I visited with my friend Jennifer for a few minutes, and then we started rounding up the kids to head home. Nate went one way, and Carli started off the other. Before I could ask her to stop and come the same way as Nate, she was down. She took the corner so fast and so sharp. (Almost like a speed skater in the Olympics) I saw it happen, and I knew it wasn't going to be good.
As I ran over and saw the amount of blood, I knew I needed help. I yelled at Jennifer, and the neighbor across the street said she could help. So she ran over and Jennifer went to find Nate (oblivious, and still heading home). We somehow managed to get Carli across the street and into the bathroom to wash up. I had no idea where she had hit and where all the blood was coming from. It was her mouth. We didn't need stitches, and I wasn't sure what all had happened in her mouth but knew we would need to at least head out to my moms for her expert nursing opinion. (and Dr. Couch is 3 minutes from her house)
And yes...Chad was out of town.
Jennifer helped me round up the kids and get all our stuff back home. Brave Carli had calmed down quite a bit (she even wanted Ava to come in to see her room!) I loaded up PJs, bottles, silkies, drinks and headed out the door. Chad was calling the dentist, so they knew we were on our way.
Carli was terrified of what was about to come. She didn't want them to touch, poke or hardly look her way. She heard me tell my mom we would have to see the dentist and she said, "nope. Im not going. No, no no no No! It was such a Carli thing to say, I couldn't help but smile. I had mom bring Mr. Mark for back up, in case we needed to drag her in the door kicking and screaming.
It was a long afternoon at the dentist. The first challenge was getting an X-ray, the next challenge, getting a bigger X-ray. And the most dramatic one...letting the dentist feel inside her mouth to make sure there wasn't anything else going on, broken or chipped.
Her tooth was definitely gone. For now there was nothing to do but wait and let it heal. The next concern was her teeth next to it. They had been shoved back up her gums, and there was no way of telling if they would come back down or even be viable once they did.
Who knew, that if I had the tooth with me, there was a chance they could reinsert it back into her mouth. But only if I had rinsed it, kept it in milk and been there within 2hrs. Crazy. It wasn't even on my radar to look and find a tooth. I wasn't even sure what had happened, and because I was worried about the closing time of the dental office, I didn't drive back by the park on my way there. **Ohh but on the way home we did...and I found it. Sitting right by the drops of blood. It was huge. Root and All. I was shocked. Chad suggested I let Carli put it back under her pillow for the tooth fairy to come again. Thinking that was a great idea, I told Carli when I got back in the car. Her face dropped. It hit her. Her tooth was gone, and it wasn't going to grow back. She knows you only have 2 teeth, and this was her 2nd set. She was so sad. I felt awful. And we had been in such good spirits until this point. My poor baby was as she said, "broken".
I tried to talk Carli into staying home from School. Just to have a day at home, relax, read books, watch movies, eat ice cream, anything. But she would not do it. She wanted to go to school. It was going to be Friday and she was going to buy a smensil (Yup, a smelly pencil). I tried everything I could to convince
her to let her friend buy it, to buy one next week, to go in late, to come home at lunch. But she was fine, and she was going. So I said peace out! :) When I went up to lunch to check on her, she had already told her class all about it and was not happy I didn't bring her tooth to show everyone. What a crazy girl.
We've take a few pictures to document. Its so sad though. So brace yourself if you dare look at the pictures.
Waiting to see the Dentist
A picture when we got home, 5 hrs after the crash
The tooth. Yuck.
After 24hrs. She thinks it it feels all better.
