Special Needs meets Gummy Bears

I have been looking at Ella lately and wondering about her special need.  Yes, she had surgery for her palate and flap in her mouth.  She rocked that and we all did great.  We have done speech therapy and may be on the end of that cycle.  Ella walks into the speech therapists world and worked her tail off.  She rocked it again.  We go back to have a yearly checkup with the Cleft Team at Gillette.  It used to be every 6 months so there is that improvement.  Again, she rocked it.  Ella handled the palate expander (butterfly) with her normal grace and hard work.  After the initial visit where the glue was so gross and she said "I want it out MOMMA"  That was the only time she expressed discomfort.  This summer she got that out and didn't enjoy that process one bit.  Taking the butterfly out was no fun.  Getting the retainer to fit was no fun and lots of tears.  This weekend one of the metal rings holding the retainer in place broke.  It broke when Ella ate some gummy bears.  I don't think that is what broke it but it was the final straw maybe. 

With the long weekend, I didn't call the cleft dentist until yesterday.  Silly me, I thought we could schedule the replacement appointment for a day we all have off in a couple of weeks.  No... no can do... have to get that retainer back in quickly before Ella's teeth move back to where they were and all the hard work would need to be redone.  I was able to leave work early and get the girls from school.  Our appointment was at 3:30.  We were early and they got us at 3:15.  We left there at 5:15 and in between was hell for Ella. 

She cried, she sobbed, she threw up, she was major league unhappy with the whole process.  She had to do the mold twice because she was so upset she couldn't help pushing her tongue on the bottom of the mold.  They looked it over to see if they could use it, but no luck. So they had no choice but to do the mold again.  This time Ella dug really deep and stayed as calm as she could under the circumstances.  Honestly, she really hates the mold and the glue.  God Bless you Ella for finding the strength again to go through that yuck to get to the end.   They had trouble getting the retainer to fit right too.  That took a few tries and by then I was on the chair and Ella was laying on me to help her.  Elizabeth was holding her hand to help too. 

It was tough but she needs it for her teeth and it will help with speech as well.  Great job Ella.  Wonderful support Elizabeth.  And then fast forward to 7 pm and I asked how her mouth felt.  Just fine Mom.  So the stress is done, and she has added to the steel in her soul.  I wish it didn't have to be so hard sometimes Ella and Elizabeth but you guys showed me yet again that you don't let anything knock you down.  I am proud to be your mom!

p.s. no more gummy bears for us.  :-)