Easton Goes to the Dentist

Last summer, Tyson took a break from work so that he could really focus on school for a while. During that time, we signed Easton up for medicaid while we didn't have insurance and he's actually qualified ever since. The state has this thing called the Check System where they check in on you all the time to see if kids have missed an immunization or a wellness check up. Whenever they send reminder letters I think to myself what kind of mother doesn't know to take their kid in for their wellness visits? I got a call the other day from a lady that said,

"Did you know that your son should have had a dental check up when he was 18 months old?"

"Uh...no."

"Well, you need to make him an appointment right away."

I guess I missed that one. I thought they were supposed to be two. Anyway, because Tyson has been blessed with this great new job, Easton's medicaid will be ending this month so I Googled "Orem pediatric dentist" and made an appointment as soon as I could with the first dentist on the list. BIG MISTAKE! The office staff was really nice when I made the appointment on Monday. They asked if there were any special concerns with Easton and how I found their office. We made an appt for today, Wednesday. So last night, we're all in bed (we go to bed at 9:00 now because Tyson has to wake up so early) and my phone starts ringing. It was 9:45 and I didn't recognize the number, but I answered it.

Someone said, "Hi Easton! Easton? Easton?"

"This is Easton's mom."

"Oh sorry Ms. Page, this is Dr. Howell, the dentist. I was just reviewing my schedule for tomorrow and would like to ask you a few questions."

Guess what he asked me? For the second time, are there any special concerns with Easton and how did you find our office. I talked to him for 10 minutes so it was nearly 10:00 when I hung up and then I laid there half the night wondering if I should cancel the appointment or take my son to this freak! He sounded like he was high (I talk to people who are high all day at work so I think I would know) and who calls that late???

I decided to go ahead and just get the appointment over with. Easton was actually really excited. He knew they were going to brush his teeth and he was going to say "aaahh" and get a prize. We got to the office and the hyperactive superfriendly hygienist took us on a tour of the office. Then we sat down and guess what she asked me. Are there any special concerns with Easton and how did you find our office. Holy cow this is the third time! I told you, I googled you! Easton was so excited to sit up in the chair! I can't get over how big he looks!

The girl had him pick out a tooth brush and then used it to brush his teeth really well. Then he did x-rays in the butterfly room. He did a great job keeping his eyes on all the butterflies on the ceiling during his pictures.

After that, the dentist came in wearing some huge blue paper smock, a blue mask, and some massive goggles. What a nice way to introduce yourself to a one year old! He had ZERO bedside manner and didn't say a word to Easton. Luckily I had spent the whole morning telling Easton how nice the dentist was and building this dumb guy up in Easton's mind. The doctor sat down and asked me ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL CONCERNS WITH EASTON AND HOW DID YOU FIND OUR OFFICE?!!! If I had the nerve I would have said, "Don't you remember you called me in the middle of the night and asked me already? Or were you high on laughing gas?" The only other thing the doctor said to me was that I would need to hold Easton's arms and legs down to restrain him. Are you kidding me? Easton was fine. He painted on some sticky fluoride crap on his teeth that has to stay on for 24 hours. It is yellow goo and he got it all over Easton's eyebrow and lips and it WILL NOT come off. He was really a freak. We will not be going back. Easton has no cavities and did an AWESOME job. He said "eeeeeee" and "aaaaaahhh" perfectly and I couldn't have been more proud. He chose a tiny zebra out of the treasure chest and we got to go to Sonic and get a free ice cream.

BRAIN FREEZE!

The Very Long Version

Wow, thanks for all the comments everyone! That was record shattering. The last post was the short version of the new baby and this will be the very long and probably very boring one. I've been wanting to write these things down for journaling purposes, so feel free to skip this post if you want:) I won't feel bad.

The story begins in July of 2009. Tyson and I were in Heber celebrating our 2nd anniversary (early). When we went out to dinner to and Italian place the first night I decided to get brave and tell Tyson that I thought it was time for another baby. Easton was only 8 months old at the time and it caused quite an argument. I don't blame Tyson for thinking I was insane, but for some reason I was really worried that it would take a while. And I was right! We waited and waited. I know a year isn't that long to wait compared to so many others, but after you have one baby, you don't really expect to have problems. I saw the doctor a couple times and everything looked fine.

At the end of May I was driving up to Sandy at 10:00 at night. I had gotten off work at 8 and gone to get my toes done and I felt really sick to my stomach. I had to go pick up some back drop paper from a neighbor in Sandy that we were borrowing for a photoshoot the next day. Tyson was working late at the hospital and couldn't get away. As I was driving up to Sandy I started having a lot of pain in my lower back and right side. It was the weirdest pain I had ever felt. I was driving with my hands on the bottom of the steering wheel and my elbows digging into my sides to try to help the pain. It was almost 11:00 by the time I got to Sandy through the construction. The pain felt like it was coming from my kidneys and I really had to pee, (TMI I know) but my family was in Lake Powell and I didn't have a key to the house. I couldn't go to a gas station because Easton was sleeping in the back seat. I called my friend Desi and used her bathroom, but the pain was getting worse and worse! Desi was having a small crisis, so it actually ended up perfect that I could go pick her up and talk to her for a while. We went to McDonald's and got a coke. I dropped her off and headed home as the pain got worse and worse. I got home and put Easton in his crib and curled up in my bed. I cried myself to sleep. The next morning I was fine! The pain was on and off for a few days, but not nearly as bad as it had originally been. On Memorial Day Tyson was at work again and I was home with Easton. The pain started to return and I knew it was going to get bad again. Nothing I could do helped. It didn't matter how I laid down, what I ate or drank, hot pads, ice, pillows, baths, nothing helped. When Tyson got home from work I burst into tears and told him I thought I should go to the doctor. Being a holiday, we decided it would be best to go straight to the emergency room. I cried and cried in the waiting room until they finally took me back to a bed. As soon as I got back there - NO PAIN. It was gone. They made me do a urine test and couldn't really find anything so they suggested maybe it was a UTI. Yeah right. I left angry and embarrassed.

The pain didn't come back for a while. We went to Lake Powell, Canada, and Idaho and had no problem. Then one morning after Tyson was, of course, gone to work, I woke up to the excruciating pain. I got Easton out of his crib and let the poor thing wander around the house alone while I cried in my bed. I reached for my cell phone and called my mom and could barely get the words out that the pain was back. She said she'd send Kate down to pick up Easton. I was able to get up and walk down the hall to knock on Kelsey's door and ask her to watch him until Kate got there. When she got to our house I decided that I didn't want to just be home alone dealing with this so I decided to go with her. By the time I got to Sandy (about 2 hours after the pain started) I was starting to feel better again. It was the weirdest thing ever. The worst part was that no one ever saw me when I was experiencing the most pain. I felt like the boy who cried wolf. The problem was, this was happening around June 28th. Tyson had just started his new job and our insurance from the previous job was supposed to end on the 30th. I wanted to make sure this was taken care of before then. Because I had just taken my first round of Clomid earlier that month, I decided to make an appointment with my OB to see if it was maybe a cyst or something. I was pretty sure it was a kidney stone and thought they could do an ultrasound to check. They were able to get me in that morning and my mom took me to the office. I did another urine test and they found blood in the urine. They did the ultrasound looking for cysts and Dr. Agaard said, "Well, your ovaries look fine, but did anyone ever tell you you have a bicornuate uterus?" I said, "Uh... no?" He said, "Ya, it's definitely heart shaped." I said, "Huh. Weird." The doctor said, "Alright it looks like the pain is not coming from anything gynocological." And sent me on my way.

My mom and I thought it would be best to see a urologist to see about a kidney stone before the insurance was terminated. I called the one my dad had just seen (kidney stones seem to run in his family) and they were able to get me in the next morning. Dr. Clark listened to my story and said it sounds like a classic stone. He explained to me that kidney stones are very common and people often have them without even knowing it because the only time they hurt is when they get stuck somewhere along the way. He said there is a good chance that I had already passed it and not known it, but suggested I go straight to the hospital for a CT scan because of the insurance issue. I had the scan and waited in the waiting room for Dr. Clark to call. He said he received the scan and could not find any stones. He said I probably already passed it and shouldn't have any more problems. I was glad, but also a little annoyed because I wanted some concrete evidence.

So I went home. Tyson worked late again. I decided to google "bicornuate uterus." I was shocked at what I found! I read on website after website that having a bicornuate or "heart shaped" uterus decreases your chances of delivering a living baby to about 40%. Of those 40% over half would suffer from fetal retardation syndrome and almost all would be delivered by emergency cesarean because of breech or other uncommon presentations. With a bicornuate uterus, the top part of the uterus is made of defective tissue and isn't able to grow and expand to acomodate the baby. Additionally, if the baby initially implants in that top part, you will just miscarry. I was very confused, especially about the fact that the doctor told me none of this. Wasn't he looking at my chart? Seeing that it had been almost a year we had been trying and trying? Didn't he know that I was taking the Clomid and thought I had had two possible miscarriages? Tyson and I talked and decided maybe we needed to re-group a little bit. We did not want to have a baby knowing that we might be putting its life in danger and knew that we weren't prepared financially for all the complications that could come up. Besides that, I felt like my hormones were completely out of control and I had taken a test and found that the Clomid had not worked. This was the only time I have ever been relieved to see a negative pregnancy test.

We decided to call the doctor and ask him to call in a prescription for birth control. I filled the prescription when I got to work later that week and we felt really good about the decision. I also called my friend Kristi and got the information for her high-risk doctor so I could get a second opinion. I came home from work that night and Tyson wanted to go for a drive up the canyon. By the time we got to the top, I was so sick I thought I was going to puke! We went home and I went straight to bed. I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and wanted to take some Motrin. For some reason, I thought I should maybe take one more pregnancy test (this being probably the fifth for that month) before I took the Motrin just in case. It was positive! I was totally in shock. Tyson doesn't get service at work so I had to wait for his lunch break to tell him. At which point he was in shock. We were excited, but our excitement was kind of being taken over by worry. I called the doctor right away to see if I could get an early appointment for two reasons: first, I wanted to see where this little thing was implanted asap! and second, we were very concerned about the fact that I had just had a CT scan. They told me I would have to wait until I was 6 weeks to be able to see anything.

At my 6 week appointment, I saw Dr. Bean. He told me that as far as the CT scan affecting the baby, if I was going to lose it I would have lost it already. He did an ultrasound to see where the baby was implanted. He told me that he couldn't see anything wrong with my uterus! And even if there was a slight heart shape, this baby is right in the middle. He reminded me that bicornuate uterus is often very hard to diagnose and usually can't be seen until you are already in the middle of an emergency cesarean when the doctor is actually looking at the uterus with his own eyes. So, I still might have one. Maybe that other doctor did see what he thought he saw, but Dr. Bean told me he thinks I have no greater risk than anyone else.

We are so grateful that this baby is healthy and is coming to us at just the right time. Also we are thinking it is a girl because I have been SO sick! I was NEVER sick with Easton. On some days like today, I have been lucky to get down some applesauce and rice. Had I known I was going to be this sick, I might not have tried so hard! I never would have been able to get through as much school as I did if I had gotten sick any earlier. The bottom line is that Heavenly Father knows me so much better than I know myself. I wonder how many times he'll have to remind me:)

Name That Sound...

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If you guessed a little bitty heart beat, you're right!

After one long year {and a little Clomid}, we are excited to announce our tiny new addition that will be here in March!

Farm Country

A friend from work asked if Easton and I wanted to go to "Two Buck Tuesday" at Thanksgiving Point. We were going to go to see the dinosaur museum, but then she found out that Discovery Gateway in SLC was free today! Sweet deal! Unfortunately I have to go to work in a half hour so I didn't think I'd make it to Salt Lake and back in time. So I decided (in the middle of the night, since Easton is reverting to newborn night time status) that I would take Easton to the Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point since we've already done the dinosaur thing. When we got up this morning I said,

"Hey, do you want to go to a farm today?"

"Ya!"

"Do you even know what a farm is?"

"Ya. Moooooooooooooooo."

All morning he chanted, "a goin a fom! a goin a fom!"

We got all ready and got out the door early because we heard these 2 buck Tuesdays were crowded. (Word to the wise: pay the extra $1.50 and don't go on a Tuesday!!!) On the way there I decided to call my mom and see if the little girls could come. She dropped off Kennedi and Collette and I was sure glad to have them! They pushed the stroller or carried Easton around so all I had to do was take pictures!

Kennedi got to ride a pony too, but I couldn't get around to her to take her picture because I was too afraid Easton would fall off! Sorry Kennedi!

Easton and Collette in the "dance hall."

We had a lot of fun! When we had had enough of the heat, we went out to lunch at JCW's.

In other news, my sister Kate leaves tonight for her Disney internship in Florida! Go to Kelsey's blog to play the "guess where she's going" game! Good luck Kate!

Strange Obsession

Easton has a strange obsession with his "Bampa Cook." He likes his Grandpa Page a lot too, don't get me wrong. But all day every day he begs to go to Bampa Cook's. I'm not sure what it is about him that Easton likes so much. Maybe it's the animal sounds on his phone, or the fact that he takes him fun places like to the Wiggles concert.

On an average day it usually starts right when he wakes up and I hear about it at least 50 times. "Bampa Cook tonight! Bampa Cook tonight!" It starts out playfully but it usually turns into a full blown tantrum. Today was a bad day. It started bright and early and was pretty much non-stop. I told him that we had to go to church first, then eat lunch, then a nap, then we could go to Grandpa's. Through each step of the day he would tell me what he had to do next before we could go. After lunch he screamed "Bampa Cook!" for about 15 minutes before I got the video on my phone out. When I finally got it out he switched to saying he wanted to go to "Aunties Home!" But you get the idea. It's the same general obsession. I don't know why the video is tiny and sideways, but it's still funny. Enjoy.

Mom home a East

Easton gets really excited when he knows I get to stay home with him. I decided not to go to class today (I didn't have a babysitter and didn't put much effort into finding one.) So I got to spend the morning with my baby. He made it until 5:30 before coming in to bed with me, which is pretty good for him, and slept all the way until 7:00! Now that is sleeping in. We watched his favorite show, Curious George, and ate cereal on the couch. I can't figure out why he likes George so much more than the other shows. Every time we turn on the TV or talk about watching a show he says "ooh ooh ah ah." He cracks me up.

Then he started to get a little wild. He broke one of the wooden blinds in half while attempting to use the blinds as a hoop for his basket ball. He dumped out his lucky charms, then his chex mix, then his lucky charms again. He made me get him a Go-gurt and then wouldn't eat it... You know just normal things, but I was starting to get frustrated so I tried to think of a way to calm him down. I remembered that Tyson had bought The Fox and the Hound for him and watched most of it with him last night, so I thought we would finish it. Can I just say I HATE THIS MOVIE?!?! It doesn't get any sadder! It doesn't even end happy. Anyway, Easton liked it until the bear attack. He was screaming "no!" for 10 minutes. I explained to him that their owies were going to get all better...then the bear and the fox fell off a cliff and crashed into the waterfall below. Try explaining that. He seemed a little unsettled and kept saying, "mean bear fall a water."

After the movie I wanted to get some cleaning done. Easton likes to help me with the little swiffer duster. While he was dusting and I was cleaning the glass I heard him yell, "Mom! A fork!" I turned around to see that he had pulled the duster off of the swiffer handle and it looked like a fork. He ran over to his chex mix to try to pick something up and eat it with his new enormous fork. So creative.

Then I asked him if he would help me clean his room. He said yes and ran back there yelling, "mom, East run fast! East run fast!" But when we got to his room, he couldn't help me clean because he insisted that he had to sit at his little table and "do homewook." He told me at least 10 times that that is what he wanted to do. I finally got him to get up from the table and find something else to play with. He does the funniest thing lately where he goes crashing into his huge pile of blankets and thinks I can't see him because he's buried face-down in the blankets. he starts yelling, "Oh no! I lost my baby!" because he wants me to start pretending to come find him. I know I've said it before, but he is so funny.

Then it was time for a bath. He wanted to bath with all of his animals. He lined them up on the edge of the tub so he could see them all. It's so fun to watch him play pretend with them and see how he makes the animals interact.

He thinks he is so funny, eating the cow's hay. You can tell by the picture that he doesn't even care that I am yelling, "get that out of your mouth right now or I'm going to throw it away." He's like, "ya right mom." We definitely have some discipline issues - I always tell him I'm going to throw his things away, but can never really do it. And he knows it. Going to have to find a new threat.

After bath time we made some ramen noodles and cheese toast. He insisted that he had a bug on him, which was a tiny piece of noodle. I told him there were no bugs and he seemed content with that for a while. Then all his noodles turned into snakes. "A nake! A nake! Ssssssssssssssss!" I'm tellin ya this kid has quite the imagination.

He's so much fun! I have to take advantage of these days I get to spend with him!

The Best 3 Years

Yesterday was our anniversary! We've been married 3 years now, together for 4. But it seems like forever. Neither of us can remember what life was like before we were dating. So weird. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

Our life is out of control right now. At least I feel like it is. I guess I just feel like I can't do anything I want to do because there are too many things I need to do {school}. I guess that's what being a grown up is all about, but sad that the things I want to do and don't have time for are things like fold laundry, clean the bathroom, and oh I don't know, maybe cook a meal!

Tyson has been a trooper in helping me with these things while I finish this never-ending semester and is always encouraging me to hang in there.

Anyway, for our anniversary we wanted to go to Ruby River {our first date} and then to ward temple night. Easton was a nightmare child for me all day. I've never seen him so out of control. I finally took him for a drive around 5, right before Tyson got home, and he slept until 6:30. So, we took a raincheck on Ruby River {the thing we actually wanted to do} and made it to ward temple night. There were about 3 other couples from our ward so we were glad we could make it and support.

When Tyson got home he brought me roses! I know there are those who would rather have a gift that doesn't die, but I love flowers. These are the second flowers Tyson has ever gotten me, the first being on my 19th birthday. So flowers are a rare and special treat.

Here's us looking exhausted {as usual} after our temple trip - taken by cell phone

Oh, I almost forgot, I got Tyson tickets to Brad Paisley in September as well as a hotel for that night so we'll be looking forward to a little getaway.

PS The tickets were free for opening an account at Zion's Bank :) Yay! It was a steal of a deal! Tyson will never know...until he reads this...