The End of an Era

Yesterday, K had 2 teeth pulled.

And I am not writing about it until today.

It took all day for the medicine to wear off. My kids are dentist-phobes. They have to go to a pediatric dentist that gives them laughing gas. I wish we started with the pediatric dentist. I figured, dentist, no problem, and took them to my dentist easily located in town when they were little. No go on that. I had to sit in the chair and hold them. Our dentist now has tv and video games over the chairs. I wish I had that when I was little! Maybe if my current adult dentist's wife is reading this she can suggest tvs to him for the adults!

So anyway, back to yesterday. Because K is scared to death of dentists, I decided that she should be knocked out. Good move, but she is scared to death of needles. The nurses and Dr. were so nice and gentle and kind and K did not want to talk at all. She has a personality of being very oppositional at times. We like the Red Sox, she likes the Yankees. We like the Patriots, she likes the Colts.

She was under for maybe 15-20 minutes. They let me stay in until she fell asleep. Nothing like seeing your kid's eyes roll back in her head. She was sobbing hysterically on her way out and she woke up the same way. They had moved her to a recovery room when I was let back in. She looked like a puppy with gauze hanging out of her mouth. The nurse said she would be dizzy and confused because of the medication they had given her. Here is part of our 20 minute conversation while she was coming to. Imagine her part with gauze in her mouth...

M-Great job, K, you are all done and your teeth are out!
K-Where am I?
M-We are at the dentist. Remember you had 2 teeth out?
K-I'm confused.
M- I know, but just lay here and breathe.
K-Who are you?
M-Your mom(as in the one that birthed you and has nurtured and cared for you for the past 11 years?)
K-Where am I? How did I get here?
M-You are in the recovery room at the dentist.
K-Close the curtain! They can see me.
M-Sure. Breathe please.
K-I'm getting up, let's go home. (then she tries to stand up on the bed to leave and falls over, don't worry I am holding her and was anticipating this move)
M-You need to lay down and relax.

Finally, the nurse comes in and says she can go home when she stands up and touches her nose. She tells me that she hates the nurses, she stands up for a few minutes and when the nurse says to touch her nose, she does. (Of course, when we get to the car, she tells me that she was leaning against the bed, she just wanted to get out of there. That is a girl who knows what she wants)

Of course, I have to pay on my way out. Who needs dental insurance when you can pay up the butt for these little procedures. So I prop K against the wall, while I am digging through my purse. I had to stop and catch her twice from sliding down the wall. I felt like saying, "Do you think you could bill me here?"

The rest of the day was spent with Italian Ice, lounging on the couch, her telling me she was woozy, her fighting having a nap, her playing with my hair (this was nice and interesting because normally she not the affectionate one) and her telling me she wanted a full "meal" as in MacDonald's hamburger and french fries.

It was a long day. She's not pleasant on caffeine or drugs.

Then B gets home from her camp and is playing with her wiggly tooth. I say, "let me take a look". She lets me feel it, so of course I pop it out. She was half laughing, 1/2 in shock that I did that. My kids should know by now, I have no patience for wiggly teeth.

So it was a big night for the tooth fairy around here, and it was her last night here. We have reached the big teeth stage. No more tooth fairy. And that is a little bit sad.