Tooth Woes

Early in my pregnancy, my dentist warned me that I'd need to come back in soon to get an old filling upgraded to a crown. The tooth wasn't going to hold forever, since it was a gigantic filling to begin with. I promised I'd come back in my second trimester -- as soon as the nausea subsided. Then my second trimester came, my morning sickness persisted and I canceled the appointment I made. Then, the nausea was gone, but I was a lazy bum, and never called and made the appointment. Until, yesterday, I noticed a nice big crack in my molar, and the stalling could only take me this far. It was time to pay the piper. Or the dental professional. Either way, it was gonna cost me.

So, early this morning I left the girls with my Mom (note to self: free babysitting is awesome. Lending the free babysitter my van so she can 'run a few errands' with the girls, even better. She may just stop by not one, but two, different stores, to buy the girls matching jackets, two matching shirt (each), and a brand new parka and ski bibs in a size 2T for our unborn child. Sweet!) I left for the dentist, only barely starting to break into a cold sweat. Have I mentioned I have extreme dentist phobia? Which is too bad, 'cause I actually love my dentist, and his whole staff. (My fear is deep enough, that when I called Greg on Thursday to tell him I'd need to see the dentist the next day, he asked, "Do you want me to get the morning off to come with you?" In unison now: Awwww, sweet.) I assured him I could manage by myself (a decision I almost ended up regretting when the dentist and his employees almost refused to give me my keys back to drive home. The hygienist threatened, "If we get a call later from your husband saying, 'Do you know where my wife is? She had an appointment like three hours ago.' And you're on the side of the road dead, I'm gonna be pissed.")

ANYWAY, first things first, we had to get my mouth numb. I wasn't too worried yet, as only one quadrant of my mouth doesn't numb well (the whole dental phobia thing actually comes from a root canal gone very, very badly, when I first discovered the bottom left side of my mouth doesn't numb completely. I now need to take some deep breaths and go to my happy place for a bit, until the memory subsides and I can type again.) Anyway, back to this appointment, the dentist always pre-numbs the area with some topical stuff, then I barely feel the needle. So, I wasn't too worried yet. Until the second the metal hit the inside of my mouth, and a little electric jolt shot through my lip. "Darn my accuracy!" my dentist apologized. Seems if you hit a nerve directly, it instantly deadens it, and creates a nice little shock. My lip was asleep. And soon, so was my right half of my face, including my ear. (Which was amusing when I tried to put in my ear buds in so I could listen to my iPod . . . I couldn't feel anything in my ear at all, so I kept randomly prodding my ear, convinced I was somehow missing it, until my amused dentist finally put his hand on my arm and said, "Um, I think you got it there . . . you may want to stop stabbing your ear with your headphones now.") He apologized and explained I'd be numb for most of the day now. Oh great, since this gave me several extra hours in which to accidentally chew up the inside of my cheek.

Off to a good start. I put on my headphones -- normally I watch whatever movie is on, and listen to the amusing nonstop banter between the dentist and his hygienist. But, I've been feeling nauseous the last several days (have I mentioned my morning sickness seems to have reappeared? 'Cause it has. I just haven't wanted to whine about it. But it sucks SO BAD. I'm miserable, and whiny, and no longer feel like keeping it to myself. Sorry.) So I decided that I was going to put on my Hypnobabies tracks that work so well to put me to sleep, and listen to those at full blast and just try to breathe away the drilling noises in my head. Plus, I joked with the dentist, if they can't get me through a dentist visit, what's the chance they'll be much help for labor? I was actually super impressed with my progress. All the drilling and suctioning and I was doing fine. I was calm, I wasn't gripping the armrests all white knuckled. Not once had the dentist or the assistant asked, "Are you still OK?" so I apparently was maintaining a normal color and sweat level. I was impressed with myself and my Hypnobabies breathing. Then, the very last drill, that kinda roughens up the tooth so it adheres better to cement . . . it made things kinda smell like burning tooth. Which is awful, and hit instantly, and I suddenly drained of all color, got clammy, asked them to turn a fan directly on me, and spent the next 10 minutes fighting with everything I had not to pass out. I felt exactly like I did right before I passed out after Annie's surgery, but I think sheer will kept me awake. (I was not gonna risk passing out and possibly peeing my pants at the dentists office. Sure, you have a seizure, pass out and lose control of your pregnant bladder at the hospital, they have scrubs for you to change into . . . at a dentist's office, not so much. Sheer will power, people.) The assistant kept apologizing profusely, fanning me and assuring me I "was a trooper." I just felt lame, but at least I was pregnant this time -- there have been other near fainting spells at the dentist office without such a good excuse (bad root canal history though -- that's a pretty solid excuse in my book). They were able to finish quickly, without any more problems. I laid there for a few minutes, then gathered myself and went up to make my follow up appointment in two weeks. (Sigh.)

I was given a drink of water afterwards, and then the receptionists all forced me to eat a cookie (I tried to tell them it was a blood pressure drop, not blood sugar, but it was the only way they were gonna let me drive home), so I clumsily chewed an E.L. Fugde, worried the whole time it was gonna come dribbling outta the corner of my mouth. The good news is I made it home in one piece. Also, I can feel most of my face now. I'm no longer at risk of jamming things needlessly hard into my ears. And it's only 8PM!