First Dentist Appointment

Today was the long-awaited trip to fix Ka'ihi's two chipped teeth and get a cleaning. The dentist said he would have to fast from midnight, then at 8am give him the medicine to sedate, and his appointment would be at 9am.  We were not looking forward to the fasting part, because even though he doesn't really nurse at night any more, he does drink a lot of water because he gets so hot. Kamuela gave him a blessing but still it was a loooooong night for all of us. 

I ended up making an executive decision and letting him have water a couple times. I reasoned "our bodies are mostly water anyway", "they only want him to fast so he won't vomit, but if he vomits with the medicine there'll be liquid anyway", "the instructions on the medicine say it can be taken with or without food, and should be taken with a lot of water", "they didn't want me to drink water when I was in labor either, but I was so horribly thirsty I thought I would die, so I did many times, and nothing bad happened".

OK so anyway, in the morning we had to distract him from eating or drinking (I'm pretty sure he was wondering why we were starving him) it was so sad. Then we finally got his medicine in and it started taking effect almost immediately. He got so woozy and could hardly stand up! He started slurring his words and his eyes were droopy. There's videos on the picture blog.

WARNING: the following is so super sad!

By the time we got there he still hadn't fallen asleep.  I took him in the room and they wrapped him in a towel and then strapped him to the bed with 3 seatbelt things. He was screaming. He couldn't move anything except his head, which he couldn't really control well and was rolling side to side as he was struggling. They gave him a topical and then the injection to numb his mouth. I wasn't allowed to stay in the room. I was so upset and took forever to leave, I could tell the staff were trying to hurry me out. They were trying to reassure me and said he would probably fall asleep soon. 

One of the nurses even came out to sit with us because she could tell I was teary and tried to let me know the dentist was the best and her own kids came there, but all I could think of was his little strapped-down body with tears rolling down his face. The whole time I was praying for him. Whenever they opened the door to reception I was sure I could hear him crying and sure enough 45 minutes later he was still awake and screaming. I can only imagine how they would have had to hold his head still and his mouth open to do the work. As soon as he was released he calmed down, and eventually fell asleep in the car. 

Well after all of that his teeth look fantastic. That dentist really is the best and did a good job. I hope Ka'ihi doesn't remember it. He soon was back to normal, although pretty drowsy all day. Ever since I knew he would need work done I've strengthened my resolve to take better care of his teeth - brushing several times a day, and esp after any feedings during the night, and really strict about sugar. It's actually really good because I do it too, so I can be a better example. I love him so much!