Monday....what a horrible day

Today was a typical Monday peppered with some pretty traumatic events.

It all started when we went to the dentist this morning. Ian has had his top four teeth capped since he was about 16 months old. The enamal on them never formed properly in-utero and so when they erupted, they were all soft and chippy. Very sad. Anyway, his gums have been getting pockets of infection above his caps. We treated it about a month and a half ago with antibiotics and it went away. The dentist told me that if the gums were to become infected again she would have to drain them. So, naturally the infection came back even worse than before.

Today at the dentist Ian was so brave. I told him what was going to happen, he asked me to sit on the chair with him on his lap. I had to say no because I had Simon and Gabe with me. (Not a great idea in hindsight). The dentist took one look at his gums and said, "We're going to have to take these out". I am not sure where my head was this morning, but I really thought that she meant take the puss out, the infection. I guess because she had mentioned doing this last time. Anyway, we went back to the "procedure" room and she asked if I wanted Ian to be drugged up or if she should just use laughing gas and novocaine. I very nonchalantly replied that I thought the novocaine and laughing gas would be enough. (Dumb dumb dumb me!) Ian picked out his movie (Shrek) and his flavor of laughing gas (watermelon). The dentist and her assistant began to prep. Than the dentist said something like, "He will still be cute without his top four teeth though, he's a handsome boy."

WHAT!?! Suddenly I realized what she was about to do and I started crying! I didn't know what to do and the dentist was looking at me like I was a crazy person. I told her that I thought she was just going to drain them and she said "No, we just need to take his teeth out." I asked her if there was any other option at all, she said we could try draining them and another round of antibiotics but she was pretty sure that we would still have to remove them when all was said and done. All I could think of to say was, "I need to call my husband first." Now I am a crazy person who can't make a decision with out regarding her husband. It's true, I'm crazy and insecure, especially when it comes to taking out my 3.5 year old's four front teeth!!!

I called Nick, and told him through tears (with everyone sitting there) the situation. We opted together to try and drain the blisters and give him more antibiotics. The dentist said "OK" and began to numb Ian up for the drainage. This was horrible, Ian's gums were so tender that the topical gel really did nothing for him and he had to just cry and bleed while she put the novocaine needle in his blistered gums. He was so brave. I held his hand and he tried to focus on the movie while she drained the blisters, luckily after the Novocaine he couldn't feel the draining part. Gabe and Simon sat traumatized at watching their brother bleeding from his mouth, it wasn't great.

So, we have a follow-up appointment the day before Nick and I leave for Kona. If they are any signs of infection, she will extract his top four teeth. Ian will not be four until June, that means he has a good 2 years of NO TOP FRONT TEETH. Gabe is almost 6 and he hasn't lost any, I didn't lose any teeth till 1st grade.

After leaving the dentist, I thought about why it had upset me so much. Was it just because I know how horrible it is to have teeth pulled? Granted, they are baby teeth and the roots are not as long as adult molars, but still horrible. I asked the dentist how not having front teeth would effect him, she said it would be purely cosmetic. That's it. Just cosmetic. It would not effect his eating, (of course it will, he will be using other teeth to bite things) or his adult teeth or baby teeth placement. Ian kind of already has trouble saying his letter "R" and I don't think missing teeth for 2 years will help that. It's just so sad to me! I must admit that i have a huge stigma in my mind attached to kids who are missing teeth. It makes me feel like I have done something horrible to fail my child, like we weren't good at keeping his teeth clean (we brush and floss daily!) so, is this just about me? Honestly, I don't know if Ian will really care if he is missing his top four teeth for TWO years! He will be the first one of his brothers to loose teeth, he might think that's pretty cool. I just can't go there right now. I really hope this antibiotic works.

So...the antibiotic is not just Amoxocillan, it is Azythromicin, much stronger. Ian complained that his stomach hurt about an hour after taking it at lunch. He had a 2 hour nap and acted fine after, playing and riding his bike. He said he felt fine. Tonight Nick and I went to the Gateway (yes, in the wind and rain which we were ill-prepared for by-the-way) to get new glasses and contacts at LensCrafters. My appointment was first so I sent Nick and the boys to the food court for dinner. 45 minutes later, Nick came over for his appointment and Ian had no jacket on and his pants were SOAKING wet, from top to bottom. During the meal, Ian had said he needed to go to the bathroom and did not have enough time to get there before he had diarrhea running down his legs. Nick had rinsed his underwear and pants and jacket out in the sink, Ian was walking around in soaking wet pants, and he wasn't even complaining. He was just as excited as could be to tell me very loudly all about it in LensCrafters.

So, I sent Nick to his eye appointment and promptly walked over to the Gap and bought Ian some new pants and a long sleeved shirt, luckily on clearance because they were winter stuff. He had to sport his new clothes commando though, there is no way I am going to spend $15 on 3 pair of underwear, call me cheap. I don't think Ian minded, after being in soaking wet jeans and all. Oh, he also told the salesclerk all about the whole situation. Luckily she was a mother of 5 and a grandmother, she just laughed and told him she appreciated his positive attitude about the whole thing.

On the way back up, in the rain, Gabe slipped and landed on his hands and knees right smack in a giant rain puddle. Now his pants were soaking. Really. He said he didn't care though, he wanted things to be equal and since Ian had to wear wet pants earlier, he thought he should too. I said OK because, whatever. At least his underwear were dry.

The night ended with the LensCrafters staff telling us that they wish they had people like us come in more often and that we were very entertaining. We came home and gave the boys warm baths and sent them all to bed.

I just can't help feeling like we are causing more pain for Ian by prolonging this tooth thing, now he has to have crappy antibiotics again and quite possibly still get them out. This is one of those times that I really question if we made the right choice for him today. This is when I find being a parent really really hard. I can't imagine what it would be like to make a decision for my terminally sick child, I pray I never have to. I'm going to pray for all the parents out there that do have to, it has to be the hardest thing in the world to do.

Today can now be over.

(PS, on a more humorous note I sent out 10 invitations to Gabe's birthday party that all said the party would be on Friday September 16th. Tomorrow those same guests will receive an addendum stating that the party is this Friday, APRIL 16th. That was Nick's typo, in your face grammar and proofing snob hubby!)