The tooth that almost broke this camel's back

Anyone who knows me knows that taking Sophie to the dentist is hard. Really hard. In the past, she has thrown herself onto the floor, kicked, screamed, cried, anything to protest. I cannot blame her. Not even taking her sensory issues into account, what 9-year-old really likes to have work done at the dentist?

She had an appointment this afternoon for Dr. Ray to take a look at a couple of teeth with small cavities. We talked about the process, the steps, we would take to get into the examining room. Getting kept an hour waiting was probably a blessing in disguise as I went over the steps again and again. This is the basic gist of what I said:

Sophie, when Dr. Ray calls your name, you are going to stand up on your own and follow him to the examining room. Mom will follow you, and Hannah will follow Mom. Then, you will sit in the big chair. When Dr. Ray asks you to open your mouth, you will open your mouth.

She laughed during my instructions, and she even opened her mouth when I asked. So, I knew that she was really listening. Well, this was the best trip to the dentist so far, because...

When Dr. Ray called her name, (she did not stand up of her own accord, but...) she stood up with some gentle pulling from me. Then Dr. Ray and I each grabbed an arm and guided her back to the examining room. (Last time, she threw herself down on the floor in front of the examining room door, and I had to use the special hold to lift her up and literally drag her all the way into the room.) She (didn't so much as sit in the examining chair, but she...) kneeled in the examining chair. I had to help her turn around and sit. (Just a few shorts months ago, she practically toppled me to the floor when we tried to have x-rays taken.) Dr. Ray told her to open her mouth for x-rays, and she did. She still struggled, but she did it. I was so proud of her. My big girl!

Well, the x-rays showed that the cavities had progressed for action. With baby teeth, we opt to pull if the adult tooth is close to coming in. So, after the shot, Dr. Ray prodded and pulled 2 teeth from her upper right side. It wouldn't have been so bad, but a couple of roots ran deep and stubborn. (Deep and stubborn? Must be a family trait! hehe) The whole appointment lasted about 45 minutes. By the root-pulling time, Sophie had had enough and struggled and cried. Keep in mind that during this whole time, I was lying over her hips and holding each hand with each of my hands, and Hannah had been keeping her feet from throwing her weight over the side of the chair. Dr. Ray had her head in a very gentle, but firm grip on her right side, and a hygienist was helping keep her left shoulder down. Somewhere in the midst of the tooth-pulling, another hygienist had come in to help hold her legs.

Finally done! Sophie catapulted off the chair and stood until I told her to sit and relax in the "nice" chair over to the side. I could barely stand after holding her for 45 minutes. Keep in mind that there is a fine balance between restraining her for her safety and possibly hurting her. Not once did I have my weight on her. Anyway, what I had to do was nothing compared to what poor Sophie endured.

Instructions for after tooth-pulling: No crunchy food for 3 hours. What??? No crunchy? Crunchy is one of Sophie's 4 major food groups. Just water and soft foods like yogurt or ice cream. (For some reason, Sophie is off eating yogurt. I'm not happy about that and am trying to figure out why.) We drove to Grandma's house for water. Then, we went to Wendy's for a frosty, but she didn't want it. Hmm? I think she wanted fries or mint-flavored ice cream? We drove around until I thought she seemed in better spirits. We went to Timbertown, and Sophie had a blast. (Hannah's splinter and the two hot dudes with peroxide is a whole other story!)

After 3 hours (yay!), we drove home, where Sophie immediately chowed down on her crunchy food. She was wild. No matter what time we get home, I think that she thinks she gets the same amount of awake time. However, I got her into bed a little after 9 p.m. We did some "talking" with her communication device which made her giggle uncontrollably. To settle her down a bit, I lied down next to her.

She tossed and turned a bit.

She stuck her hand in her mouth.

She rolled over and placed something on the nightstand.

Tooth #3! The tooth that almost broke this camel's back!

My first guilty thought was that she was somehow injured, that by allowing the dentist to work on her, I allowed her tooth to come out. (Dr. Ray is the best dentist. He is so gentle, yet safe. he never yells when Sophie bites him. In no way would he injure her.) However, I was (still am!) exhausted and was slightly shocked.

"Hannah! Sophie just lost another tooth!"

Hannah assured me that it was indeed a baby tooth and probably was due to come out anyway.

What does the Tooth Fairy owe a kid with 2 pulled teeth and 1 regularly-fallen-out tooth? It's a good thing Sophie is so special, because she's getting 1 DVD, and she won't complain!

Is it healthy that I laughed about this instead of cried? Or does that make me somewhat looney?