I didn't want to post about this until we knew the outcome, but the real motivator behind getting rid of the pacifier was the fact that Teagan had an appointment today for a tooth extraction.
I can't remember if I posted about this or not, but a couple of months ago, Teagan went running into her bedroom and tripped and landed face first against her bed frame. We were so fortunate that a friend of ours, Dr. D, who is a pediatric dentist actually drove over to our house to take a look at her. Teagan likes her and responds very well to her. She alleviated our immediate fears but suggested that we bring Teagan in for an x-ray at a later date so that they could check the roots of the two front teeth. We put it off because after a day or two it didn't seem to bother her, but one day we finally took her in. We were dismayed to find out that she did in fact have an infection that would affect the permanent tooth unless the baby tooth was pulled. Dr. D told us that she would be able to do it using nitrous and a local anesthetic, but that if Teagan didn't cooperate, she would have to refer us to an oral surgeon who would need to perform the procedure under a general anesthesia. We made an appointment with Dr. D and prepared ourselves for the worst.
We came in at 9am this morning and Rog and I were certainly more nervous than Teagan. I'm not sure it could have gone smoother. Dr. D was amazing and so was Teagan. She got to pick a scented mask (strawberry or bubble gum) and she allowed Dr. D to place it over her face. There were a couple of minor mishaps that took place before the actual procedure. After Teagan had begun to relax her arms at her side, she suddenly raised them both up in the air and started talking. The nitrous tank had started to run out and had to be switched (which was done very quickly). Even after it was switched over and some minutes had passed, Teagan remained fairly aware of what was going on and kept trying to make conversation. She never really fought, but she did try to take the mask off and get out of her chair a few times. After Rog and I each took a hand of hers, she seemed to relax enough that Dr. D could inject the local anesthetic and perform the extraction.
Afterwards, Teagan received lots of praise for being so brave and cooperative. She picked out some special toys and then we took her home. As the numbness wore off, she whimpered and cried some on the way home in between nodding off and looking stoned, but when we got her home she watched a few episodes of Dora and finally felt normal enough to eat. She then took a very brief nap, woke up and ate some more, and from there on seemed completely back to herself. Nonetheless, we spoiled her with frozen custard, a trip to the park and a long walk. The day may have started off a little bumpy, but it really turned out to be a great day.
