Glenn's First Tooth Out! and a tale of pierced ears...

Last Saturday evening, Glenn lost his first tooth. It was only Friday morning that he noticed it was wiggly. Samantha has lost so many teeth in the last several months, and was getting so much money. Glenn was so proud that, finally, the Tooth Fairy would be coming for him! (We know that he has weed-eater hair. He wants to grow it out, and will not have it buzzed off, so it's going through a phase.)



On Sunday night we had a fun little double birthday party for Levi and Grandma Kathy. The next morning, Grandma Kathy flew home. My mom has been out here in Arlington since before our Orlando trip. She has been helping us and driving me to places I can't safely drive on my own due to visual and attention problems. It has been great having her so close by, and we will miss her.

In early December, Samantha asked me if she could get her ears pierced. I told her she could if she saved up for it. She had been saving, and then got enough money for Christmas that she had enough. So a few days after Christmas, we went to Claire's at the mall. I have never had my ears pierced so I didn't know exactly what it would be like. She looked nervous, said nothing, and was very brave. Samantha said it felt like someone stapled her ears. After the lady pierced the second ear, she had Samantha choose a lollipop. Samantha looked uninterested, but to be polite she chose a green one, climbed down from the chair, turned to Glenn, handed him the lollipop, and promptly passed out on the floor, fell over straight, just like a tree cut down, right onto her face, and her body started shaking. Without thinking, I dropped down and scooped her into my lap and held her. Her lip was bleeding just a little, from hitting her face on the floor (just a little, thanks to the absence of front teeth!). My mom yelled for the Claire's employee to call 9-1-1. Samantha stopped convulsing and became conscious again. Someone told me to hold her on her side, so I did. She was confused about what had happened, but nodded when I asked her if she was okay. I just sat on the floor of Claire's holding her for several minutes, I didn't want to try to move her. Another shopper told us that his little daughter passed out, too, when she got her ears pierced. The Claire's employee who did the piercing told us it happens pretty frequently. I wish she'd have told us that beforehand.

After a few minutes, we carried Sammy out of Claire's onto a nearby bench, and held her on my lap. She said her stomach hurt, and her face looked really pale. The EMT guys showed up and checked her vitals. Everything was normal. They talked to us for a few minutes, and said that it is normal sometimes for a person who has passed out to convulse for a few seconds. They asked if she had just had her ears pierced, and knowingly nodded to one another. There wasn't any warning of that in the small print of the agreement I signed prior. I wish I would have known. My advice to parents whose kids are getting ears pierced is to hold onto them for a few minutes afterwards, or be close and ready to catch them, in case they pass out. Or tell them they aren't allowed to have their ears pierced. Later that evening, Samantha was doing much better, and has been fine ever since.

Passing out was the discussion topic of choice for the next several days. The kids played a lot of games where the characters pretended to pass out. We had talks about why people pass out, what is happening biologically, how it's a good thing because it helps blood get back to your brain which is your most important organ, etc. We told the pediatrician a few weeks later about what had happened, as we were advised to do by the EMTs. The pediatrician just laughed and laughed, loud and long. Bizarre reaction if you ask me, but that's Kaiser for you.

A new experience for Samantha, and not entirely fun, but she recovered quickly and is still glad she pierced her ears. She does a really good job remembering to clean them. She and I take turns, with a cotton ball and the bottle of antiseptic liquid. They haven't gotten sore or infected at all. She looks more grown-up to me, with the little silver studs in her ears. She is really excited for mid-February when she can get some different earrings to replace the studs. But I wanted to share that story, in case there are other parents as ignorant as I.