By "her", I mean Dylan.
The four of us left on Friday to start our 8 days in Southern California. We spent 3 days with Todd's dad and stepmom (and had the most fun!) and left early Sunday morning to drive to Oceanside to start our week with my parents at the beach. We arrived on Sunday early enough to see my younger sisters and their families before they left to head home. It was so nice to see Jamie and Joe and their girls and spend some time with them before they headed back to Seattle since we don't get to see them nearly enough.
After Austin, Bryn and Dax left to start their drive back to Arizona, we spent our last few minutes inside playing and catching up. Dylan and Jamie's oldest daughter (Gabriella) were playing with my mom and Jamie and running around having so much fun. That is, until Dylan took a spill. She was having such a good time and unfortunately she tripped on a rug and took a header into the wood on the bottom of my mom's chair. I noticed immediately that it was her mouth that hit the wood.
The teeth marks.
Of course, Dylan was screaming and in so much pain and as I was looking her over, I noticed the blood.
Lots of blood.
Thank goodness there was a doctor in the house. Joe was beside me immediately trying to check her out and Todd was off to find some ice. My poor baby. We couldn't figure out where the blood was stemming from and it took Todd and I holding her down for Joe to get a good look in her mouth. We were able to find out that it was her two front teeth that had been hit. Her front right was loose and had been jammed up into her gums. I felt just sick! I'm so grateful to Joe for jumping in to take a look at our little girl and assess the damage without us even needing to look his way. It showed me that this is his calling and that he has the compassion to treat others. Thank you, Joe!
I sat on the couch and it took Dylan more than an hour to finally calm down. Unfortunately, this was the way Jamie and Joe's girls had to remember Dylan. I found out later that even Gabriella was crying because Dylan was so upset. It took quite some time before Dylan finally uttered a word. I just kept waiting for her to answer me and say something. Anything.
I looked over at Todd as I was holding Dylan and he had tears in his eyes. He just looked at me and said, "My little girls hurt." It just broke my heart. I was sick to my stomach but knew I needed to show a brave face. I'm so happy with the way I handled things, especially since this was the first time Dylan had even drawn blood. I always wondered how I'd react, and I'm happy to say that I think I did rather well. It broke my heart to hold her down, but I'm glad I was able to step up when my daughter needed me. I'm also greatful I had Todd right there next to me.
After giving Dylan a few doses of medicine (Dr. Joe said it was okay if we alternated every two hours) Dylan was starting to seem like her old self. An old, reserved self. My mom took her outside and she even opened her mouth and let my mom feel around without flinching. She also ate some cookies, said a few things, and after a few tries drank from her sippy cup without a problem. By the time the night was over she was running around like her old self. But her smile would never be the same to me. Her teeth were just so different and the smile wasn't the same, but it was still the cutest smile.
Some blood and the smile.
Dylan awoke this morning and you'd never know she was hurt the day before, until you looked at her mouth. The teeth were signifincantly different, but she was happy and talkative and ate two pancakes without a problem. We called a pediatric dentist and were able to get her seen today at 1:30. We got there, and it was a traumatic experience all over again. At least for me.
The dentist's office.
First we needed to take x-rays of Dylan's front teeth. She didn't want to sit in the chair so I sat down with her on my lap. I was asked to use one arm to keep her arms down and use my other hand to hold her forehead still and against my chest. What an awful feeling. I was basically strapping my daughter still as she's screaming because there is this awful machine in front of her to take a picture of her teeth.
And it only got worse after that.
Next it was time to see the dentist and Dylan didn't want to sit with Todd, so it was up to me again. Yuck! I had to sit her on my lap facing me, then force her head back so she was laying on my lap with her head in the dentist's lap. She fought and screamed and it was terrible.
Again, it only got worse.
I looked in her mouth. Her gums were black and purple everywhere, her teeth were uneven, and there was blood still visible. Not the sight you want to have when looking at your two-year-old daughter. Luckily the dentist was fast and was in and out in no time. Even though it felt like forever. I just held and hugged Dylan when it was all over until she was calm enough to go back out and play.
The news from the dentist was pretty good. We were told that both her front teeth were loose but the right one was really loose. We needed to put her on a soft diet for two weeks and there was a 90% chance the teeth would tighten up and drop back into place on their own. We needed to keep an eye on the gums just in case the teeth needed to be pulled (I sure hope not!), and we were told the discoloring in the gums would be gone in two weeks as well. There's still a chance there could be some discoloring in her teeth that could show up in a week, a month or even a year from now. He also told us that because the tooth was shoved up into the gums, there's a chance damage could have been done to the permanent tooth, but he was optimistic because he couldn't even see her permanent tooth on the x-ray which meant it was still high in the gums. Now we just have to wait and see.
After the dentist Todd and I took Dylan to get all sorts of soft foods she might like, and straws so she could drink without using the hard, plastic sippy cups. We came home and she was so happy. She played in the yard while mom and I watched and she had a great time. It seems as though the worst is over and although Todd and I grimace every time Dylan runs too fast or stumbles even a little, it looks like she's still our happy little girl.
The new smile.
Even if her smile has changed all I want for Christmas are her two front teeth.
1 comment:
That last picture of her on the beach is so precious, you would never had known what happened earlier that day. I betcha she won't even remember this day, you and TOdd howevere are probably scarred for life. It's always more traumatic for the parents anyway. We were so happy to see you, I'm glad everyone's happy and enjoying California! LOve you!
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