"Much Better"

As some, or maybe all of you know (because let's be honest, I'm a great oversharer), Jack had to go in for a minor surgery (aka dental procedure) Tuesday morning.

First, thanks for all the sweet, supportive messages I received. That was the most scared I've ever been in regard to his health. Jack has been one of the healthiest kids since day one - only like two or three minor fevers, no real concerns ever. Until I noticed his teeth were rapidly deteriorating. I took him in for a dental check up - his first when he was about 20 months. I learned that he had a cavity on one of his front teeth.

We did our best to up the dental hygiene but apparently that wasn't enough. Between bad genes and others caring for him who did not put in the same kind of time I did on his teeth, he ended up with a bunch of cavities.

I've beat myself up pretty badly over the whole thing, trust me. Judge away, if you want, but I never intentionally wanted my kid to have bad teeth. There are a dozen reasons I can blame this on, but at the end of the day, we had to get them fixed.

Since he's still so young, his dentist had us do the procedure at a surgical center with the assistance of an anesthesiologist.

I was so nervous when we got there. In case ya'll haven't noticed, I tend to be a little bit anxious sometimes. I did my best not to show it to Jack though. Fortunately the only part he cared about was not getting to eat after midnight. They had us in for the surgery at 8 a.m., but it wasn't until 9:40 that they finally got him in.

Those last 20 minutes Jack had a full on hangry attack. "I just need one granola bar, mom. Just one! I'm so sad. I'm so frustrate!"

I felt sooo bad, but giggled when he said the word "frustrate" 50 times. hahaha. Poor guy.

Waiting...

Finally, they got him in. The anesthesiologist even said that Jack wanted to hold the little mask to his face by himself, he was out in about an hour. The docs were all super impressed with what a good patient he was and how he woke up from surgery so calmly. His teeth now look fabulous and I am full on crazy-pants about those teeth.

I always have been, but am even more so now. And everyone who has a hand in taking care of Jack also recognizes that the poor kid is just super prone to cavities and we need to take precautions to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Before surgery, got to take Mister Monkey. 

It was a very expensive lesson for us to learn, but thank goodness it's all over now.

We got Jack home - he slept the 40 minute drive there. 

We got home and he woke up and wanted to watch shows on the iPad.

Finally allowed to have water! 

Then he had lunch. Puked it up. In my hands. Thankfully I was there to catch the vomit, eh? #sacrifice #momlife

By afternoon, he'd decided he'd had enough lounging about and we played and played. Until he crashed at 5 p.m. Fortunately in spite of that late nap, he still went to bed at a great time. Yesterday, he acted like he was totally fine, like the whole ordeal had never happened. Honestly, he probably has completely forgotten it already.

It was definitely a new experience for us as parents and I am just grateful everything went so smoothly. I was so freaked out, but the whole time just kept thinking how things could be so much worse. Our community recently lost a little 5-year-old girl who sustained massive brain trauma after an undetected diabetes attack. It was absolutely heart wrenching. I wrote a story last year about a little girl in our neighborhood who died from brain cancer. Those stories break my heart into a million pieces and I just have to say how incredibly grateful I am that we've been so lucky with Jack so far. I try not to think about the "what ifs" that could happen to him, but sometimes they sneak up on me. I just try and use those moments as reminders to enjoy him. Enjoy him for every moment that I've got him.

My sweetest boy. <3