Surgery options and progress post baby

It's been so long! I should post pictures of how my bite has progressed, but it'll have to wait for a day when my mother in law has both girls and I have the time to upload and format it all together.

My jaw surgery was going to be scheduled for January 2018 because all the slots had already been filled (back in June!!) but I'm lucky and a spot opened up for October 13th. I have a strong feeling it was because someone didn't like the idea of major surgery on Friday the 13th ;) Anyway, my surgeon confirmed I will need double jaw surgery to correct my bite. It all sounds pretty complicated so I'll make a separate post in a little while with pictures and better explanation of what will happen.

Baby wise, my daughter is doing pretty well! She's 6 months old now, and on to solid foods. She can *almost* sit on her own now. She grabs everything in sight and tries to shove it in her mouth. My gut tells me she will be a very very busy baby once she's on the move. Everything interests her.

I started a ketogenic diet back in May. I've lost 20lbs and feel amazing. I need to start working out though. I think I'd like to do the couch to 5k program actually. I used to have some success with interval running so sticking to a program and running a few times per week will be totally doable.

Holiday time + 7 months pregnant + bite blockers

It's a combination that has not been easy to live with. Overall having braces has not been as terrible as I thought it would be. I got used to the metal mouth feeling, like my teeth are armored and ready for battle. This pregnancy has been tough as well but I'm past the worst of the nausea and on to general discomfort (at all times).

However...on December 12th my orthodontist upped the ante. I now have brackets and braces on ALL my teeth (the very back molars were left alone initially) and I also have bite blockers on my back teeth to adjust my bite. This means my teeth only touch at the back, so I can't get a proper bite on anything at all unless I chew on the bite blockers themselves. It's super awkward and my cheeks have been in agony for 16 days now. I'm developing a bit of a callous in that area but I still need to eat very soft foods and keep to liquids as much as possible.

This is not good for pregnancy as you can imagine. My last midwife appointment on the 20th went like this:

Midwife: Eat more
Me: ....
Midwife: Even if it's pie. Don't turn anything down.

So yeah, I have been indulging when I can. I'm adding PB to my smoothies and getting protein and fibre and iron whenever possible. Still haven't gained any weight in this pregnancy and I'm 33.4 weeks along. My belly's growing and the baby is fine, so that's good. My boobs are flat pancakes and my jeans keep falling off my bum though. And my face looks...thin. I don't know how to feel about any of it, really. I feel very conflicted. On the one hand I NEED to be strong for a good delivery and a healthy baby (and to nurse well!), on the other hand I'm kind of stoked that I won't feel pressured to lose a bunch of baby weight once I give birth.

Anyway, Christmas went well despite not over-indulging like I used to. I did have a few extra helpings of mashed potatoes which was great :) mmm soft buttery potatoes!

Time to update this blog with some photos.

Will I be a big baby when the braces go on? You bet!

On Friday July 22nd, first thing in the morning, Dr. Kirk inserted elastic spacers between all my back teeth. This will make room for the metal bands to go around my second molars when the braces are put in. You can see the little blue fuckers in the picture below.

 I was expecting some discomfort but not the pain and stiffness. It's hard to yawn. I can't *crack* my jaw like I usually do, because the stiffness restricts my jaw movement. And oh man, putting ANY pressure on my teeth is just killer. The "hardest" food I can tolerate is plain white bread - not even overcooked pasta feels good. The actual tooth pain was the worst the evening the elastics went in, but today it still hurts to try to chew anything, so I'm sticking to cottage cheese, yogurt, soft fruits and smoothies. I've been eating overcooked pasta for dinner and if I have to choke that down one more night I think I'll go crazy. Oh - soft boiled eggs are good! And delicious :) Even pregnant me agrees!

That reminds me - my 11 week scan is coming up this Friday! I can't wait to see the little bugger on screen. I bought Caitlin a t-shirt that says "This is what an awesome big sister looks like!". I threw it in the wash and later she pulled it out of the dryer and asked to wear it. Thank goodness she has no idea how to read :) As much as she liked the look of the shirt, I told her she'd have to wait to wear it as a surprise to Dustin's parent's house & to visit my mom on the weekend. I'm dying to tell Caitlin that we're expecting a baby, but I'm ok with waiting a few more days for that scan instead.

I'm physically better this week. My nausea is persistent but not as strong, and I have more energy. I've lost 5 pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy and I need to keep my weight in check in general. I'm ok with that 5lb loss because I know I'll gain it back over time. I'm sure the elastics in my teeth and not feeling up to chewing hasn't helped! But I'll feel better about that soon....well, until the braces go on and I start with the pain all over again.

So just a little more waiting this week, and then I'm off early from work to get that scan done. Ohh and then I'll have a long weekend! YAY for statutory holidays!! And upcoming baby celebrations!

Food. Yeah, just food.

I've been experiencing some major food aversions, but they're such that I don't even know I'm repulsed by the food until it's passed my lips. So many things don't look or smell appealing these days so it's disappointing when I sit down for a meal of what I thought was safe food, only to realize it's bland or tastes/feels like garbage. This morning I took my prenatal vitamin with a sip of water and sat down to eat a peach. I'd had one the day before so I thought it was the perfect thing. No way this'll be gross. I got halfway through before I had to run to the bathroom. It was sudden. I didn't vomit this time but it was close. I took some deep breaths through the shaking and sweats until the urge to throw up had passed. Last night I wasn't so lucky :( I had to go to bed with a sore throat after brushing my teeth made me sick.

I've lost 3 pounds since finding out I'm pregnant on June 3rd. I guess that's not that much, but by 10 weeks pregnant the average woman will have gained about that much, so I'm like...6 pounds behind? Ha, go figure. Of all people here I am losing weight during pregnancy because I think food is gross. Well, I suppose not ALL food. Chips are still the shit, but of course they don't provide any nutritional value, and I just don't feel like I have an appetite for much, even if it is Lay's Sour Cream & Onion!

My appointments last week went well. Dr Johnson was really nice and explained that I *may* not need double jaw surgery after all, just surgery on my bottom jaw! Once my braces have been on for about 6 months I'll have another appointment with him so he can evaluate how my top and bottom teeth are lining up. He walked me through the surgery procedures for both upper and lower jaw surgeries. Ugh...sounds really invasive and complicated! They have to saw through your bone and around the one major nerve that runs inside the bone. So there's definitely risk of nerve damage. I think I'm willing to take the risk though...I'd really like to bite through a salami sandwich properly!

I haven't booked a date to get my braces on yet. I'm going to wait until my insurance company lets me know if my treatment and payment plan will be approved. I'd like to move forward and get the uncomfortable bit out of the way as soon as I can.

My midwife appointment went smoothly. We didn't hear the baby's heart on the doppler machine (boohoo) and I wasn't given a requisition for a dating ultrasound either (I forgot to even ask), but the midwife and student midwife I met were both awesome. They were really thorough and took the time to explain a few things to us about what to do in an emergency or if we suspect a miscarriage again. I was still a little disappointed about not hearing a little heart beat but I understand it's hard to get that so early on. Oh, I do have my first prenatal test and ultrasound booked for July 29. I'm so excited for it!! Yay!! It's only 11 days away now :)

A Whole Month Later!

So I'm 9w3d pregnant. Things are moving along - I have the oral surgeon appointment tomorrow afternoon, and my first midwife appointment the following morning. I'm so anxious for my work days to be over so I can get to my appointments! I'm also wondering if the midwife will agree to me getting a dating ultrasound - it would provide me a LOT of peace of mind and help me figure out exactly how far along I am. I feel sick all the time (hooray - I barfed for the first time on Sunday!) and this fatigue is getting to me. I would like to hear a tiny little heartbeat and see the little bean moving. It would lift my spirits so much!

Anyway for the time being I'll settle for the hours ticking by. I just need to keep busy and hope that helps the time pass quickly.

Oh and about that dentist appointment for my pain! It's nothing urgent, but eventually I need the old filling replaced and have a crown placed on that tooth. It's not something that can easily be done with braces, so the dentist recommends I take it easy on that side of my mouth (which I already do) and have the crown put in once the braces come off. For now there's not much else to be done. I'll keep an eye out for anything strange or any new pain.

Oh no...

I've been trying to ignore some discomfort I've been experiencing in one of my teeth. It's a molar that has a filling that's been replaced once. They had to shave down the edges of my teeth to avoid them chipping as well. I think it needs to be replaced :/ I think I also have a cavity on one of my lower molars. It's a spot that my dentist has been keeping an eye on for a while and I feel like it's time to clean it out and fill it in. It's not that uncomfortable, but the one up top is kind of painful and definitely hurts with any temperature variation. I already use Sensodyne but it isn't helping that one spot at all.

My next scheduled cleaning and examination is in September but I may have to call and try to get something sooner. I've tried that before but they weren't able to accommodate me :( I'm worried about needing work done while I have braces. What if I need a root canal? Is that really complicated to do if I have braces? Man...why now!?

More Waiting!

I shouldn't be surprised. I've read through a dozen or more orthognathic surgery/braces related blogs so I should know I'll be waiting every now and then during this whole process.

I e-mailed the oral surgeon's clinic yesterday to ask about my referral and consult. They gave me a standard reply of "once we get your referral, we'll call you for an appointment". That wasn't really the answer I was looking for but it sure sounded like they hadn't received any of my referral info from Dr. Kirk. So I called my ortho clinic and left a message asking about the referral. They called me back a short while later to say they'd send my referral package again.

Today I got a call from the surgeon's office! YAY! However...the next date they have available is July13th. That's over a month away!! *sobsnortuglycry* On the bright side, the receptionist said Dr Johnson is very thorough during his consultations so I should plan to be there for about an hour.

Another thing I'm waiting for - well, despite my positive pregnancy test, I know my period is "due" two days from now. For the next week or so I'm going to be watching every sign my body gives me regarding the viability of this pregnancy Spotting? Could be my period or implantation bleeding! Emotional? Could be a surge of any kind of hormones! Fatigued? Could be that I'm building an embryo or that my iron is about to dip again! Bloated? Who the F knows why that could be?!

It won't even end there, to be perfectly blunt. I know that being 4w5d, my risk of miscarriage is somewhere around 25%. Even next week once I miss my period (fingers kept tightly crossed!!) that only lowers to about 10%. I miscarried in January at 11w5d (spotting began at 10w3d, but I thought every thing was fine so I just say I carried to 11w5d) and some statistics say a healthy woman my age would have had a 2% chance of that happening in that stage. Man, I am so much more worried about this than when I found out I was pregnant with Caitlin. I am happy I have some good news, but it's only "sort of" good news. I can't celebrate it yet, and there is pretty much nothing I can do at this point except eat well, drink lots of water, and get my rest. There's nothing else I have control over and that's pretty frightening.