Jaw Jigsaw

Good news, bad news time. The bad news is that the ortho assistant forgot to place the hooks on my teeth so I could make my mini-triangles with my rubber bands at night. There was a lot of phone tag (since my ortho was on vacation) and me forgetting to call back. He said to just stop wearing the bands until he can get in there and see if any damage had been done. It was 2 weeks between appts. Good news time- I got into the office today and before the assistant could put the hooks on... Dr. Mortimer took a look and said that I don't have to wear them anymore! He said my teeth are looking perfect and the gap hasn't changed at all! Woohoo! I'm rubberbandless at all times now! That's my update. I was just excited. I go back to the ortho on the 29th (MY BIRTHDAY) so I may update then! Or before! Who knows! I have 3 appts in a row (boooo spacers) so I'm not looking forward to it... =\ Yay no more bands!

THE SPLINT IS GONE!! I chewed chicken and vegetables today! It was great! Although a little sore. It took me a while to get the hang of it. Mostly because my upper teeth are still numb. I kept chewing on my cheeks. I don't even care. My mouth feels like 10 lbs lighter without the splint and all my surgical hooks! Last photos with the splint in! My swelling has really gone down. Although still noticeable to people who don't see me often. The surgeon appointment went well. It took all of 2 minutes to get the splint out. A lot of facial stretching and then I got to BRUSH MY TEETH. That was amazing. Said I was okay to work-out, just no contact sports, lol. Took x-rays. Said everything looked good. The gross splint!!!!!!! You can see all my plates and screws! (And crowns, lol) My teeth touch!! Amazing!! Between the surgeon's appt and the ortho appt- I got chicken nuggets, lol. They were awesome.  I walked into the orthodontist's office and the ...

There's just not enough hours in the day anymore... Thankfully, our little one has been mostly sleeping through the night so I can go to bed at a normal hour... like 10 rather than 8:30... to get my precious sleep in. It's only March 4th and I have YET AGAIN added ANOTHER dental appointment. And an eye doctor appointment for kicks... Here's ANOTHER updated appt. schedule. Kill me now. February 20th- Regular cleaning (with my regs dentist) March 4th- Regular ortho appt March 11th 6th- Pre-Op appt with surgeon (Moved up for some reason related to the dental school where my surgeon is the Dean). March 17th AM- Ortho is going to remove my wire for my dentist (at a different office, ugh.) March 17th PM- Cavity filling March 18th- Ortho to get wire back on and surgical hooks attached March 21st- Call hospital to get exact surgery time March 22nd- Eye doctor's appointment (yes- it was necessary) March 24th- JAW SURGERY Shut the front door. Too much to handle. A...

So I've been preparing for this jaw surgery for a really long time now. I've been compiling a list of items that I will want/need so I'd be ready. Now that it is LESS than a month away- I should probably get to buyin some of this stuff. Especially if I want to get them cheap and online. I know everyone's recovery is a little different but I'm hoping I'm able to use most of this stuff: Things To Buy: Bed Buddy   Jaw Bra Aquaphor Children's Motrin Fiber supplement Protein powder Q-tips Moist Facial Cleansing Towelettes Boogie Wipes Kleenex with Aloe or Lotion Wisp Brushes Notebook to write down meds/times NutriSqueeze Bottle  and/or syringe neck pillow (need a new one) (borrowing my mom's) Pedestal Mirror Food: Go Go Squeeze  and other types of baby food (going to be pretty easy to feed Amelia and I for the first few weeks, haha) Naked Juice Ensure Gatorade Smoothie ingredients (or packs) Beef Broth Jello I'm sure ...

Had my bi-annual dental cleaning yesterday with my regular dentist- and it was not such a great visit for several reasons. As luck would have it- he found a cavity. BAHHH. I haven't had one in over a year! And yes that's really good for my teeth.  My mouth is EXTREMELY acidic and I've had cavities ever since I can remember. So much drilling. Not from lack of brushing/flossing/rinsing! The acid has caused my enamel to erode and makes my teeth more prone to cavities. It sucks. Some people have more plaque, some have more cavities. I have like no plaque ever, but always cavities.  AND- the hygienist usually cleans my teeth with this power washer that shoots this salt-water solution, but for the second appointment in a row it was non-functional! She couldn't find a piece that she needed even though she just used the machine on Tuesday. I was livid. It's like my favorite thing. I hate salt-water but it makes my teeth feel awesome afterwards. It's basically a w...

I have a surgery date!!!!!!! March 24th!!!!! Can't believe it!!! I may throw up. Also the receptionist couldn't find my charts (ha) but she was sure that we were just doing UPPER jaw surgery. That sounds fantastic because I'm hoping for a quicker recovery time. Originally the surgeon had said upper, then I met with him face-to-face and he said double, but now it's just upper. Yay! Pre-op appointment on March 11th! Oh my goodness. Amelia will be 8 months old! I'm glad. I feel a little more at ease about the whole thing since she will be a little older. I need to keep reminding myself that she won't remember this AT ALL. It is not going to affect her in the long run. She will still love me. LOL Me- VERY happy to have an end date to this part of the process.

I'm too excited to wait to post... I will be getting a surgery date THIS WEEK! My orthodontist met with the surgeon on Friday and they said I'm "officially" ready!! They called me at like 4:30 on Monday afternoon and told me to call the surgeon. Even though I had an 8 a.m. appt on Tuesday morning at the ortho, lol. So I called on Tuesday afternoon and they were like... um we don't even have the paperwork back from their meeting yet- haaaaaa. So they were like- we will call you before Friday. So by FRIDAY I will have a date!!!!! Hopefully. I'm just so excited. And extremely nervous. Mostly nervous. And for the first time in like four months my teeth hurt after the adjustment they did. Yuck. It was hard to chew things yesterday. It's mostly better today though. And as far as breastfeeding goes- my supply dropped when I had a bad illness two weeks ago. So I thought I'd start feeding her formula for one bottle per day to start weaning her, then s...

I've taken molds of my braces for the past 3 orthodontist appts straight. Very frustrating. He keeps saying- next month- next month. Argh. It's the new year and no surgery date yet. And I was hoping for it to be February... but we haven't even scheduled it and and it's basically mid-January. I think I need to give work a little more notice. So annoying. Last appt he said the spot where the surgeon would make the incision is ready. Awesome. Freaky. Have another appointment on the 21st. Was hoping to hear from him before this... but to no avail. It's so weird that last June he was like- ya you're ready for surgery... and here we are in January and no news. January 2014 October 2013 My gap seem a little more closed but it could just be the way I was smiling. Just ready to move on. In other news- my little Amelia is going on 6 months old! I wanted to wait until she was 6 months old to have the surgery at least and I for sure got my wish. I'm ...

Well hi there! It's been a while since my last post but obviously nothing is really happening since I still have braces on. A few things that have happened over the past few months: None of my braces have fallen off. (Except today at the ortho when the assistant accidentally PULLED one off. I loled.) I have regular monthly appointments now. (Thank goodness) And... I'm PREGNANT. So yes. The whole pregnancy thing definitely throws off this whole thing. I told my ortho and he didn't seem too worried about it. As he is probably expecting my braces to be on more than a year anyway. I coincidentally was pregnant the week I got my braces on. Didn't find out until about 3 weeks later, but still. Crazy, right? Not planned at all. Such is life. But boy, it is fun being a pregnant women with braces. Not. My braces don't really affect my eating anymore though, unless I get them tightened- like today. Ouch. The band is so wide & tight the assistant could hardly g...

Well hey. I've started another blog! How crazy is that?! My other blog might suffer. ;) So yup. I'm having jaw surgery. I guess. Sounds crazy. Hopefully it will all be worth it in the end. This wasn't a decision I made lightly. I've been in and out of MANY orthodontist and dentist offices within the past two years. They've all lead me here. Down this path. After sitting down with my orthodontist of choice and surgeon (twice) I have decided that this is my only option. For about two years my teeth have not allowed me to enjoy much. I can only eat with one tooth on my right side. That's all that hits. After having one root canal and three crowns put in- my teeth are on their last leg. And I'm only 26 years old. Dentures by age 30 I predicted. They make me miserable about 50% of my time awake. So I said enough is enough. If this is what I need to do to enjoy life again- so be it. The benefits outweigh the cons in my case. I did them: Pros * Obviously would...