Her Healing Powers Scare Me

It's nearly time to have Britty's braces removed!!!!  Not only will she love her teeth, but I'll be loving one less monthly payment!  WOO!   The braces experience was not as painful as we've heard, according to Britty.  With the brackets she had, we had no breakages, no major pain and everything went according to schedule.  (She also did not eat popcorn, gum, or gummy candies, so that has lots to do with it!)  So one last big procedure before the braces are removed...  wisdom teeth extraction.  Uh-oh.

I love how you can see the brackets on each tooth in the X-ray:

Preparing for surgery and watching the heart monitor.  Why did they have me stay in the room for the first part?  I was more nervous than she was.  Drugging up your baby is such a horrible thing to witness.  I had to pace around the waiting room.  We do not like taking any medication, so this seemed severe to us!! 

My baby is done and just beginning to come around after being brought into the recovery room.  This was how I first saw her.  :(  With an insane amount of cotton wads in her mouth, she had no idea where she was and how she got there.  :(  She was shaking and out of it, and I felt so bad for her and began to feel very sorry for people who are addicted to drugs or take them to "feel better."  :(  It's incredibly scary and I am so glad that Britty is healthy to begin with.  Still...

Back at home after a wheel chair ride.  (Hey...  Britty was in a wheelchair before I was!)  Ice packs to reduce swelling.  Towel wrapped pillow for blood catching:

This photo was taken the SAME NIGHT as the surgery.  ???  How does she heal so fast??  This was without the pain killers too.  HARD CORE, Britty! 

Here are some tips for faster healing as I've seen with Britty: 

*  DO use the ice packs.  I know it feels horrible.  This will reduce the swelling though and will be so worth it.  20 minutes on/20 minutes off.  I know it's easy to skip, but do your best.

*  If you cannot drink, try filling a little squirt bottle with water or juice.  Britty had a tiny one near her so she could squirt it in her mouth without it pouring all out!  (numbness makes for lots of drooling!)  Plus, with wisdom teeth removal, they say not to use straws so a squirt bottle was a great help to us!

*  Before surgery, don't listen to other people's horror stories.  ;)  Not everyone has the same pain and recovery. 

*  Prepare beforehand:  Stock up on the foods your doctors says are ok.  Make some pudding or tapioca!  Get juices, waters, ginger ale, or have a variety ready.  We had a ton of water here, but Britty could not drink it because she said it tasted like blood!  eeew.  So we went for the juice and a ginger ale and watered that down.  Having a variety with help!

Good luck to you if you are having your wisdoms removed!  Neither of us had trouble with ours.  Just stay healthy going into any surgery and your body will do its best to kick into gear to heal quickly for you!