Updates...

Paprika is over being sick! She, thankfully, is keeping down all food and is back to her old self. We are very grateful for that! I seem to have gotten what she has. I have been running a 104 degree fever since last night. That, coupled with Mr. Mustard's long hours at work, have made life a bit difficult these past few days. To top it off, our heater stopped working, Mr. Mustard's car broke down, and my mouth has started to hurt immensely. It's raining and pouring a bit on the Urths the past week.

I have a dentist appointment for Tuesday to have my mouth looked at. It's a bit tricky because I'm still nursing Paprika, and you have to be very very careful when getting dental work done while nursing or pregnant, especially if you have amalgam fillings (because they contain mercury). When they remove or upset the fillings, it can cause mercury to be excreted into your system, and it is then passed on through the breastmilk. I am hyper-vigilant about making sure that Paprika is not exposed to heavy metals (mercury, lead, etc.) because exposure causes all sorts of developmental, neural, and other problems for a developing child.

So, I have been working hard to find a dentist who will take the necessary precautions when working on my mouth (they are surprisingly hard to find). The dentist I'm going to see has 30+ years experience in mercury-free dentistry, and is tops in taking the right precautions so that there's no danger of mercury being released into my system. Of course, he's not covered by our dental HMO plan-- but it seems nothing is covered by our medical or dental insurance, so I'm trying not to worry about it and just chalk up this trip to the dentist as an early Christmas present to myself. His earliest appointment is Tuesday, so hopefully I can last that long with my teeth hurting.