Good News Bad News

Yesterday was a day of stark contrasts. Which would you prefer, the good news or bad news first? Everyone chooses the bad first right?

Ok, the bads:

Bad#1: About a week and a half ago, Aedan had a bad fall on the playground. It actually didn't seem 'bad' at the time - he fell in a way that his mouth came in contact with the thing he was playing on and caused him to bite his lower lip and bruise his gums on the upper jaw. It bled, of course, but not for very long. In examining the bruise later on I discovered that his top tooth was pushed back from where it originally was and had created a small gap between his front two teeth. As much as I hated the thought that it happened I was at least glad that the tooth was still there and it wasn't loose at all.

Bad #2 - Bad #20: I sometimes feel like a paranoid mother because worrying has almost become a hobby of mine. I try to loosen up and in this case, I thought, "Oh well, he is a boy, it was bound to happen.." etc. etc. Within the last week, though, I started to notice (or was I imagining it?) that his one tooth was beginning to look a shade or two darker. Maybe it was the lighting? I finally had Neal confirm that yes, the tooth was darkening and so we set about finding a way to have it checked out by a dentist. Can I just tell you, it was so hard to find a dentist in the area who would see a two-year old? And sure our current dental care gives him sufficient coverage but the ones in town were currently not taking more patients or the ones slightly out of town would not see him for another week or rejected him because he was too young. The insurance wouldn't pay for a pediatric dentist until we've seen a general dentist but we couldn't find anyone who would take him in. Our insurance had the nerve to suggest we go to Terre Haute or Chicago, both of which would add several hours of driving time to a set of appointments. Arrgghh! With all of this stress I just broke down and became that paranoid mom again. So we finally decided to bypass the system and pay out-of-pocket for the pediatric dentist, who by the way was willing to see Aedan the following day (yesterday).

Bad #21 -22: In talking to several dentist offices and after a conversation Neal had with his dentist brother, we learned that there is a good chance that the tooth is dead and that it might have to be extracted. If that wasn't bad enough, we had to pay for them to pull the tooth and for any pain relief that accompanied it. Options of sedation or nitrous gas came up depending on how they thought he might react to the situation. Things to watch out for were signs of infection and we were to keep our fingers crossed that this incident didn't kill off the nerve as well. Neal's brother was definitely more reassuring in the matter (thank you!) and so all of these fears were put to the side until we could meet with the dentist.

Bad #23: This one is a little out of order but I can't finish the bads without mentioning that one of Aedan's best friends moved away yesterday. We sure will miss princess A and her family. She was the first (and as far as I know the last) little girl Aedan stole a kiss from. And now it seems that Aedan is shying away from that habit now. Or maybe he is just playing hard to get...

Bad #24: After $82 spent at the dentist...