January 23, 2010

The tooth fairy came . . . about two years too early!

Other appropriate titles for this post might be "My Snaggle-Tooth Sweetie" or "Benjamin and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".

A perfectly happy Friday afternoon turned sour unexpectedly. After surviving three days of non-stop 102-104 degree fever, Ben finally woke up well. It was so good to see him full of energy, talking non-stop, back to his busy-little-boy normal self. After a week cooped up in the house, some sort of an excursion was fast-becoming a necessity. We high-tailed it to see Daddy at the office, a rare and special treat. While happily bopping in and out of his dad's office, Ben tripped. Not the kind of trip where you gasp and catch yourself. This was more in keeping with a major league baseball player diving into home, face-first. And his pearly whites made direct contact with the leg of a chair.

I knew he was hurt. His mouth was hanging open and he wasn't making any noise. I scooped him up and began the trusted whispers of 'hang on' and 'it's okay, baby', but Greg was behind me frantically telling me to look at Ben's mouth. CRUD. It wasn't good. We ran down the hallway to the bathroom and started trying to put cold wet paper towels in his mouth, but this was a serious injury. Paper towels weren't really helping. At all. Greg took over in the bathroom and I called my precious dentist who told us she'd stay on the phone to walk us through pushing the teeth back into place. Um, WHAT???? We decided we'd meet her at her office. Nothing beats five o'clock traffic on a Friday with your traumatized, screaming child in the backseat and a super-cranky one-year old who wants her milk. Never mind the fact that I was now hysterically sobbing {I suffer from major dentaphobia}.

The next part gets a little fuzzy. Some of the details include me holding a terrified child on my lap while the dentist tried to push the tooth back into place. I distinctly remember the tooth flying through the air and lots of blood. Ben was screaming. Something was said about part of the tooth still being way up in there . . . I promptly excused myself to the ladies room, where I laid down on the bathroom floor and put my feet up on the toilet. More hysterical crying on my part . . . Lots more, actually.

We're probably not entirely done with this bump in the road . . . Two more teeth are question marks . . . Root canals may be necessary. X-rays will help to determine if his permanent teeth might have been damaged. I seriously wish we had dental coverage.

The best part is my Ben. He's okay. He was okay long before I was okay. Tonight he's checked out his new gap in the mirror about seventeen times. And he's just darling with the new window in his smile. He looks a wee-bit more of mess to me, but I'm his mother, and I'm allowed to think that.

Aunt Coco checked on us this morning and wanted to know how we were going to spend our day. I told her we'd probably just play on the drive-way {we love to do this, it's a huge driveway, and we haul out all kinds of ride-on toys}. Coco said, "I think you should stick to the grass."

My precious friends have cheered me. My family has supported me. I've never felt so loved. It's going to be okay.

Pictures soon of the little darling.

4 comments:

  1. OH Amanda! I'm so sorry girl- you should've called me!!!! Did you take him to Dr Graham or a pedo office after hours?? Poor little baby! I know you were freaking out!!! Fill me in when you can- you got my number!

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  2. I am so sorry honey! Does the tooth fairy still make an appearance on these occasions too? John Parker is an excellent pediatric dentist from what I hear. I will be prayin for you and Ben.

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  3. Oh sweet friend... I am so sorry. I understand being a mom of a broken tooth son as well (definitely nothing compared to your experience though). I love you and will stay updated. God Bless your family!

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  4. Poor guy and poor Mamma, nothing worse than seeing your child hurt and bleeding. I am sure he will be just precious not matter how many teeth he does or doesn't have! Can't wait to see pictures.

    Tommy lost his two front teeth at about 3 years old, in some sort of rough-tough-boy move! All his childhood pictures have a precius gapping hole in the front of his smile!

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