Wow! It has been almost 10 months since we were last here in blog-land?! You might be asking, “Where’d you guys go?” which is a totally fair question. As the title of our blog suggests we are both Docs (Alyssa-pediatric resident, Val-practicing dentist) and we are also both moms. When we started this blog we were both very busy, and life got a little ahead of both of us and the blog kind of fell to the bottom of the list. Alyssa had a very busy season in residency, and shortly after our last post Val found out she was expecting baby #2. But life is constantly evolving, baby Joseph has arrived, and we really missed blogging…so here we are. We can’t wait to share with you again! Here are a few photos from our time away!
Val:
The amazing professional pictures were done by the very TALENTED Sarah Parent of Sarah Parent Photography. Find her at Sarah Parent Photography
Alyssa:
Upcoming on the blog: Val talks about coming back to work after baby Joseph was born!
I am hiding in my bathtub. I snuck away from work a precious 1.5 hours early, I fed the baby, I passed her off to my visiting mom (thank you Jesus for grandmas), and I side-stepped my way directly into the tub.
You see, my friends, I am an alone-time person. As Val can testify, while I loved to sit on the couch in college and watch Sister Wives with a bottle of Oliver Moscato and my gal pals, I also really loved to shut my door and watch Netflix until the sun came up with zero interruptions. I am not an alone-time-on-my-commute-then-hang-out-all-night person. I am not an alone-time-for-ten-minutes-in-the-shower-before-bed person. I am a shut the door, everyone out, nobody touch me, nobody talk to me, I-need-some-serious-time-to-myself person. You know what doesn’t happen when you work 75 hours a week and have a child who is always home when you are? ^That. I have long needed this time sans-others to recharge, and it is juuuuust not happening these days. If I am not holding the baby at home, I am scrambling to catch up with my overflowing work-work and emails. If I am not at home, I am driving to work or working. Night out with friends? What is that? I can’t even think about it until I have five minutes to myself.
A particularly lovely pre-residency, pre-baby bath a la 2015
Today while I was driving from the hospital to a simulation session, pumping and eating while driving, and already 10 minutes late, I seriously considered pulling over, laying down in the grass, and just ignoring everyone for a few minutes. Then I realized that was crazy, and the bathtub >>> the grass. But – I had gone long enough running place to place and ignoring myself.
Have you read the book “Five Minutes Peace” by Jill Murphy? I haven’t since I was a kid, but I remember the story: Mrs. Large (an aptly named elephant) has three crazy kiddos who will not leave her alone. All she wants is Five Minutes Peace in the tub. I think about Mrs. Large a lot these days. I only have one kid, and I still can’t get Five Minutes Peace! I feel you, Mrs. Large. I am you! I am hiding in my bathtub, listening to the controlled chaos of the baby and the dog outside, and blatantly ignoring the uncontrolled chaos of my inbox.
I love being a Dentist and I super love being a Mom and my worlds often collide. February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, and helping kids and parents take care of their smiles is a great honor and privilege. In fact, we like to start seeing kids around age 1 to help make the dentist a happy place that is fun to visit, and to talk to parents about oral care-everything from diet to proper brushing.
Juliette got to come see the dentist early (age 6 months, left) mostly just to visit Mom and see a cool dental mirror that she could keep! Official 1st Happy Visit with Dr. Grandpa (age 14 months, right) she got to sit on Daddy’s lap while Dr. Grandpa counted her teeth! Doesn’t she look like a perfect little angel patient? I must do an awesome job with her and brushing her teeth is the easiest thing in the world!! Right. Totally Correct. Rainbows and kittens.
Yup, it goes just like these pictures. She gets to look in my mouth and then we easily brush her teeth perfectly with an extra-soft toothbrush with just a tiny grain sized smear of fluoride toothpaste. Then I get a super sweet baby kiss. And this happens just this way at least 2 times a day!
Or it goes more like this…
Here is Juliette at 18 months. Here is a very stressed mom, who cannot even get her child to open her mouth. We sing songs, we practice with our lovie friend’s teeth, we take breaks. We push through, even though it can be a miserable seemingly thankless job, every day, at least two times, we go through this. Of course, I keep trying to make this a more fun and enjoyable thing for Juliette because perservering is so important. Tooth decay is still the most common chronic disease in children and prevention is key (even though it is the #1 chronic disease in children, the rate is falling! Check out more info below for how to help prevent tooth decay)¹. Yes, even for me brushing my toddler’s teeth is a challenge, you aren’t alone! But keep up the good work!
More Information on Preventing Childhood Tooth Decay in an Infographic
And visit MouthHealthy.org for tons of great information.
Citations:
Dye BA, Thornton-Evans G, Li X, Iafolla TJ. Dental caries and sealant prevalence in children and adolescents in the United States, 2011–2012. NCHS data brief, no 191. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2015.
Two Docs and a Blog 