleep.
A half hour later it repeated. I made Daddy go take care of that round.
Then again. And again, Daddy and I taking turns soothing him.
By 4am I was so exhausted and worried that I gave up trying to sleep. He woke up again screaming. So I rocked him back to sleep and held him in my arms until 7, when I switched off with Daddy. Daddy then held him until 10am in the rocking chair. Then Daddy took him into the steaming shower to try and open up his nasal passages.
I got up at 10:30am. Billy was alternating from looking miserable to screaming. He wanted to be held, but he couldn't get comfortable and would start crying. If it hadn't been Sunday he would have gone straight to the doctor (open on Saturdays too). But being Sunday, it was emergent care or stay home. We stayed home. He was so tired and miserable. I just sat on the floor with him and rubbed his back, trying to interest him in toys. I also had Nemo on to keep him occupied.
By noon it was clear that he needed to sleep. Only, he was afraid to go to sleep. He would lay his head down, then startle and start to cry. I relented and danced him to sleep. Nothing like classic 70s rock to put you out. (I love classic rock- Billy can fall asleep to the 1812 Overture, so that's not a comment about the music.) In fact, concerned that he wouldn't sleep, I moved my ipod and docking station into his room and put on my classical playlist for him. He actually did sleep to the 1812 Overture.
I had to run out for some errands so once he was sound asleep I headed out to get everything done as fast as I could. He woke up after about 1.5 hours, miserable again. But I wasn't able to come home yet.
When I did make it back, 1.5 hours after he woke up, this is what I fouund:
Billy, sound asleep on the carpet in front of the TV. He slept there, with the football game on, for more than two hours. A phone call from Grandpop woke him up. I would like to note that Billy has NEVER fallen asleep on the floor before.
He was miserable when he woke up and only wanted Mommy. So I held him for awhile. He has started to love football, so he got in to watching the rest of the game and stealing oreos from Daddy. Then Daddy and I played football with him and his inflatable ball. That lifted his spirits some.
I gave him a quick dinner of yogurt and fruit, a bath to clear his lungs and then put him to bed. Again, I had to dance him to sleep. We did rock for awhile and look up at the planets projection on the ceiling. Finally, he relaxed enough to go to sleep. He's in there now, sleeping to classical music to keep him calm. I heard him wake up already, but he put himself back to sleep, and I'm betting it's the music keeping him calm.
In a terrible stroke of luck, Daddy has gotten sick too. Daddy never gets sick.
Tomorrow, I hope thy name is Relief.
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