Jackson lost his first tooth today! This is a big deal for any kid, but an especially big deal for Jackson as he is at risk of aspirating his teeth.

This tooth had been lose for months! Jackson had three surgeries in the fall/winter and the surgeons had to put in a mouth guard for each surgery so the breathing tube wouldn’t knock out his tooth. Josh and I have been trying to pull out the tooth for weeks and didn’t accomplish anything except upsetting Jackson.

Well, I accidentally knocked out the tooth today while suctioning Jackson with the yankauer (pronounced “yonker”). After the tooth broke loose, I reached into the back of his mouth with my finger and scooped it out. It was stressful as he was about to swallow it!

As for general updates, Jackson and our family are doing much better now that we are just over three months post hip surgery. The first eight weeks post-op were not great to put it mildly. Jackson’s double leg casts were removed at six weeks post-op but he still had lots of healing to do. Since getting the casts off, he has started land-based and aqua physical therapies, he is able to lay on his sides and stomach, he is cleared to get in the stander, and he is smiling again.

Jackson’s legs now lay at a normal angle and he appears to not be in any pain. Before the surgery his left hip was out more than his right. We think he shifted his weight over to his right side to get pressure off the left hip because it was bothering him. As a result, his spine is a little curved to the right (but nothing to worry about for now). Having the hips back in socket will hopefully help keep his spine aligned.

When he was diagnosed, which will be seven years ago on April 11, I’m glad the doctors didn’t tell me about all of the stuff we would stress about (i.e. aspirating loose teeth, hips out of socket, spine alignment) because it gets overwhelming. But, we take it one day at a time. Today I am thankful I caught that darn tooth and that I can stop worrying about loose teeth until the next one is ready to fall out.