Wednesday, January 25, 2012

On Being a Parent

Sometimes it really doesn't matter whether or not you are the parent of a child with special needs or a "typically" developing child, you will worry all the same.  

Take, for instance, on Monday when we realized that Kailey's tooth did not look right.  Upon closer inspection, we realized that she must have done something while she was standing up in the crib on Sunday night before falling asleep.  You know, when we were letting her "cry it out" to finally get to sleep.  In our defense, she did not cry any differently when it must have happened (we were listening the whole time on the monitor AND went in there a few times to lay her down and check on her).  After we realized that her tooth did not look right, Chris went into her room and found blood on the toy that WAS hanging in her crib and on the sheet.  Fortunately, it wasn't a lot (we check on the kids multiple times before we go to bed at night and never really noticed any).  Upon closer inspection, we realized her tooth was not in the correct spot!  Ugh!  So, after Chris drove me to the doctor (I had strep and tonsilitis again) and we waited an hour (way to long), then waited at the pharmacy for 30 minutes, he dropped me off at home, went and picked up Kailey, waited an hour at the pedi's office and then were told that something needed to be done with the tooth.  

So, I met Chris at the ER (wasn't going to make him do that alone) expecting that the tooth was going to need to be pulled.  However, the pedi there said that it wasn't loose enough to pull it out for safety reasons (choking at night) and that it * should * tighten back up again until it falls out again when it's supposed to.  However, we were given a prophylactic antibiotic to make sure she doesn't get an infection and we are constantly checking on it.  We were upset at first thinking of ways we could have prevented it, but do you know what?  How CAN YOU prevent a little typical girl who is standing up at EVERYTHING, even if it seems impossible including in the crib?  Are we supposed to strap in her in a lying position in the crib at night?  No...but the worry is endless!

Our pretty girl before....


...Our pretty girl after, but with a huge chicklet out of place...





...and the nasty looking gum shot.  If you look closer, you can see how far it moved from the midline.  


Not only do we worry about right now, but the future adult tooth (no one would ever do x-rays to look at that now at this age, so we just have to sit and wait).

I guess worry as a parent is ENDLESS.  I have a feeling that with these kids, this is only the beginning...

6 comments:

Becca said...

Ohhhh, poor Kailey!!! You absolutely can't second guess yourselves - you're right, you couldn't have prevented something like that! Sweet girl...hope everything turns out okay!!!

Nana said...

And so it begins! lol!!

Rochelle said...

Oh what a week for you guys. We are dealing with strep right along with you. Hope her tooth tightens back up and is fine.

JC said...

Oh, I cringed looking at that! Such a tough age because the injuries are endless and there really isnt a whole lot you can do about it!! I'm thinking the adult tooth will be just fine, don't worry :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Before I read on about Kailey - you made me smile about the "worry" and I felt a "I told you so moment" as you might recall I confessed the ongoing worry saga even before you were pregnant! In any case, I do have some first hand experience as Neil actually/accidently broke Jason's jaw (he tripped on the steps while holding him face first) when he was 2 years old. Jason's baby tooth shot so far up his jaw cracking it - the tooth disappeared, (later came down again - but black) his face was a total mess AND a trip to the ER, two specialists and lots of WORRY later - he was fine..second tooth was fine and the precious black tooth (reminder that it could have been MUCH worse) never develped an absess etc. The first doctor/dentist told us there was too much facial damage to even examine him properly - as it would be much too traumatic and there was little dentally that could be done at that point. Obviously Neil was traumatized (I think he really believed that the security in the ER was there to take him to horrible parent jail) and once I got done being the adult, mature, responsible parent...I crashed and cried and freaked every single time Jason acted like a kid - which took all of about a day! So, babbling on - feel better - try not to share your germs and be grateful that Kailey's boo boo which might look awful to you now will heal quickly - much faster than your nerves for sure. And let me just reconfirm - worry does not have an expiration date or a height limitation:=) **Seriously - try NOT to ever let them pull it as for FEAR it might absess (dental preference)...my pediatric hygientist friend aka Jason's "Aunt" Cheryl was against allowing such at a young age as it hardens the gums to the point where it would have/could have damaged the second tooth. Without her input, we probably would have agreed to extraction..cause we just wanted to "fix" what was broken:=).

Feel better - it takes lots of energy and strength to "worry"!
Randy

Kristin said...

Poor thing. Poor parents ;)