No more playing with beads...

Last night was quite an eventful one. We started the evening with attending Julia's end-of-the-year preschool concert. It was held at Central Valley High School and was quite a big deal. I was so proud of Juju when she went up on stage with her classmates and sang the songs they have been practicing for weeks. She was so animated, knew every word and every hand motion. What a little character! Good thing the lights were dim over the audience, so no one was aware that this blubbering mother had shed a few tears. I guess it just hit me all at once that she is growing up...and way too fast! I can't believe she will start kindergarten this fall! After the kids' performance they had cake and punch in the cafeteria. They also had several booths set up for the kids to play games and win prizes. One of the booths was for making bracelets. Each child was given a baggie of large beads and pipe cleaners...the rest was up to them. This sort of stuff is definitely Julia's cup of tea. She sat there almost the entire time creating her new "jewelry". After the kids were done playing the games, we drove home and settled down for what we all thought would be a nice relaxing night. We were wrong.

The kids were up in Tanner's room watching a movie, I put the baby to bed, and Ron headed out to the gym. The kids continued to play with the beads and created new jewelry items. I curled up on the couch, ready to enjoy some TV shows. After about half an hour of TV, Tanner came down the stairs screaming and holding his nose. I asked him what happened and he said "something up my nose!" I tilted his head back and sure enough I could see the bead. I had him sit on my lap and proceeded to have him blow his nose, over and over. It didn't budge. I tried the nasal aspirator, aka booger bulb, still didn't work. Last resort was the tweezers. I barely got them inside his nose when he pushed me away and started to cry. I realized I wasn't going to get it out and we needed to go to the ER. I called down to the gym to have them page Ron so he could come home. He did immediately and Tanner and I left for the hospital. When we arrived the staff was so good to him and got us in without too much of a wait. The male nurse (who was extremely good looking) took the light and shined it up my little guy's nose. He then said "are you sure there is something up there?" He instantly became unattractive now that he was questioning my intelligence. Ok, so he was still hot and I let him know there was for sure something up there. He left and got a doctor to come in and take a look. All the while Tanner sat on that hospital bed like such a big boy. The doctor came in and asked Tanner what was up his nose. His answer was "a big booger!" The doctor poked around and saw the bead. The next part was the worst. They strapped my sweet boy to the bed and then velcro'd him in, making him look like a human burrito. He looked at me and said "I scared Mom." Oh it broke my heart, but this had to be done. He was such a trooper as the doctor poked and prodded around in his nose. Tears streaming down his face while the nurse held his head still. I stood close, talking to him and assuring him everything was ok. The doctor took a break and had to go get a longer tool to use. Apparently Tanner had it lodged way up there. Again the nurse held Tanner's head and the doctor started really digging for the bead. Tanner was crying so hard and screaming "MOMMY! HELP ME!! IT HURTS!" It was heartbreaking! Tears were streaming down my face and the doctor kept saying 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!' I knew Tanner was going to be ok, but he didn't know that. I felt helpless as he stared up at me, not able to move his body, crying out for help and there was nothing I could do. He just looked at me like 'why aren't you stopping them'. Finally the bead was out and they quickly unstrapped Tanner so I could hold him. It took a good 5 minutes for him to calm down and be assured that this ordeal was over. He fell asleep on the way home and slept like a rock that night. This morning when he woke up I noticed that his face was freckled with little purple dots, apparently from crying so hard last night. Poor guy. Hopefully that will be the first and last time for objects up the nose.

Goodbye, wisdom teeth!

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I've had a good excuse....honest. I recently had all 4 wisdom teeth plus one molar pulled. What a nightmare. The day of the proceedure my good friend Nanci drove me to the office since you have to have someone there during the entire extraction. Ron was home with the kids. The doctor had talked to me about anesthesia during my initial consultation, so I knew exactly what to expect...or so I thought. After sitting in the waiting room for some time, they finally call my name. I am ushered back into the proceedure room where there are 3 nurses. What? Does it really take that many people for an extraction? I don't know that there were that many nurses present during my c-sections. Anyway, they sit me down and start hooking me up to monitors. The nurse that put the IV into my arm starts talking to me about random things, asking me silly questions, and waiting for the meds to kick in. I started to feel dizzy and could feel myself slipping into unconsciousness. I no doubt startled the nurse when my eyes shot open and I blurted out "Call my mom!" What?? Not sure where that came from, but the last image I remember is that nurse having a good chuckle about my spaz out. As I came to, the doctor was removing the last tooth and he was talking to me, I guess trying to keep me relaxed just in case I freaked out as I woke up. He finished up and said everything went really well. The nurses removed the IV and heart monitors. They told me to lay back and relax for a few minutes and that I would be moving into the recovery room shortly. When it was time to move, I slowly stood up with the assistance of one of the nurses. I was dizzy and lightheaded and just took my time. Now the nurse was going to be escorting me to the recovery room. I had to laugh, even in my sedated state. The nurse holding my arm was not even 5 ft tall and maybe weighed 100 lbs. I am not a small woman, and standing next to her made me feel even more gigantic. I thought to myself, 'this poor woman...if I start to go down, does she really think she could stop that from happening? How on earth do they expect a tulip to catch a falling oak tree.' Thank goodness I made it to the recovery room without any incidents. After about 15 minutes of being in recovery, they had Nanci come back to get the post-op instructions. I was then released to go home.

Ron was very good about keeping the kids away from me as I slept off what was left of the anesthesia. After a day of changing bloody gauze and rinsing with salt water, I was beginning to feel a little bit of an improvement. My biggest concern was how numb my face still felt. I remembered the doctor telling me that there was a good chance he may bump the nerve or even bruise it. Apparently that had happened. So over the next week there were countless times of drooling on myself and having "leftovers" on my lips. Cute.

It was now the day of my post-op visit. It had been 10 days since the extraction and I made my way to the doctor. My lower lip and right side of my face were still numb, but I'm trying to remain optimistic. The doctor informed me that I am ahead of schedule with my healing....good news! I then asked about the numbness. He did a little test to see if the nerve is still working and it is. Thank goodness! The bad news? Oh, it could take several months for the numbness to go away. He asked that I make an appointment for September to check the progress. What?!? I couldn't believe it!! Here's to many more months of drool and leftovers.