And So It Begins.....

For years now, Nate's dentist has been telling us that he will need braces, and that there would be a long road leading up to that. He wasn't kidding! We took step #1 down that road on Monday, as Nate had 3 teeth pulled.

 

As you can imagine, Nate was a basket-case when woke up Monday morning and knew today was the day. He is the kind of kid that likes to know what is going to happen every step of the way. #comesbyithonestly! So, though I never had teeth pulled as a kid, I did my best to accurately answer all of his 1,639 questions about the procedure in order to calm him down. And since the appointment wasn't until 3:30 pm, I planned a day filled with activities to try and take his mind off of it.

 

First, we headed to the mall & had lunch at the Food Court. We threw pennies in the fountain, did some window shopping, and let Abby spend a gift card for Christmas in Claire's. Then, we headed to Barnes & Noble for hot chocolates, reading, and let Nate spend a gift card.

 

#roughlife

 Finally, it came time for the dentist appointment, and Nate started to break down in the car. And the waiting room. And the bathroom. And during Abby's cleaning. Poor thing, the anticipation was killing him. He still had about 7 questions left that I couldn't answer, so Dr. Hollowell very patiently answered them before he got started....

 Thank goodness for laughing gas! It really calmed him down, and made him a little silly too which was hilarious. He did great during the procedure, and it only took about 10 minutes to get all 3 teeth out. He held and squeezed my hand the entire time :)

He survived!!! And was still a little loopy/sleepy here.

Look how big those roots are! The small one was about to come out anyways, had been dangling for awhile.

Doctor's orders - a milkshake! And Mommy had promised a trip to Toys 'R Us as well. #ibelieveinbribes

 Thankfully, Nate was all smiles the rest of the afternoon, and was hardly in any pain at all. I mean, seriously, look how happy / relieved he is that it was over!!! :) And in the Before picture, he couldn't even smile he was so nervous, ha!

I'm so proud of Nate for getting through that, and being so brave when he was clearly scared to death. Now that these 3 teeth are out, we are hopeful that his permanent teeth will come in on their own. (We saw on the x-ray that they have been waiting up in his gums, but just didn't have space to come down!) This summer, we will go back to the orthodontist to see about getting a spacer put in up top to widen his mouth a little more if need be. And then, in about 3-4 more years, it will be time for braces....

 

Oh the joys of having a child with a small mouth & huge teeth! :)