Dentists, Hygienists, and Doctors, Oh My!

In the last two days, the kids have been to the dentist and the eye doctor.  Both early morning appointments.  Both the week after Daylight Savings Time starts.  I will never make this mistake again.

Although it hasn't been easy, the kids have been amazing! 

Yesterday morning (and yes, I'm sure this will win me the mother-of-the-year award), we got up and went to the dentist appointment...before eating breakfast.  It was so early that I just let them sleep until it was time to get them up and dressed.  I did give them some milk (which I was scolded for, sort of), but breakfast waited until we got home. 

They got great reports at the dentist, although we did discover that they have some issues with enamel that did not bond to their teeth because of their prematurity.  Karyssa only has one tooth affected (which is why we visited the dentist six months ago, although they didn't tell us that was the issue then) and it isn't that bad, but Kyran has five teeth that may need to be capped later. 

If you've never taken a toddler to the dentist, it's quite an experience.  They, of course, won't sit still in the chair, so I held each of them while they laid their heads in the hygienist's and dentist's laps.  They basically just brushed their teeth with the electric polisher, and then flossed a little.  Karyssa had a very hard time with that, crying and trying to close her mouth at the same time.  Kyran cried at first, with his mouth open wide, and once he realized it wasn't hurting him, he calmed down.

Kyran now has 18 teeth, and Karyssa 16, but since both are still missing their two-year molars, they only needed one X-ray picture of the front of their mouths.  Karyssa also did not like the X-ray, but Kyran did very well, and they both got a pinwheel, a toothbrush and a sticker.  Karyssa picked out Cinderella and Kyran chose Handy Manny.  I definitely have a boy and a girl on my hands!

The dentist did warn me to "be careful of sippy cups" and that "milk has sugar in it".  I'm not really sure what to do with that advice, since milk is so important for the kids and the only way they can drink it (without spilling it all over the place) is in a sippy cup. 

In the dentist's office

Ready to go home!

This morning, we had a little more time before the eye doctor, so we did eat breakfast before we left.  While we were in the waiting room, a mom and daughter came out.  The mom said, "Kaitlyn, wait.  I forgot your thermos."  They went back to the exam room to get it.  As soon as they were out of sight, both Kyran and Karyssa started asking "Where'd Kaitlyn go?"  I was flabbergasted, along with the other mother who was sitting across from us. 

The eye appointment went well, but they definitely weren't very cooperative.  They especially didn't like having their eyes sprayed to get their pupils to dilate.  Both are very, very slightly near-sighted, but nothing needing any extra attention.  They will go back for another appointment in a year. 

Every time we go to the audiologist, opthamologist or any other specialist, they tell us the reasons we're there.  They're looking for hearing loss, glaucoma, severe nearsightedness, CP, so many of the things that are common with preemies.  Every time we go to one of these specialists, I am reminded exactly how special my kids are, and what miracles we have witnessed over the last twenty seven months!