Today was probably the hardest day for me as a mommy so far. No parent likes to see their child upset and seeing my baby crying and running in fear was horrible. Nate is fine now, but today was a day that I thought wouldn't come until his teenage years. Let's start at the beginning...
Last Friday Love took Nate for his annual dental checkup. I was at work and I've taken him the last 3 years so I figured Love could handle it because they don't do much when they are this little. I couldn't have been more wrong. Love doesn't do well when Nate gets upset. I got a frantic call from him that the dentist was horrible, Nate was so upset and that he has 4 cavities and I needed to make an appointment to bring him back because he refused...and Nate was so upset they would only do it with gas. I told him to man up and immediately called to schedule his visit for the fillings.
Now, if you were to meet my husband on the street you would never imagine that he is the wuss that he actually is. I am the man in the relationship because he refuses to stand up to anyone or take any initiative anything. If something needs to get done than it is all on me. Which of course is very stressful for some things...like this. I am 6 months pregnant and the last thing I want to do is wrestle an almost 5-year old into a dental chair. I also wasn't thrilled to have to take another day off of work to do it when I am ridiculously busy and I was only promoted 3 days ago.
Nate had been asking a lot of questions leading up to today about getting his teeth drilled and the clown mask they would use. I was as honest as possible while also comforting him and reassuring him that the clown mask would help him not feel any pain. He seemed okay until we woke up this morning. He brushed his teeth right away (he is suddenly obsessed with brushing) and then kept saying he didn't need his cavities filled today. I knew it was going to be a rough morning. I had a conference call at 10am so Love got him dressed and we left just before the appointment.
As soon as we got there he started complaining about not wanting to be there. Every time the door opened and they called someone in he sighed and said he was glad it wasn't his turn...and then it was and he burst into tears immediately. Three lovely young ladies greeted us and they tried to calm him down. He remembered them from last week and walked to the room with them. They showed him how to get into the chair and he started to get the clown mask. They told him what he needed to do and he got increasingly agitated and started yelling. I got him into the chair and started to calm him down but then the dentist came in and it all went downhill. He was a little too firm with Nate on that he needed to be lying down with the mask on NOW. Nate burst into tears and jumped out of the chair and the dentist told us to take him back outside.
In the waiting room I assured Nate that he just needed to lie down in the chair and put the silly mask on and that they were just going to clean his teeth really good but he needed to be good and still. He calmed down and kept repeating what we were telling him. The girls were really good because they kept saying they would just squirt water in his mouth and clean out the cavities. When they called us back in they had put down a board on the chair that they were going to strap him on to. I knew he would freak out if they tried that and he just told them that he didn't need it and he would lay down.
I was so proud because as scared as he was he got right up on the chair and laid down and let them put the gas mask on him. Luckily he has been on a nebulizer since he was 6 months old so the mask didn't scare him. He complained it was uncomfortable and he wouldn't shut up. They told us he needed to be quiet and breathe deep so I stroked his arm and hair and helped calm him down. All of a sudden he started laughing. He was talking nonsense and the girls told the dentist they thought he was ready to go. I have never had gas before but if I ever need it I am going for it. I took video of him once the dentist started and he is giggling saying it tickles while getting the novacaine! He started to get a little panicky during the last 10 minutes because he felt it was taking too long. We kept assuring him it was almost over and he made it through!
After he told us it was no big deal getting his teeth drilled. Even though we all lied to him he knew what the dentist was really doing and I am so amazed with him. He is way too smart and that causes a lot of problems in situations like this because he knows what is going to happen. I have always hated the dentist so I honestly can relate to him being so scared. I dread going for cleanings yet I have no fear about childbirth. Crazy I know but it's a childhood fear that never left. I can still remember exactly what the dental office I went to as a kid looked like and what it smelled like and I will never forget. I'm so glad that it is all over and we took a 2 hour nap this afternoon to recover from it all. Now he's all better and can't wait until his brother gets his first cavity. Oy.
