Bedtime... What a Rollercoaster!

My Boogie is a GREAT sleeper... seriously, she can sleep 10-12 hours as long as I'm laying beside her. I lay down with her, nurse her, and then usually I can get 2-3 hours to myself to blog, do homework, or just read... it's FANTASTIC. Especially considering it's about the ONLY time I get to myself ALL day. Well, the past few nights teething has interfered with our nighttime routine. We go to bed as usual, usually between 9pm or 10pm (Boogie is a late nighter), any earlier and she is up every hour on the hour, I nurse her to sleep, and then she is good all night. She won't wake up unless she reaches out to touch me or tries to nuzzle up to me to nurse. Now, she is up about every half hour because she is in pain. I feel so bad for her, I even gave in and just gave her Tylenol tonight. I don't normally do that, I prefer to find a natural way to relieve it if possible, but she was just screaming and tears were pouring down her face... it's the only cry that sounds different now. The only other time she cries is when she can't find me or she's hungry, and it's nothing like when she's in pain.

I got her settled down, she fell back asleep... and then not 20 minutes later I hear her fidgeting, tossing and turning and start to fuss (for her, fussing is just that... no tears, no crying, just downright whining and fussing). She had leaked through her nighttime diaper ONTO my sheets. Really? And no, I did not change the sheets, and if you think that's gross well... just wait til you have children! J is asleep and has to be up early, so I threw a few receiving blankets over the wet spot and took Boogie to change her diaper and pj's. We go BACK to bed and I start nursing her again and she bites me... I shriek, she cries. Start over again... she bites... I shriek... she cries. This goes on for about 5 minutes and I finally just pick her up and just cuddle her and tell her "no biting, that hurts momma!" She calms down, and we try again and she finally just nurses and goes back to sleep. I'm dreading these teeth... she already bites me frequently and it HURTS. I feel like I'm nursing a newborn with a poor latch, my boobs HURT and are chapped... it's awful.

Anyways, that's basically how our nights have gone for the past several nights. She sleeps late, so it's not like I don't get enough sleep. I sleep GREAT and am so happy to have a child who has inherited some of my sleep habits (I love sleep), but teething SUCKS. And so does biting! I don't mind tending to her and losing my "me" time, but I'd rather her be content and not in pain. During the day she wears her amber teething necklace, and for those of you who think this is some crazy "crunchy" thing that doesn't work... believe me, it DOES. I forgot to put it on her one day last week and couldn't understand why she was so fussy and I wasn't able to calm her down... J asked if I had it on her and I didn't. About an hour after putting it on her she calmed down and all was well with the world. I've tried putting it around her ankle at night with socks, tights, etc.... it doesn't stay put and I don't want it cutting off her circulation. I am tempted to get an anklet but not sure if we really NEED another one just yet. Poor babies and their teeth :(