Raw Amber Teething Necklace (Cell Phone Post)

I have been asked about Vada's necklace a lot. Either people know of the necklace for what it is, a natural pain reliever for teething babies/toddlers, or they think its a cute accessory. I like to think of it as both.

Most people want to know if it "works". While there's no "off" or "on" switch for the necklace, I do think that it is serving its intended purpose. It does look cute but its hard to tell for sure if it is in fact helping with Vada's teething pain. What I do know is that Vada has recently been cutting her lower second molars and I didn't know. Up until yesterday we just thought she was a little moody, which isn't normal for her but hey, she's almost two and who knows what that age will be like with her. I think I saw the new teeth on Saturday or Sunday and then her mood change made complete sense to me. However, even with her change in mood, she's very well behaved and very little has changed. Because all children are different and each deal with things like pain and teething differently, its hard to say if the teething necklace is doing any good. It's not harming anything and that I am sure of. If I had to say one way or the other and having gone through the teething process two other times with my older girls, I would say that I believe the necklace helps. ;)

Teething Bling

This last week I had been anxiously awaiting an arrival in the mail. I had ordered teething necklaces for Vada and was excited to get them. Originally I had first seen a teething necklace on Enjoying the Small things, a blog wrote by Kelle Hampton. I think that she writes about and also captures (through photography) the most amazing things.

On a side note, when I was pregnant, someone sent me a link to a story that Kelle had wrote, it was about the birth of her youngest daughter-Nella Cordelia: A Birth Story. Unlike Justin and I, Kelle and her husband did not know that Nella would be born with Down syndrome. In Nella's story, Kelle writes about the shock that she went through and at one point she actually questions whether or not she told her daughter that she loved her right away or if she got lost in the discomfort of her new reality. Its one of the most powerful stories that I have ever had the pleasure to read, It made me tremble with emotions. At this point I had yet to meet my own baby girl and the fear of what Down syndrome could mean for our family still had its grasp on me-sometimes the unknown can be the scariest. After reading the birth story I made a promise to my unborn daughter, I promised that I would not forget to tell her, right away, that I loved her. I vowed that it would be one of the first words she would hear from me. However, the first thing that I actually ended up saying was an apology for taking so long to get to her (after the emergency Cesarean), then I kissed her and told her that I loved her and finally I wished her a happy birthday. Nella's birth story was one of the things that inspired me to find my way out of the dark mist that I allowed to surround me during my pregnancy. By the time Vada was born I was already so much in love with her and comfortable with her diagnosis of  that I didn't actually see the Down syndrome when I looked at her. All I saw was my beautiful baby girl.

Anyway, I am fond of Kelle's blog and while I'm not an active reader of it, I do enjoy what I have read. So, now to get back onto topic-The teething necklaces. The whole reason I brought up Kelle's blog was that I had first seen the teething necklace there. At that time I thought that it was just a necklace however, I didn't realize that it served a purpose and up until a couple of weeks ago I didn't think much of it other than it was a really cute accessory. That was until Shannon from Lifes Little Surprises replied to a comment that I left for her on one of her blog posts. Her daughter Fiona happen to be wearing the same necklace that I had once noticed Nella to be wearing. I had left Shannon a message saying that it was cute and later she took the time to tell me about it.

Long story short. I ordered Vada her very own Baltic Honey Amber teething necklace. While I am sure that you can get it at a number of places I ordered mine from The Art of Cure-through Amazon. There are different color options making these necklaces available for baby boys as well as girls.

While searching for the right color of a teething necklace for Vada I ran across another great idea that falls into the same category. Teething Bling from Smart Mom Jewery-also ordered through Amazon.

I choose the Mother of Pearl 2x2 round pendant (they come in dozens of fantastic colors). I also have my eye on the triangle Onyx pendant that is coming out this fall.

This necklace differs from the one that I purchased for Vada to wear. This necklace is for me (or whoever may be holding Vada) to wear. It was made for the exact reason that I no longer wear jewelry-because Vada grabs on to whatever it is that I am wearing and then tries to put it right into her mouth! Since this necklace was made just for that purpose, its perfect! One thing that I didn't anticipate when purchasing this necklace was that it would become a traveling necklace. Yesterday I wore it to a family function and every time Vada was passed to someone new the necklace went along. Kiliegh wore it, Vada's grandmother then Great Grandmother wore it and the most surprising person to wear it was Justin who wore it once and then asked for it back a second time. Vada seems to really enjoy both necklaces. The Teething Bling necklace seems to attract her attention where as the one she wears seems to attract others.

I'd love to hear what you think about the necklaces as well as other methods that you may use for soothing your babies teething discomforts.

Teeth

My husband has been a.m.a.z.i.n.g this week. Seriously. He has done so much to help out, so that I am able to relax and recover. Hopefully with in the next day or so I will be feeling  better because right now I am on day four with out eating anything, which has contributed to my eight pound weight loss. I tried to have some ice cream and even some soup on Sunday but couldn't do it  and since then all drinks have begun to sting my throat, even water. I am tired and shaky and I haven't been much use to my family but Justin  is rocking in that department! He's keeping the dishes done and the house clean and he even put the girls to work by having them do the laundry. Today Justin dropped the girls off at VBS and then registered Kiliegh for third grade all while I was sleeping in. I was seriously impressed that he even offered to register Kiliegh, it can be a stressful ordeal. When he got home from picking up the girls from VBS he made them lunch and then we left to take Vada to her first dentist appointment.

Vada is almost 17 months old now, which may seem a little early for a trip to the dentist but this girl already has ten teeth! Plus, I have been concerned about the condition of her teeth for awhile now and I thought it wouldn't hurt to see what the dentist thought. My concerns are associated with the fact that Vada has been on a lot of liquid medications since she was five months. That's a long time to be exposed to extreme sugar-like substances multiple times-every single day.

Vada loved the dentist's waiting room. She got down onto the floor and crawled to everyone who was there especially the children who were playing. Now that she is "mobile" she really wants to explore. It's such a fun stage!

The dentist said that her teeth are looking pretty good but that they hadn't fully formed their "protective" layer which is why there is a difference in coloring from the out side of the teeth verses the middle. He suggested to keep brushing her teeth like we do and to cut of any  fluids other than water after her last does of medication or after we brush her teeth for the last time in the evenings and then of course to do regular six month check up's.

Vada didn't appreciate the dentist poking around in her mouth but it lasted only seconds and then they handed her a brand new pink and purple toothbrush and she good to go.

I Lied: Erupting Pt.2

Okay, so I didn't actually lie. What I said was getting a picture of Vada's new pearly white nub was not a battle worth fighting for because of her level of discomfort.

Turned out that she didn't quite mind me feeling around in her mouth.

Once I realized that I was in the clear I grabbed the camera and began trying to get a good picture. Unfortunately, what I did get isn't quite clear, but the little dot is visible enough to see there there is in fact a baby tooth peeking out.

Oh yeh, and it's not just this tooth bud that is showing. In the same area but on the opposite side there is another tooth popping through!

Erupting: Vada's First Tooth

Over the past several months I have mentioned Vada and teething quite a lot. I have read, on many occasions and from many different resources that teething and Down syndrome may have its own set of rules. There are a multitude of possibilities that change and differ from one child to the next, Down syndrome aside. Typically, what I read about Down syndrome I keep in a memory vault that I have built somewhere in the back of my brain and I reference the knowledge when needed. On some occasions I use certain things as a baseline but over all I look at Vada as her own person who is not to be compared to anyone else. However, I do compare her and her sisters in very small ways. Again, these are my baselines.

With teething Jasmine and Kiliegh both cut the same teeth first, their lower incisors. Jasmine cut both her central left and right incisors with in an hour of each other. Kiliegh, I cant remember which came first but it was one of the lower central incisors as well and the second tooth followed suit with in a couple of days from the first one. Vada seemed to be pushing her lower right lateral through. I have checked that spot everyday because of its puffiness and at one time, months ago, I thought there was a little bud peeking out. However, today as I ran my finger across her bubbly wet gums I felt a hard spot somewhere else. Justin was here at the time and I asked him to run and get me a flash light. What I was feeling was hard to see but the flash light revealed what I thought, a pearly white dot surrounded by swollen pinkness. Vada's first tooth.

I found the below picture from this site. I have highlighted the area of where I think Vada's first tooth is. It has erupted in a very unlikely "first" spot (at least in my experience). As you can see, if that is in fact where her first tooth is then it would be way ahead of schedule. So, I am guessing that her first tooth is actually her right lateral incisor instead, which is in front of her canine.

I attempted to take a picture of that little white spot peeking out but it was a battle not worth fighting for. She is uncomfortable and i'm sure in some of pain as well, so I am not going to make it worse for my satisfaction of having a picture. Time will tell and then I will too. For now, I know that my baby girl is in fact teething and officially has her first tooth.