Life with an "e*panda"

Actually, it's an expander, but Anna can't say that very well. In fact, she's having a little trouble saying quite a few things! She got her expander put in on Wednesday morning. She was prepared and excited to get to the dentist that morning. She was very brave. She even got pink rubber bands on her front brackets. I've been pleasantly surprised with how very well she's handled the whole ordeal. Instead of getting frustrated at not being able to pronounce words correctly, she's having a blast with it! She likes to say things that sound the funniest over and over again. S and T seem to be the toughest for her, though the x in expander is also a challenge :)

After researching the appliance, I fully expected Anna to be experiencing some discomfort at the very least. But, when I spoke with the dentist he said that she shouldn't really feel anything. Maybe just a little pressure when we turn the key once a day. This morning she didn't make a sound when I turned the key. She said it felt a little weird, but that was it. I suppose getting all of this handled at a very young age cuts down on the difficulty and pain of expanding the palate.

The one frustrating experience she has had was eating for the very first time after having the expander inserted. We treated her to pizza and A LOT of it got stuck between the roof of her mouth and her expander. She wanted me to clean it out after every bite. When I tried to convince her to wait, she got irritated and decided to eat only yogurt. Of course, Justin's old saying "She'll eat when she's hungry" proved once more to be very true. By dinner time she was eating like a pro. Of course, she wants the food cleaned out the very second the meal is over, or she'll walk around making a sucking sound trying to rid herself of the pesky pieces.

God has been faithful to answer our prayers on this matter, and He's done so in spades! As Henry Blackaby said, "Oh, God, if I ever give You a request and You have more to give me than I am asking, cancel my request." We asked that she not be afraid. She was excited. We asked that she be able to handle the pain. There is not pain. We asked that she not get too frustrated by speech impairments. She's having fun with them! God certainly had more in mind than what we asked. Consider our previous requests canceled :)