Congratulations Owen!
Katie can only use Snapchat on my phone…so today we did some filters while waiting for the orthodontist. It’s making memories, right?
One starts today and one finishes today!
Category Archives: Appointment – Owen
Our first ever visit to urgent care
Owen came home from school complaining of a sore throat. He said the dreaded words: it feels like swallowing glass.
Unfortunately… there were no appointments available at the hospital as everything was shutting down for the storm. So…I researched which urgent care we could go to and off we went!
Thankfully it was just minutes from our house and we got in quickly. We had to wait for a rapid strep test plus they took a Covid test. Strep was negative so it was off to Target for some throat drops. We did a rapid Covid and it was negative…so I just think he had a cold with nasal drainage causing the sore throat.
Owen braces, round 2.
Yes, round 2. Thankfully our new insurance covers braces again so we’re only out another $2500 (this round is about $3k more than the last one but the coverage is better).
I did ask if he wanted to reschedule (since we obviously had no idea two months ago what we’d be doing this morning) and he said no.
I wasn’t going to take any pictures but then during the process Owen asked if I would…so of course I did!
Ocular migraine?!
Owen told us recently that he had been having some vision issues—seeing green lights and wavy lines and feeling pressure on his eyeballs—so we took him to the eye doctor.
After more questions and an exam (during which he got eye drops to be able to see inside his eyes), the doctor said he thought it sounded like ocular migraines—but without the actual headache. (A bonus?!)
It’s not serious—it’s actually quite common—and we’re just supposed to track when they happen to see if we can figure out a trigger.
Owen needs braces again.
The orthodontist has an even fancier system for tooth models now! It’s a tiny little camera she just moves around his mouth and it turns it into a 3D model!
https://youtube.com/shorts/SYxHvNj7IDM
His last adult tooth (red X) is trying to come in on top of another tooth. So they have to move the tooth that’s currently there to the empty spot (green arrow). This means six months of full braces on the top and then likely two years of Invisalign after.
Why Invisalign? Owen asked for it and since he did really well keeping track of his retainer the past two years, we said we’d think about it. Unfortunately it’s more expensive, to the tune of about $6k. We’re still waiting on the price for regular braces because we are out of insurance benefits (we were out from Day 1—benefits max out at like $1750 and we have already paid that much ourselves).
Owen facial #2
We’re working on Owen’s acne…so he’s using SeneGence products plus salon facials. Yes, he’s getting spoiled.
Owen’s first facial!
He has been having pre-teen acne issues so I’ve had him using a SeneGence acne wash and moisturizer, doing masks, and I finally took him to get a facial. He did really well (she had to do a lot of manual blackhead extractions) and even agreed to do another!
A Covid shot for Owen!
I scheduled an appointment as soon as we could that fit our schedule! He says he didn’t feel a thing!
Owen and the hippo
Owen tripped and fell last night and hurt his arm and wrist and it was still hurting today so it was off to the pediatrician. We had it x-rayed and they didn’t see anything so it’s just waiting for it to get better.
They apologized for putting us in a baby room but of course we didn’t care.
Waiting for x-rays he had to sit in a kid seat. I thought the little duck feet were adorable. You can see his “ugh mom” reaction.
Another tooth gone!
He was kinda worried about having surgery but he handled it like a champ. Tom went with him and said he had all the ladies laughing afterward. We had gotten him excited about counting down from 10 once they started the sleepy drugs…but he didn’t even get to 10. He said they told him they were putting it in and then he was waking up!
Owen’s first pulled tooth!
His orthodontist recommended getting two teeth pulled so after a few delays here we are. He was nervous but handled it like a champ. This was about 15 minutes in while he was numb before they actually started—he just wanted to come out and say hi.
Unfortunately, one of the teeth gave her some problems and she couldn’t remove it so she referred us to an oral surgeon. She seems to think maybe the roots of the baby tooth are wrapped around the adult tooth. Yikes.
Owen was not thrilled with that prospect so we’re trying to talk up how cool it is to be knocked out and we think he’s okay now. Thankfully we are getting in next week so he doesn’t have much time to think about it.
6th grade physical
The required sixth grade physicals were still required even though they aren’t technically at school…so off we went. It was really almost eerie walking through an empty hospital. Especially since the parking garage was as full as usual—where was everyone?!
Owen also had to get three shots which he wasn’t thrilled about but at least he just sucks it up and does it without issue.
Because why not add an emergency eye appointment for Owen to the mix?
He’s fine but has a scratched cornea. Always wear safety goggles, kids.
After Anna dropped the kids off from their overnight stay, Owen started complaining that his eye was bothering him. I figured he had an eyelash or something in his eye so told him to let it water and flush itself out. Nope, still there. I looked, nothing. I then tried to rinse it out—a challenge considering everything was obviously packed and I couldn’t find my saline, squirt bottles, or eye drops. (I might not have been in the best frame of mind, either. After another long day with the movers, now I’m having to deal with this at 3pm.)
So then it became the challenge of him letting me actually get his eye rinsed out. First he wouldn’t even let me get near his eye. Then he kept shutting his eye. Then he couldn’t tip his head back. Good times. I finally got some water in and he said it really hurt. Hmmm, that’s not good. So then I had to decide whether to see if we could get in to his doctor, go to urgent care, the ER, or try his eye doctor. I picked eye doctor and of course they had no appointments locally (they are five minutes from us) but a sister office 30 minutes away had an opening…so off we went. One quick look with some eye drops and yep, two small scratches. We were in and out within about 15 minutes.
And you can believe we had a big conversation about preventing things like this because the simple act of not wearing goggles meant we had to pay $70 for the appointment, $15 for the meds, and then another $70 for the follow up appointment. I told him we’d obviously always take care of these things, but that money could have gone to…a whole year of Netflix. Or about six trips to Culver’s. Or half of an Xbox. You should have seen the look on his face when he learned that. So hopefully that sunk in.
So how did this happen? The boys were (apparently) sanding wood blocks with a block and sandpaper—no power tools involved because David had wisely put the kibosh on that. I asked why he didn’t wear goggles and he said there was only one pair and one of the boys was smashing something into pieces so he wore them. Owen said he would sand and tried to keep blowing the dust away from him…?!
Retainer day!!
Let’s take these braces off! Koo
I am stunned it’s only been about a year!
Before…
And they’re off! It only takes seconds to snap them all off!
Cleaning off the glue…
His first look!
The success pic with the doc!
And then…this happened.
I’ve been looking at this face with braces for a year. You wouldn’t think the smile would look THAT different without them…but it does. And look how happy he is!! And how cute (and old!) he looks!!
Now he’ll get a retainer he has to wear at night only and we go in for checks every three months. The teeth that are getting ready to come in might give us some trouble—one is perfectly angled and one is crooked—so she warned that one might need to get pulled. Stay tuned!
This is the attitude I get all the time now.
Look at that face!
And then this.
A regular appt today—nothing broken. Yay!!
Bottom braces and rubber bands now!! Yikes!
The doc decided that his bottom teeth need to move just a bit so he got new bottom braces and rubber bands he only has to wear at night!
Mom! Take a picture of me so I can get my bonus tokens! 😂
They stopped and said “Daddy’s sign!!”
We took Owen in for his random stomach aches (thinking it might be constipation again) but he got the all clear after x-rays. So not sure what’s going on…
Braces!!
Braces are coming shortly!! He is excited!!
Getting closer! First they have to remove the expander.
He wasn’t nervous but his feet did come off the chair while it was happening.
Picking colors! He gets to pick as many as he wants since his birthday is coming up! (Normally they get a max of two colors.)
He opted for rainbow colors since he was getting six brackets. And instead of purple he chose lilac for me. đŸ™‚
Prepping his teeth.
Brackets going on!
First braces selfie! My baby!!!!!!!
After!! OMG.
Time for flu shots!
Of course Owen was sooo worried about getting a shot—he just can’t seem to remember from year to year that it’s no big deal. Granted he doesn’t get himself as worked up as he used to, but I think he still worries too much for what it is. (It’s always over quickly and he has the “Oh, that’s it?” look.)
Anyway, we took a selfie while we were waiting for our 15 minutes.
I’m just the car ride.
I think we’re almost ready for me to stay in the car while he runs in for his appointment: He checks himself in, brushes his teeth, then has a quick appointment.
Mom and Owen cuddles
Owen came home from school with his ear still not feeling better—and he actually wanted to cuddle with me on the couch. He’s 9 so that doesn’t happen much anymore…so I relish when it does. He also let me run my fingers through his hair which he doesn’t like but I love… 😍
Double swimmers ear and an ear infection.
Both kids started complaining of sore ears and headaches Tuesday afternoon so it was off to the doc today. I had a feeling they had swimmers ear since that’s what happened to Owen the last time we had the waterslide…and the doc confirmed it. Plus Owen also had a mild middle ear infection. And Katie has generic first-week-back-to-school crud from the Petri dish that is a school with 1200 kids.
Braces, part 1: the expander
He was’t terribly excited about me taking a picture before getting his expander.
Being his silly self.
End result:
She said it would take him a few days to learn how to talk with it—and that is definitely the case. He mumbles a lot anyway so this just makes it 10 times as hard to understand him.
Getting braces is much different these days.
Today Owen had his first orthodontic appointment—getting his mouth scanned for many thousands of pictures of his teeth/mouth to be stitched together so he doesn’t need impressions! Technology is awesome.
They also put on the two rubber band spacers to prepare for the expander.
Guess who’s getting braces?
Yep. His current (and last) dentist both recommended an orthodontic referral. We finally went.
The bad news? He has a crossbite that really needs to be fixed. Most likely due to his thumb-sucking. Sigh. And insurance only covers $1750 for a lifetime. And it costs twice that.
The good news is that it won’t take long to fix. He’ll have to wear an expander for 3-4 months and then braces (just on the front four teeth) for about a year. Of course he could need more as more teeth fall out and come in, but right now she thinks this will be good.
He’s not thrilled but he’s not fighting it. We’re telling him he’ll have a robot mouth. đŸ™‚
Looking good at the dentist!
Their first official eye exam!
Illinois is weird and requires kids to have full dental and vision exams… Both kids checked out fine with 20/20 eyesight though each had a tiny bit of astigmatism that wasn’t worrying.
