A Taxing Tuesday

What a day.

Today's highlight was actually a lowlight.

My child has lost her two front teeth. My youngest, three-year-old child. This one:

 

She was doing something we both know she shouldn't have been but have allowed for such a long time now that it didn't occur to me to stop her today: hanging upside down from the handlebars of the treadmill. They're not that high and... well, it doesn't matter. She's a little monkey, and though we always tell her to be careful, we hadn't put a stop to it.

Until now!

She pulled the tutus off the handles, where I've been storing them until I can figure out a better plan, and handed them to me. I knew what she was going to do. I didn't even watch. She does it every single day. Next thing I know, a small cry was emanating from my little girl that indicated something had gone very wrong in her little stunt.

I ran, gathered her up, and tried not to cry as the blood pored from her mouth.  I stifled my sobs as I blotted and blotted up the mess, trying to soothe her, see what the damage was and - oh shit, there is a hole in her mouth!!!  I ran to the treadmill and found a baby tooth on the floor, in its entirety.

Fuck.

I ran back to her, calmed her some more, blotted away more blood, and ran for my phone. While she cried, I dialed the dentist and plunked the tooth in approximately half a gallon of milk. Probably a little more than I needed.

The blood kept coming. The tears wouldn't stop. All I wanted to do was hold her and cry with her, but this was not the time. I am not a tough mom when it comes to my kids' injuries. I am fall-apart mom. I am freak-out mom. I am for-the-love-of-God-DO-SOMETHING mom.

But today, I handled it.

I got a referral to another dentist, because ours is off on Mondays, and they didn't want to deal with it, so they referred me to an emergency pediatric dentist. I called them, and, still blotting and soothing and totally panicking, stammered out, "I-have-an-emergency-my-baby-lost-her-teeth-can-I-bring-her-in-right-now??!!!!!"

They told me where they were located, and then my phone battery died.

Shit. Shit. Damn.

Thank God I had gotten the address, because I sure couldn't remember the dentist's name. I charged the phone for the 30 seconds before we left, hoping I'd get enough juice to call her daddy.

I pulled off Sophie's blood-soaked jammies, threw on a dress - a RED dress to hide any blood - and got her into her shoes. I gave a quick thanks that I had slept in my clothes and was still wearing them and tried not to care that I hadn't showered and was feeling pretty ewwy. No time for that.

While I was buckling her in, I noticed the time. Ahh! Jack was going to be off the bus in 40 minutes. No way I'd be back by then. I ran next door and banged, then again stammered out the reason for my appearance and ... "Oh? You're going somewhere?"  

They were going to a doctor appointment, but it wasn't for another two hours. I said I'd be back long before then, and they agreed to get Jack off the bus for me. Phew phew phew. They are on the school's emergency contact list, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem.

We left. I called Rob. He was upset but calming me.  It seemed like my van was moving in slow motion. I could not get there fast enough, but it would barely move. Where the hell is #1300??

At last I found it. But no... not the pediatric dentist. We buckled back up and drove around to the back, where I spotted the office.  I carried my baby out of her seat, grabbed the glass of milk, and headed inside.

She was calmed down by then, and when we threw open the doors to the dentist's office, she announced to the half-dozen people in the waiting room, "MY TOOTH ITH GONE!!"  They all giggled, especially when they saw me with the milk.

I filled out the paperwork, and then we waited, and waited, and waited. More than an hour. In the  meantime, she cheerfully went up to everyone who came in and told them, "My tooth ith gone. I lothed my tooth!" She played with the toys, visited with the other moms, and was generally her sweet, charming self. I laughed a lot. It was going to be okay.

Finally, we were called back, and they wanted an x-ray of her mouth. (No, her butt, duh.) Once in the chair, she freaked out for the first time. I had to hold her. She still got upset. We managed to get the picture.

Then the nurse or whatever the heck you call dental nurses I can't think... asked if the other tooth was loose. Oh, crap, I didn't even check. I didn't want to go bothering things in her mouth! So I asked her to open wide, and I felt, and yeah, it wiggled. A lot. Like crazy, really.

Fuck. {I said a lot of mental bad words today, sorry!}

The x-ray confirmed that the second tooth had been knocked loose and would also have to come out. They weren't going to be able to save her teeth. They would just have to stay that way until the permanent ones came in. We could do a bridge, but it would be costly, and traumatic to her to get the mold, and insurance wouldn't cover it. The dentist recommended not getting one.  So we're going to go along with that. Any doc who advises against something that would put more money in his or her pocket is probably trustworthy, IMO.

So, I carried her into another room and lay her on the table. The doc told me he was going to give her nitrous oxide and then numb her up, and she'd be fine and wouldn't remember a thing. And that I had to step out. And they were going to give her some sutures, too, because she tore her gums.

Leave my baby?

That's when I finally cried. She couldn't see me, thank goodness. I left and went outside in the hall to pace. The receptionist told me not to cry, this happens all the time, it was okay, blah blah. I asked if our insurance would cover it and found out they were in our network, so our copay was minimal. Whew. I called Rob and told him the tooth was coming out, and that I wasn't going to make it home in time for Joshua's appointment, and could he call Stephanie to come and get Jack?

The nurse came out, carrying Sophia, after about ten minutes. When she saw me, she practically leapt into my arms. Her eyes were red from crying, but she wasn't anymore. They said she did fine. She seemed okay, although she started whimpering about wanting to go home. She had a sticker on her dress, which she gave to me, and a pretty little beaded bracelet on her tiny wrist. Which, ah, she also gave to me. Symbols she didn't want, I suppose.

We paid, thanked everyone profusely, and left.

After I buckled Soapy up in the car and pulled out, I found I had enough juice to call Rob and let him know I was on the way home and call off Stephanie. The ride home was much faster. More like normal speed.

Once home, I raced to Joshua's and found they still had ten minutes before they had to leave for their appointment and weren't upset at all. They'd given Jack lots of juice and crackers and had on a kids' program for him. He was happy and doing well. They're good people. Love them!

So I collected my Littles and hustled them into the house. I gave Sophia two gigantic bowls of cottage cheese, which she wolfed down happily and easily. I was glad that she was able to eat and get something in her little belly. I knew she was exhausted by that point, and so was Jack from getting up early for school, so I put them down for naps.

Two seconds later, the doorbell rang. It was Stephanie and her two young nieces! I'd seen them that morning, so I could take pictures of baby Carolynn in an infant tutu, and here they were again, having only just received the message from Rob. Whooops.

Sorry, Steph!

They weren't mad, though. They wanted to see how baby girl was doing, so I called Sophie back downstairs to show "Auntie Stevie" her mouth. Of course she oohed and ahhed over the holes in her mouth and comforted my poor sweet babe. Then the Littles went back down for nap, and Steph and the girls left and I finally crashed as well. It had been quite an ordeal.

 

Poor little Sophie's mouth was SO swollen when she woke up from her nap. I should've taken a profile picture; you can't tell as much here. She was barely recognizable!

 

The two bloody holes in her mouth. I hope she feels better tomorrow; we couldn't brush her teeth tonight, but I don't want to go too long before we do.

 

The treasure chest in which the dentist placed her wee baby teeth.

 

Sophia's poor lost teeth!!

 

Jack and Chloë were very concerned about their little sister today and were being exceptionally kind and sweet to her tonight. They gave her plenty of hugs and didn't fuss when she was given special treatment all evening.  Oh, and the girls are wearing the new headbands that came with their jammies order from Gymboree today. I bought three new pairs for each kid. They're all too big. Oh, well.

 

I tried to give Sophia yogurt with soft, mashed bananas for dinner, but she refused to eat. I knew she was hungry, so it made me very sad. I made her some chocolate pudding for dessert, but when I put it in front of her, she said, "Um, no thank you. I can't eat it because my looth tooth ith gone."

Awww!  Daddy showed her how she could lick the pudding off the spoon instead of eating normally, and soon she had eaten the whole bowl!  I was so relieved.

She still has some pudding remnants on her face as she models some of her new matching panda jammies with her sister, who took her own shower tonight!  She's very excited about the Tooth Fairy coming tonight, so we'll have to sneak in and give her her prizes before we forget!

My poor sweet toothless wonder!

Fin.