Beaming

Today, Jake got his braces. I never had braces so I had no clue what it felt like. My dh (darlng husband) had braces and both my sisters had braces. They tried to explain what he would be going through and the discomfort he might feel during the procedure but mostly afterward and the days following. But me, I had no clue.

It surprised me how nervous I was before I took him to the orthodontist. My son has an issue with dealing with pain. I know I've explained before how awful it was during the times he was losing teeth and how when it got the part for them to need just a little tug it was like, well, pulling teeth to get it to come out. I had debated for weeks and dialogued with my most trusted third party, my sis, about the best course of action to take knowing his affinity to not handle pain well. It was decided it would be best to take a very relaxed attitude about the whole thing in hopes that he too would adopt that same attitude. And that is just what I did. But yesterday, the morning of our appointment, it was very hard for me to hide my concern. And what made it worse was when he walked into the study with red, swollen eyes. He had been doing his best to hide his tears but just couldn't hold it anymore. He was visibly upset and I just wanted to cry right along with him. But I didn't. I just assured him that I could go into the office with him or he could go by himself - whatever made him more comfortable. He sucked it up and decided he wanted to try it alone. And when we got to the office, I asked him one more time and he stuck to his guns and wanted to do it alone.

And he did.

And I am so proud of him. I hope this new found courage will help him get over his fear of pain as he learns to deal with it on his own and in his own way.

Yes, his braces are black and orange. He chose it to match the colors of his football team. Whatever makes him happy.

And by the way, his teeth aren't that yellowed because of lack of brushing or poor dental care. It is because of the massive antibiotic use he had when he was a baby. Those permanent teeth came out that way. When all of his teeth are in, when he's 16, they will bleach them back to white.