This Sucks

I confess: The child is 1 1/2 years old today and we are still nursing and have no signs of slowing with nursing 3-4 times a day. This "extended nursing" is starting to get a few comments here and there (though not many -- thanks supportive husband and friends!). The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until age 2, and right now I am leaning towards weaning then.

Nursing has been a wonderful part of my relationship with Zeke. I am really proud and grateful that it has been part of my mothering experience. It has not been without its difficulties, some of which I have written about here. They include: a difficult and discouraging start; pumping at work; learning how to nurse in public; dropping dairy from my diet for a long time; and then the terrible hives which may have been a reaction to some of the hormones involved with nursing.

And, now, there is this. I have never had a cavity. Until now. Now I have four cavities. I went from 33 years of perfect A+ dental health to now having four filings and an understanding of why people dread going to the dentist. It was a difficult blow, but I accepted it and anecdotally found that other moms I know have ended up in the same situation through some combination of less time for self, diet and nursing. I decided that I would accept this as one of the things that comes with motherhood and age...lots of unpleasant physical things have happened to me from these two things. Zeke thus far seems worth it.

Still, I have had reoccuring problems with one of the teeth that got a filling. The tooth has been temperature sensitive and mildly sensitive when chewing. I have now been chewing exclusively on the left side of my mouth for a month -- I'm waiting to see huge muscles develop on the left side. I keep going back to the dentist. Today was my fourth post filling visit!

The dentist feels now that the cavity may have been worse than she originally thought and that I may need a root canal. She believes more likely, though, that my tooth has become dehydrated as a result of the filling AND was susceptible to this because of the extended nursing. This sucks.

Still, I like the "dehydrated tooth" theory better than the one that means I have to get a root canal. And, looking on the sunny side, I am going to have some extra baggage for Zeke when I take him on future motherly guilt trips -- bon voyage, Zeke!

Here is a photo of me modeling good dental health for Zeke this weekend at the zoo. Members got free cotton candy, so who could resist? (As it turns out, Zeke could resist. He didn't much care for it!)