Pass the Wine Please

Today was definitely one of the most stressful I have endured as a parent so far. Early this afternoon I was wrestling Stella into a pair of pants while Nathan emptied the stroller. We were going to meet our friends for a play date at Huis Ten Bosch, and Nay was helping me out because Stella was being impossible. She giggled madly while I tried to hold her squirmy self down to dress her. I had just finished buttoning her up, when I heard Nathan's pain cry in the front room. I called him into Stella's room, certain he had just smashed a finger or something along those lines. When he walked into the room crying hysterically, holding his face, I looked up, ready to soothe his little feelings and offer an ice pack. Then I saw his face. Blood was dripping from beneath his hand, and his face was streaked with tears. I was unable to control my shock, but I quickly collected myself and used a baby wipe to clean his little mouth and hands. Then I looked and tried to identify the cause of the blood. It was pretty unclear, but I figured he'd just bitten his lip, so I hopped up and led him to the kitchen to grab an ice pack. I figured I'd try to get a better look at the damage, so I could call our friends and tell them exactly how late we'd be. I lifted Nathan's lip, and tried wiping away the blood to see what exactly was wrong. That's when I realized how bad it really was. Nay's gums were swollen and full of blood, his loose tooth was even more loose, and I could see that his gums were sliced up to the point that I thought I could see through to the tooth underneath. I asked Nathan again what happened, and he was still unable to tell me. So I called Tyson in a panic. I told him I might need him to meet me at medical. Ty calmed me down and asked what happened. After a brief explaination, Ty reminded me to stay calm, then told me to go to the medical on our home base. I called my friends, who met me outside our building, and we walked as a group to the base medical. Once there, we were lucky to be seen by the dentist on duty within a few minutes. After a brief examination he determined that Nathan's poor twice damaged tooth needed to come out. Nathan wouldn't consent to getting a shot of novocane, so with only topical numbing ointment, Nay's tooth was pulled out with forceps. I could barely bear to look, and was nearly in tears and praying constantly while watching Nathan go through having a unmedicated tooth extracted. However, it was over, quickly, and now he's excited to have a tooth to leave under his pillow tonight. His gums are bruised, and there is a cut that thankfully didn't need stitches. It was a little early, but he's lost his first tooth. And Tyson and I have been quick to point out that loosing any more teeth won't be nearly so painful. I'm still unclear on what exactly happened, but from what I can glean from Nay's spotty explaination, he hit his mouth on the hard edge of the stroller umbrella. So now that it's all said and done, I'm headed to my ladies' Bible study, and I think I will bring a bottle of wine with me! Luckily it's a short walk away. 

Comments

[Amma]

Holy Moly! That's so very scary! :( Look at our cute little Jack o' Lantern though :) Amma loves you Nathan and I'm so proud of how brave you are! I hope the tooth fairy is extra generous considering the trauma of losing your first tooth in such a way~

[Shevon]

It was pretty scary. I was feeling frazzled for the rest of the day. It didn't help that we went with our friends afterward to play, and it was so windy that one of our friends even lost some mittens in a gust of wind. By the time we got home, I just wanted to curl up with a glass of wine and a slice of pizza. Nathan was incredibly brave. He really impressed me. He really enjoys showing me his gross gum hole now.