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.

It Begins!

Nausea and Nervousness

I have a hard time distinguishing pregnancy related nausea with the normal anxiety kind. Whenever I think about having to make appointments for orthodontic work or wondering why I haven't heard from the oral surgeon, I get nauseous. You know that funny belly feeling you get when you know the first day of school is around the corner? Or you have a big test you need to study for? It's that kind of funny barfy feeling. Only now I'm getting it randomly through my day so it's likely related to the poppy sized gestational sac. From Parents.com: The cells that make up this sac will begin to specialize. Some cells will become part of the placenta. Some will form the amniotic sac that will fill with fluid to cushion your developing baby. Other cells are destined to form everything from delicate eyelashes to muscles and skin. But that's still a long way away.

I also get nausea when I get any kind of emotional surge. Caitlin prayed for "the baby" the other night even though she doesn't know I'm pregnant. It was so sweet I wanted to vomit.

Taking Initiative

I e-mailed Dr. Johnson's clinic today to ask when I might get a call about my consultation. I told them I'm anxious (see above!) to start treatment. I'm sure they hear it all the time, but it would be great to get an idea of when I should be hearing from them.

Tonight Dustin and I are heading out for dinner to a spot we used to frequent when we were dating. His mom is going to pick Caitlin up from daycare and have her over for dinner at their place. We'll still need to pick her up for bedtime (boo!!) but it'll be nice to have some time together just the two of us. Wait a sec - that's scary! What are we going to talk about?!? In all seriousness, it'll be nice ;)

Trying to Focus

Baby making and thinking about all this stuff with braces and jaw surgery can be distracting. I have my own sort of schedule at work so I often "zone out" if I'm not super busy with work. That zone out period has been happening more frequently in the last few weeks. I stalk r/tryingforababy on Reddit constantly. I look at r/TFABLinePorn every day and upvote every single entry. Doesn't help that I added my own entry there the other day ;) It's a very cautious positive for now because I haven't technically missed my period. I told Dustin and my BF Laura, but I'll keep mum for a while longer with this pregnancy.

Anyway, I have been about twice as tired as normal in the past week. I'm stressed. Dustin and I are working on some things, communication mainly. We're trying to make more time for one another in the evenings especially - it's literally the only time of day (about one hour) that we have time alone. 

Back to the work thing though. I don't know if I'm bored or just frustrated. I have very little motivation lately to do anything more than what's immediately asked of me. If I'm not given a deadline for the things I work on I tend to put them aside until I'm asked for the work to be completed right away. Maybe I need to implement a work schedule for myself and literally log in all the things that I need to do and set my own deadlines. And then have my manager approve the deadlines just so that I am accountable to someone else. 

Still haven't heard from the oral surgeon yet. I'm going to give the clinic a call today to ask how long I might expect to wait for an appointment. I don't need a set date I guess, I'd just like a time frame.

The Waiting Game

Several online ovulation calculators have put my date of ovulation somewhere between May 24 and 30th. That's a big window. On May 20th I began using Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs). They're like pregnancy tests, only they test for the hormone that triggers ovulation. From MyFertilityFriend.com: OPKs work by measuring the presence of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) in your urine. A surge of LH which is sent to your ovary causes your ovary to produce enzymes which in turn causes the dominant follicle to rupture and release the egg into the Fallopian tube. This is ovulation and it is expected to occur within 24 hours of the surge of LH. An OPK is thus expected to be positive the day before you ovulate.

So I had a negative reading the morning of May 25th, and by 5pm I had a positive reading. It felt right, too. I had signs of the right kind of cervical mucous. I also know that sperm can survive in my reproductive tract for up to five days. Finally I seemed to have tracked my ovulation properly! No guessing! 

The downside is you're supposed to have sex several times in the 5 days preceding this "ovulation window", as well as the day OF ovulation. That can be hard to do when you haven't ovulated yet, so you don't know when you'll ovulate, which is why you need to track everything on a calendar (or fancy online tools - there are a few really good ones). Again with the pressure, right? Talking about schedules like this takes all the fun and spontaneity out of being intimate, so I've avoided telling Dustin when I'm ovulating, except for last week. Talking about ovulation isn't sexy though. Who knew?

Now I have to wait. Implantation, if it's going to happen, will be 7-10 days after ovulation so it would fall between today and Saturday. My period is due June 11th, and if by the 12th I haven't seen any signs of it I'll take a pregnancy test. 

By the way, this brings me to another completely frustrating part of this whole thing. Why do the signs of pregnancy have to be so similar to the signs of getting your period? Cramping? Sore breasts? Bloated belly? Fatigue? Granted, the two times I've been pregnant I remember clearly that those signs were very pronounced compared to a normal period. The thing is, when you're hoping to be pregnant your mind can search for clues and you read into those signs way more than normal. Every twinge or headache might mean you're pregnant! And you get your hopes up! Then Aunt Flow comes to visit and you just want to hide in bed for three days. It's really hard. It's emotionally exhausting.

I need to add something to this post. It can be hard to make time for your spouse when you have a child, two dogs and other responsibilities. We have to work on that if growing our family is in our long term plans. But he's been out with friends a lot in the last while so evenings are pretty quiet at my house. Sometimes I feel like a lot of my mental energy is spent on this, while he's just along for the ride. Maybe it's time I make sure we're on the same page.

Consults and Appointments Part 2

May 20th and 27th Orthodontist

On May 20th I had wax molds of my bite, two x-rays and molds of my upper and lower teeth taken. It all went faster than expected and I don't have much to say about how it went. It was pretty painless, thank god :D

Today I saw Dr. Kirk again and she went over a more comprehensive and detailed plan for my treatment. All my X-rays and molds and any other relevant info will be sent to Dr. Brent Johnson in Kanata. He's the oral surgeon I'm being referred to for the orthognathic surgery. His office will be calling me in the next while to have a consultation with him where he'll go over the plan for future surgery. I'm really anxious to see him and make sure I'm the right kind of candidate for surgery.

It looks like the overall timeline of my course of treatment will be longer than 18 months...just add another year to that. I'm not very surprised. It sounds typical from what I've seen and read online with other people who had the same issues as me. 

It's also a bit more expensive. $6880 is the total, not including surgery and dental fees down the line for the surgery itself and more frequent cleanings. OHIP still covers the surgery itself, so that's a relief.

Anyway, it's just money. I won't care about that 3 years from now! 

I did a little video to post today. I'm a bit of a shy public speaker (noo, really??) so I kept it short. It'll be interesting to watch it later and compare my face and speech patterns. Maybe I'll also drop some weight post surgery :P

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dieztd9mjso4zlt/VID_20160527_151446.mp4?dl=0

Linking to the video because trying to post it here is a pain! I filmed in the wrong orientation and media player keeps flipping it sideways. Grr. 

Consults and Appointments

May 13, 2016 Orthodontic Consultation

When I met my Hygienist Kelly and Orthodontist Dr. Kirk, I was feeling pretty enthusiastic. If they would have given me more time, I would have talked their ears off. Perhaps it's because I've never personally known someone with as severe a problem as myself. Most people I know have fairly normal, symmetrical and functional faces, and pretty functional mouths. Having someone to listen to me and nod when I talk about my frustrations is an immense relief. Like I said, I wish I could have gone on and on about what having this jaw has really been like. I think I've leave the ranting for my blog though, that's what it's here for :)

Dr. Kirk examined my mouth and Kelly recorded the measurements of my underbite (3mm) and cross bite (also 3). She then took photos of my face, both smiling and not smiling, as well as profiles of my right and left sides. She also took pictures of the inside of my mouth to get a clear idea of the orientation of my teeth.

She briefly went over the approximate cost and length of treatment. It would be around $6000 for the braces, and more for the surgical fees, however the surgery itself would be covered by OHIP (our provincial health insurance coverage). My insurance plan at work will pay $1500 towards orthodontic treatment, so I would be out of pocket for the rest. As far as the time commitment, I would be in braces for about a year, then have surgery, and likely be in braces another six months, for a total of 18 months. Sounds like a plan.

After my appointment I looked up some videos and blogs of people who've had braces and orthognathic surgery done for their underbites. One video in particular had me in tears.

You can find Corinne's blog here: http://jawsurgery-journey.blogspot.ca/ However it's been a while since she's posted because she's well past having braces and jaw surgery. 

The part about having difficulty speaking, eating, breathing and having sinus issues...that resonated with me. I didn't even bring that stuff up with my orthodontist because I had no idea it was related. I stumble over my words, sometimes things sound lispy and my tongue often feels too big for my mouth. Every now and then my sinuses are just so painful, seemingly for no reason at all. And have you ever seen me take a clean bite of a salami sandwich? Nope, because that's never happened. I need to sleep with my mouth open because otherwise I feel like I'll choke. It will all sound trivial to other people but until you live it, you don't know how frustrating it is. 

So when I watched Corinne's video, I bawled. I paused the video and just sat there and cried. I cried with relief and joy, and I cried for the sad realization that I have been living with this stupid jaw for years when I could have fixed this by now. 

I'm heading in the right direction though. Despite all the scary "3 days after surgery" photos I've seen, I'm 100% committed to doing this. Dr. Kirk says I'll literally breath better too :)

Timing and TMI

In 2011 shortly after Dustin and I were married, we decided to get a puppy. Well that's not quite right. Our friend's parents had a dog expecting puppies, and we were asked if we'd be interested in taking one of them. We already had our lab/wolfhound Duke, and thought because we were away from home so much that it might be good to have a second dog at home. Plus puppies are so gosh darn cute. This one would be a border collie and lab mix.

Duke, aka Dukenstein, aka Dukedy-doo

Luna, aka Lunatic, aka Looneytunes

We brought Luna home in December of 2011. When I told my mom we'd picked Luna up, she said to me, "You're a newlywed with a puppy. You'll be pregnant soon." I laughed, asking her what kind of old wive's tale that was. And who had time for a baby? I had a puppy! And a part time job on top of my full time position. What was she thinking?

Well, I got pregnant that month.

Funny how that works, huh? So busy I forgot to refill my prescription for birth control.

Our daughter Caitlin is something else. She came as a welcome surprise. How did we get through that first year of marriage? Puppy, pregnancy, newborn - it was pretty busy.

This time we're trying to get pregnant, like on purpose. I figured it would be so easy, seeing as all I had to do was stop taking the pill by accident like last time. Yeah, well it's a little more complicated than that. We used the "let's see what happens" approach for a few months. When nothing happened, I started charting my temperature. That didn't work well for various reasons. I used an ovulation calculator and plugged in all my LMP dates for the last 5 months to figure out when I should be ovulating.

In mid November, I found out I was pregnant. At the end of January I miscarried. Just one of those things, I guess.

As shocking as that was, I wanted to start trying again as soon as possible.

So, this part may be TMI. My cycle is pretty long (35 days on average) and after a few months of trying to count on a calendar, temping and all that....I realized that I had figured out when I was ovulating specifically because of my mucous production. A woman's body will produce cervical mucous when she's ovulating to help sperm along their way to the egg, basically. It's like a friendly welcoming way to invite them in. (Like a slip 'n slide! hah!) I could finally spot and recognize the appropriate signs.

Anyway, life can sometimes get in the way of baby making. In theory it's easy. Just have sex. Right? Well, there can be a lot of pressure after a few months. I may spend every day thinking about the calendar, counting down the days and peeing on ovulation predictor strips and watching my underwear for signs of changing mucous (ugh, sorry). But Dustin isn't. He's got his own stress with work and trying to fix our cars and keeping up with other things that need attention, not to mention that we have a kid too. I hurt my back and didn't feel up to things for a while. After the miscarriage I battled with iron deficiency, which I'm still trying to fix. Did you know severe iron deficiency can cause a bunch of fucked up shit to happen? Like, I wanted to chew on my toothbrush all the time. I chewed my tongue constantly. I was so, so tired all the time (that's pretty normal) but also I was annoyed with everything and everyone. There was not one thing that didn't seem irritating to me.

Anyway, things are better. Maybe it's the nicer weather? Maybe it's the iron pills? Either way I'm more focused this month. Hopefully...hopefully I'll get pregnant. And with planning to get braces and have jaw surgery in the future...I hope the timing is right and everything will work out.

Embracing the Brace

A few months ago, my colleague found a Groupon for Invisalign treatments at a clinic in Ottawa. It seemed like a good deal and I thought it was great that she was taking steps to improving her smile. She'd bring it up every now and then, and I'd find myself thinking of that time when I was about 10 or 11 and was told I needed braces. I don't remember how I felt about the whole thing. I can definitely remember the pain though. That tight throbbing hot pain all around your teeth and through your jaw (I only had upper braces). The first day or two after an adjustment was always hard. Yeah, I remember that well enough.

Like so many kids with similar jaw growth issues, I heard "oops, you're actually too young for these right now. Try again later!". My orthodontist recommended I come back when I was 16 to have braces and lower jaw surgery. My mother was appalled. Two grand down the drain and I was supposed to go back so they could snap my jaw in two? Not happening, she said. I was just glad I didn't have braces on anymore. My teeth looked alright for a while, but without a retainer they began to move and crowd back in around one another.

Somewhere in that process, probably right before they put the braces on me, they removed both of my upper first bicuspids (the first tooth after your canines). Both my canines were trying to grow in over top and my mouth was a mess. Anyway, those adult teeth are permanently gone. At 16, my wisdom teeth started erupting in my lower jaw. To prevent further crowding up top, the oral surgeon went ahead and look out all four wisdom teeth. My recovery was pretty good from what I can recall. Never did have that jaw surgery though. Financially is was not in the cards.

Since then not much has changed except I guess my lower jaw grew longer than expected. My upper jaw apparently decided it didn't need to keep growing, so I'm left with an underbite. You might be able to tell from the photos in my first post that my lower teeth angle in towards my mouth to try to "meet" my upper teeth (that's how my orthodontist put it!). My hygienist has always been on my case to make sure I get my toothbrush in there properly because of the awkward angle. Anyhow, another thing to note is that I also have a crossbite. You might be able to see it in my front facing picture, the way my jaw is set to my right ever so slightly.

Now, when my colleague would bring up her Invisalign thing, I'd think briefly about the time I had braces so long ago. I hadn't given those thoughts too much of my attention until I saw a post on Facebook. Dr. Danae Kirk posted an announcement on one of the Mom pages I follow, saying that she was opening a new practice in town. Suddenly something about this felt right! It had to be a sign (or maybe the last little nudge I needed?). I e-mailed the clinic and referred myself without hesitation. They called me the next day and I had an appointment for the end of the week for my initial consultation.

And here I am now. Blogging about it. Yippee :)

Preface and Pre-Face.

My name is Isabella. Okay, that's a good start, right?

I live in Canada in a town that just broke the 10,000 mark on our population counter. I guess that technically makes us a city now. That's what my husband Dustin says. We have an old house, a little girl and two crazy dogs.

I decided just yesterday that I should start this blog. I have a journal and I love to keep it up to date, but have been falling behind in the last few years and don't write regularly like I used to (I've literally had the same book for 5 years and I used to go through 2 or 3 per per year!). I'm also on Facebook but I don't share too many personal details there. It occurred to me yesterday that I'd like to write down everything that's been happening and what I think about it all, somewhere where I can easily get it down. Physically writing can be exhausting. I love it, but it takes time.

I've also been peeking at a few "double jaw surgery" blogs in the last two weeks. Blogging is a great platform for sharing that experience. I've seen before and after photos, video updates and a ton of FAQ sections. Some blogs are super fancy while others are simple, probably like this one's going to be. What they all have in common is an author who wants to share their experience. Quite a few have stated that they'd like to write with the hope of inspiring someone else to make the same decision, or to support those who've committed to this and need some motivation to stick to it.

Pretty dramatic amirite? ;)

There's another piece to my blog though. I want to get pregnant. Dust and I have been trying since July 2015. We had a pregnancy loss in January of this year. It was tough. Now we're back to trying again and I've decided to add to that major orthodontic work. Well it's major to me, anyway.

I've asked around for advice, both people I know and semi-anonymously online. My family and a few friends know what I want to do but I haven't publicly announced it on social media. It's not something you really announce like you would for something that's already happened. "Hey everyone! Guess what? We've been tracking my ovulation cycles with temping and OPKs! Can't go out tonight, gotta make a baby! Also, I'm getting braces and major surgery, yay!"

By the sounds of it, this will not be a walk in the park. Either I'm going to be pregnant soon (fingers crossed!) with new braces on (oy, the pain!), or just braces for a little while, with pregnancy later. If I have a lot of morning sickness in my first trimester, it's going to be tough if I'm also in pain with the braces on my teeth. New braces can also trigger your gag reflex. Sounds awesome, right? Sign me up!

I hope one day I can look back at these early posts and pat myself on the back for making the right decision.

I'll finish my post with a few "before" photos. Maybe my head full of frizz will help my after pictures look that much better. Here's hoping :)

Did I mention I had braces when I was 11? My upper teeth are crowded and crooked, but it could be worse. Did I also mention my dentist removed two teeth to ease the crowding? Yeah, I only have 12 teeth up there. I hope that won't be a problem...

Excuse the poor lighting. I took this one at work to show off my underbite more clearly.

Hello frizz! Here's my smile profile. Funny how the angle/length of my nose is the exact same as my mouth and chin when I smile. I wonder how that will change.

Resting bitch face. Sorry random strangers. I'm not mad, really.

Forward facing smile. Did I mention I also have a cross bite? More details on that in another post.

More resting bitch face in that one. In all seriousness, I don't exactly hate the way I look anymore. I'm used to it. It would be nice to have a face that doesn't look so grumpy all the time though!