Do You Floss? I Do.

I had my semi-annual dental teeth cleaning this morning. I have a bit of a dental phobia, and only my attachment to my dentist's wife keeps me at his practice. I think the dentist himself is fine, but he doesn't offer nitrous, and I think I might enjoy dental work a little bit more if I were high. One time he prescribed some Xanax for me, but it didn't seem to help and my dad scared me away from trying it again.

My mom ended her spring break visit a little earlier than I'd hoped, so I had no childcare this morning. This offered two additional stresses to the first post-pregnancy (read: cavities expected) teeth cleaning. I had a 10:00 appointment 15+ minutes from home and Ellie's bus drops her off at the house around 11:15. And I had to take the baby with me.

Baby Ada is sweet and wonderful and flexible and willing to go all kinds of places on an erratic schedule. But not today. She screamed her head off all the way to the dentist's office despite being freshly diapered and fed. She continued crying once we were there.

So after my x-rays, I picked her up from the dentist's wife, who was trying to soothe her while taking phone calls - she manages the front office - and nursed her throughout my entire cleaning. That was crazy, of course. Can you imagine nursing while lying flat on your back with a plastic bib over your chest and sharp instruments passing back and forth over the baby?

Next let me say that at this appointment I learned that my overnight clenching problem hasn't subsided. Despite my expensive bite guard, some of my prophylactic sealant has worn off and two fillings need to be replaced. Drilling! Yay! Just Kidding! I'm really horrified! Somebody please get me some drugs!

That said, despite everything, it was one of the most pleasant dental visits I've ever had. It turns out that all that Oxytocin flooding my brain while I was nursing made me feel pretty relaxed about the whole visit.

I don't think I'll bring Ada along for next week's cavity fills, though.