About a month ago my 9 year old daughter, Lily Claire, started her journey into the straight teeth club. I'm not going to lie, orthodontia is expensive, but her x-rays showed there was just not enough room in her mouth, so she got molds made and an expander put in. They said she would get used to it in a day or two, but that didn't happen. Every night we used a key to turn the metal device in her mouth to expand her palate so her teeth would have more room and fit in her mouth. The turning wasn't too bad, but Lily Claire never got the hang of talking with it in, and eating was such a challenge. She began to lose weight, and after a few weeks I shared my concern with her pediatrician. She agreed that this wasn't good. Monday we went in because over the weekend the bracket on her back tooth holding it in place broke off. I talked to the orthodontist about the weight loss and they agreed to take it out and have a retainer made to keep things in place now that the expansion part was complete. Whew, one thing down. Soooo many more to go.
Kid #2 is Ella. Ella's a firecracker she is full of energy and talks non-stop, even in her sleep. She is in kindergarten this year and she also does gymnastics and track. About 2 weeks ago Ella tripped over her flip flop after gymnastics was over and fell and broke her elbow. The doctor in the ER showed me the fracture and sent a referral to the orthopedist. At the orthopedist appointment she said she didn't think there was a fracture, it was a growth plate, and Ella was fine. But Ella continued to cry and say her elbow hurt. Ella loves to be active and doesn't let much slow her down, so I knew something didn't feel right about this diagnosis. I emailed Ella's pediatrician and she said we should re-x-ray in 10 days to see how things were looking. So, last Friday her second set of x-rays confirmed the fracture and we went back to the orthopedist. Now Ella has a bright pink cast from fingertip to arm pit. Luckily elbows heal quickly and she only has to wear it a few weeks,
Camille is my baby. She's almost 16 months old and she's into everything. She also gets sick a lot. We wash our hands and clean the carts at the grocery store, but come on, kids that age put their mouth on everything. And with my two older kids and their activities, staying at home in a bubble is not an option. Camille has had 4 ear infections since the end of March. She's pretty much been on antibiotics constantly for over 6 weeks. We have a consult with ENT to have tubes put in later today.
Between the teeth, the broken elbow, and the ears, I'm one tired momma. June 5th can't come soon enough!
