All Done!

Peeper's dental adventures went pretty well today, at least as well as we could have hoped, I think.

She nursed to sleep around 2:30 this morning, and was not interested in "dream feeding" half an hour later, so that was her cutoff time. She didn't ask to nurse again until she woke up, around 6:45.

At that point, our conversation went something like this:

Peeper: Goody!
Mama: Shhh, shhh, shhh
Peeper: Goody!
Mama: Remember, Baby, it's the day we're getting your teeth fixed. . . .
Peeper: NO, it NOT! It goody day! It NOT! Goody time! It NOT! Goody time!
Mama:  Hey, there's a surprise for you in the kitchen, want to go see?
Peeper: What is it? (Hopping up to go see.)

As you can imagine, Bert was a BIG hit, and saved the day.

We managed to get her diaper changed and get her into the car, where she napped most of the way there, and was pretty cheerful when we got there.

She asked for goody a few times while we were waiting, but did okay with just snugging and getting "pretend goody."

When we went back to the holding tank, the first thing they did was give Peeper her "doctor socks" (I've been referring to the hospital gown, etc, as "special doctor clothes" because she so loves to dress up as a doctor.) because - as the nurse mentioned to other nurses at least twice - "She came in barefooted."

Disapproving nurse does not approve.

Pretty soon, it was time to put on her "special doctor clothes" and take the "silly medicine" and then the real fun began.

A few minutes into the Versed, she was singing and making us help Bert and Ernie to dance, and talking to them, and being pretty silly. The nurse came in and said, "Oh yeah, that's the medicine talking."

Actually, no. That's pretty typical behavior for her, when it's just us around.

Within a few minutes, though, her bones turned rubbery and her already less-than-articulate speech started slurring and her little eyes glazed over.

I wish I could remember all the things she said, or that I'd taken some video, beause it was pretty funny.

At one point, she was looking at Shrike, who was wearing surgical scrubs and a hat, and asked "What is it? What is it?" We thought the hat was freaking her out, but when Shrike took it off, she wanted her to put it it back on.

We reminded her that the medicine was making her feel "silly" and "funny" and she confirmed that "I feel funny."

Then she squinted at Shrike again, and said, "Oh! You ahw beautifuw!"

Just like her Mommy, when she's drunk!

Eventually, we had to prop her up in the corner of the bed, because she kept tipping over, and she kept "tucking in" Bert and Ernie, then lying down with them, and saying "I so sweepy" and "Don't talk, Mama."

When the anesthesiologist came in to talk to us, she said "Hi Doctor!" and "Wait a minute!" - which is what she says when she's just noticed something and is about to report on it (Grover says that a lot), but she never did finish the thought.

Then Dr. C came in, and she was very happy to see her. She kept saying something about "My opuhwation." I think she was trying to tell us that she was ready to get the show on the road.

And soon, we did.

Shrike went back to the operating room with her this time, and got her all settled, and then we grabbed some lunch while we waited.

It only took about forty-five minutes, and when Dr. C came out to talk to us, she said that everything had gone very well.

She capped the tooth with the falling-offy filling, filled the first molar with the little chip in it, and filled both the two-year molar that we knew about, and the comparable one on the other side, which xrays showed also had a small cavity.

She also touched up the sealant on all her molars, because she said that her teeth have really deep grooves, which weren't sealed completely when it was done in the office, with her awake and squirming.

She also said that the xrays didn't show any other decay, and was especially glad to see that there were no problems between any of the teeth.

A few minutes later, we got to go back and see her.

Unlike last time, she was still asleep at that point, so we just patted her for a while, until she stirred a bit, and the nurse said that I could hold her while she woke up. Well, that turned out to take about an hour!

We tried talking to her, tickling her, spooning bits of mushed-up popsicle into her mouth, and she was still in no mood to get up. She was with-it enough to say, "No! I don't want it!" but no wakey-wakey.

Finally, the nurse said she had to wake up, because she had to have some fluids before we could go home.

Well, hell, if I'd known that was what they were waiting for, we'd have been out of there ages ago. She still wasn't keep on waking  up, but she was more than happy to get some goody!

She finally got a little more awake, just in time to complain about having her IV removed. After taking it out, the nurse put one of those folded-up-guaze-and-tape bandaids. A few minutes later, she showed it to me and said, "Oh, wook at my bandaid! Isn't it beautifuw? Do you wuv it?" I noticed that it had a fair amount of blood on it, which I'm guessing is what she thought was pretty - the red against the white of the gauze.

(At this point, Shrike suddenly became much less moved by the compliment she paid her earlier.)

Just then the nurse came back in the room, so I told her what Peeper had just said. Her response? "I have to take that off."

What? The fuck? Did I not just tell you that she thinks it's beautiful? So now you're taking it away?

She put on a regular bandaid (much to Peeper's displeasure) and promised her a "princess sticker" to go on it.

Well, first, we don't do princesses, so Peeper couldn't have cared less about that, but second, if we did do princesses, she would've been pretty pissed when the nurse came back with a Dora sticker instead.

She tried to put it on top of the bandaid, while Peeper pulled her hand away, saying "No! I don't want it!"

So I asked if she could please make a new gauze-and-tape one, on top of the regular one, because she really like it.

She did, but I could tell she was less that thrilled about it. Too bad, lady. You take a poor baby's beautiful bloody bandaid, you'd better fucking well replace it with the same kind.

Eventually, she was awake enough for us to come home, and after a quick trip to the potty - followed by a diaper change, because she evidently peed the same time we did, and soaked herself right through, we were finally on our way home.

She both slept most of the way, which is a good thing, because she was pretty cranky during the parts that she was awake.

When we got home, we had goody in bed for a good while, until she announced that "I want to get up. I am hungry. I am a hungry mungry." (this is something that we say)

There was some "No! Keep dese pants on!" drama (She was soaked again when we got home but it wasn't worth the fight. We'll wash the sheets tomorrow.) but then she ate some Goldfish, and watched some Sesame Street, and even played for a bit, before asking for goody in bed again.

That time, she and I napped from about 6:30 to 8:30, and we've been up since, with her in a pretty good mood.

Perhaps, some day, we'll get to go to bed.