“Life Is Pain, Princess”

Lauren is teething. Her gums are swollen, and she spends a lot of her time gnawing on anything within reach or sucking on her own gums.

Last night Corinne told me that she had only eaten about eight ounces all day, so I finally broke out the Infant Tylenol and gave her a miniscule 0.4mg. Ten minutes later she had stopped gnawing and was screaming in hunger. Success! (One minute after that, she was finishing off a four ounce bottle.)

An hour later we were visiting Shannon at the prison. Lauren drank another seven ounces and promptly fell asleep on Shannon's lap. She was sleeping deeply, and — this being the first time I've given medicine to a baby — I was paranoid. Shannon just laughed at me. "She's fine, relax!"

Today was different, though. Lauren's insurance is finally straightened out (Corinne only had to strangle three state workers, so I guess it wasn't that bad), and this morning was her first doctor's appointment.

Shots!!!

Three of them, in fact. Two in one leg, one in the other. She looked startled after the first, but screamed in pain after the second and third.

The tears flowed heavily, but eventually Corinne calmed down. Lauren only cried for a minute, and then happily drank half of a bottle (I guess the gums don't hurt so much compared to the needles). I mopped up both of their tears with one of Lauren's bibs.

“Life is pain, princess. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” (Sorry about the slight misquote.)