You know you kinda figure by baby number 4 that you've kinda seen most of what you're going to see in parenting. Nope...not so much. First of all my number 4 doesn't have a penis and that alone makes for a world of fun...she is TALKATIVE, a bit divaish (I'm sure we created that), and just a little more cautious. Not only that but hey since you didn't have enough to do with 4 children let's throw in a tiny little pair of glasses to afford, keep track of, worry about. Then a bunch of first time ever experiences you really could have lived without....
Sunday between church and youth group, we were frantically trying to get our basement cleaned. Anyone who has tried to walk down the laundry covered stairs to the large garbage can called our basement (or anyone who remembers me falling down the stairs into the cement wall last Thanksgiving) can imagine that this was no easy feat. Last time we cleaned it we ended up with like 4 55-gallon bags to goodwill and 5 of garbage. Well we're all down there and Hannah keeps heading for the stairs. I keep pulling her off of them and telling her she's going to break her skull, but in true Kastner fashion, she just keeps on ignoring me. All of a sudden I'm sweeping and I hear that sound that makes your heart completely stop: someone or something tumbling down the stairs. I throw the broom, cuss, and sprint for the bottom of the stairs. During my 3 second sprint, I hear what I really didn't want to hear....the finale to the tumbling: Hannah's screams.
Thank GOD! I hadn't yet cleaned up the dirty laundry gathered at the bottom of the stairs because that at least broke her fall and protected her from smashing her head on the concrete floor. I picked her up and she was screaming and blood was pouring from her mouth. This is not new. I've done that scene about a MILLION times in the past 8 years. But as I opened her mouth, I started to tear up. Her bottom left tooth was turned at a right angle to the others. John was just getting to the bottom of the stairs and I said, her tooth is knocked crooked. We have to call the dentist. He pulled Hannah out of my arms as I rushed up the stairs and he started examining her tooth. He was able to get the tooth back in place, but it was a little loose. When I called the dentist's emergency number, our pediatric dentist said, "Guess what I'm actually in the office right now because someone else is on their way for an emergency appointment. Can you bring her right in?" PRAISE GOD! "I sure can."
Well the dentist said he thought the tooth would tighten up over the next few days. He said to bring her in on Friday to be checked or to call if it worsened. Well, it worsened....later that evening she picked up her shoe and tried to chew on it. She started SCREAMING! I ran over and she had blood everywhere and her tooth was poking straight out from her teeth. I pushed it back and calmed her down. At 1:30 she woke up and was fit to be tied. We figured maybe she was in pain, so I took her downstairs to give her Tylenol. She started thrasing cuz she didn't want the Tylenol and bumped that tooth on the spoon....more blood and she wouldn't let me check if it was in place anymore.
In the morning when I checked it, it was VERY loose and about to fall out. I called the dentist who advised us to give it until the afternoon and then check back in. Well this isgetting kinda lengthy so I'll wrap it up...I had to take her in last night to have the tooth pulled. It's not the end of the world...it's only a baby tooth. She does look pretty cute with that little gap there, but everytime I look at the cute little hole in her smile, I remember what a bad mom I am because I let her fall down the stairs.