I know… weird title but so true! We are so close to Lexi turning 3 years old that it amazes us and yet takes us by surprise at how quickly time has passed! It’s almost been two years since we took her in our arms and held her for the first time. It seems like just yesterday, I was planning like mad for her 2nd birthday party going way beyond what I needed to do.
Well, last Sunday I got a call that school was cancelled due to an incoming “ice storm”. We rarely get these kinds of school closings. We all knew that it would turn out to be little or nothing but who can balk at an unplanned holiday?? Well, had I been able to change our circumstances I would have! That night Lexi had one of her “sleep-walking” episodes. Usually she just sits up in bed and cries and fusses and never wakes up. This time though she “walked” on her knees and out of the toddler bed onto the hard floor! Geoff saw it happening and tried so hard to run to her before she fell but it was too late. She busted the skin and bled a little but never opened her eyes and just settled right back down when I rocked her.
But then when morning came, she announced that her tooth was loose. How loose? Very loose! More loose than I could take. So we called the dentist and they asked us to come in. I took her for her appointment first thing in the afternoon. Once there, they decided to go ahead and do the cleaning that we had planned for in a few more weeks. During that exam Lexi cried buckets of tears and they discovered a cavity on the right side with the tooth in question.
When the dentist looked at her x-rays he determined that to my worst fears her tooth had broken at the root and had to come out. He said they would fill the other molar too that had a cavity. They had me sign an agreement to let them put her in a papoose during treatment if necessary. At this point, I was a shaky as a leaf and knew full well that I would not help being with her. So the nurse told Lexi that if she would come with her she would give her a princess ring. She ended up with TWO!!!
An hour later, I was chopping at the bit to see her and know what was happening. That’s about the time they called for Lexi’s Mommy. The dentist met me at the door and explained that the cavity was all the way to the root. Honestly, this was not a surprise given her teeth have so much missing enamel. Sure it had only been 6 months since her last exam but with no enamel to protect a tooth, it’s easy to see. They had to take out the root and put on a silver crown. *Sigh* I was just devastated. But the good news was that she was doing really great! No crying, no fretting, just a perfectly mannered little 2 year old that shook her head yes when the nurse offered to hold her hand. No papoose… no restraining… just good little Lexi. So brave and strong.
After he left with my permission to cap the molar, it wasn’t long before he appeared with more news… this time worse. The tooth that was broken at the root was “fused’ with the one next to it at the root so she would have to have TWO teeth removed. There was no choice really and I really already knew that the the two teeth had fused together but didn’t realized just how much.
A little while later they called me back and brought our little precious Lexi to me. Her cheeks were rosy and she was chomping down on some gauze where they had removed the teeth. They again told me how good and brave she had been and how she had never cried. They said she was the best 2 year old they had ever worked with. Lexi just seemed stunned but never complained. She wanted to see her Daddy but that was about it, oh, and of course she wanted to finish watching Cinderella on her DVD player in the car.
We got home and I tried to explain what had happened but she just doesn’t get it. She thinks the dentist cut her teeth out and she still doesn’t understand the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy did come but she could really care less. The shiny coins are just more toys. Geoff and I are just so upset about the loss of the teeth than will be missing for 6-8 years! Her smile is different and now she has a silver crown on a molar that is visible when she laughs. BUT she is still our Lexi Jayne and if the only problems we encounter with her are teeth issues we will be blessed. There is so much wrong in our world and so many more things to worry about that a few missing teeth during childhood are not so bad. She has a little different look but she is still our beautiful Lj.
We kept her home today to monitor her for pain and such. She did very well and we plan to send her back to school tomorrow. As for the daggone tooth fairy…. I hope that little rascal stays away for many, MANY more years to come!
Here’s a before smile from this January…
And a smile after yesterday afternoon…
Still beautiful and still so precious to us all!
And to anyone who wants to contribute to the future “Lexi needs braces” fund… just email us! The dentist assures us that as soon as the permanent teeth come in, he will refer us to an orthodontist!
Honestly and seriously, we expected this. We know her teeth are missing enamel and are hard to care for. We hope and pray for healthy permanent teeth but are realistic that with missing teeth there will likely be shifting that will cause problems later. It can’t be any worse than my issues growing up with too big of teeth for my little mouth. (yea… just let Geoff tell you I have a big mouth and I have a dentist ready to back me up!!! LOL!!) I am just thankful to our Lord above that she was as strong as she is and that he was with her yesterday as she endured a LOT more than most adults could in one day and still was kicking and ready to go!
She’s our little precious for sure!
