We are only a month into 2017 and we already have another move, a medical scare (Lyra's), a dental surgery (mine), and a trip to Colorado under our belts. Sheesh. Hopefully, February is a calm month.
We are still waiting for the Fairbanks house to sell but our household things made it down from Alaska to Nevada. They take a few weeks traveling by barge. So we were able to move from our temporary furnished apartment in Reno to our more permanent but still temporary apartment in Fernley with our things. The move was not without complications. First we were delayed a day due to a snowstorm that stranded our movers a few hours away. Luckily by the next day the movers made it and were somehow able to cram the contents of a 1500 square foot house and 2 car garage into an 800 square foot 2 bedroom apartment. Unpacking was a challenge, let me tell you. But somehow we have managed to make a liveable living area and family bedroom. The spare room is stuffed to the brim with things we still have to sort though. At one point we were trying to dig out a few things from the back of the room so Travis was teetering near the ceilings on top of a box/furniture pile. I was gaurding the door and keeping an eye on Lyra who was parked on the couch with my phone, watching some cartoons. He said, "Hold on, someone is calling me," and somehow managed to pull out his phone. Upon glancing at his screen he said, "Oh. It's you." Sure enough Lyra was calling from the couch. That's one way to get our attention.
After our snowstorm, we got flooding. Sadly, our broken down Trailblazer was not swept away, leaving with an insurance payout. We did manage to limp it to our new place though. Only to limp it back to Reno and trade it in for a new car. They gave us more than we were expecting though. Travis made sure to acquire the new car first and bring the Trailblazer to the dealership after dark.
We accomplished our unpacking (even with a toddler "helping") at record speed. We moved in on Friday and had the living, dining, kitchen, and nearly all of the bedroom/bathroom areas finished by the following Wednesday. This included cleaning out our old apartment. The bathrooms and bedroom need a bit more storage container to accommodate our downsizing. But I'm extra proud we managed to fit our kichen in probably half the space we had in our last house. Our timeline was dictated by my Saturday plane ticket to Colorado and the terrifying danger that is living in an unpacked house with a toddler. Lyra showed us this the Monday after we moved.
Monday was the first day of unpacking sans Travis and we hadn't managed to get the new car yet. So I was going to be at the new apartment with no car for 4 days. We got up bright and early and had breakfast and coffee before heading to the bedroom to start unpacking some suitcases. As soon as I opened the first one, I found a box I knew contained button batteries and a stack of clothing. So I picked it up first thing and turned my back on Lyra for maybe 5 seconds at the very most to move the box to the dresser 3 feet away. As I turned back around, my heart about stopped as I saw Lyra with a handful of button batteries, holding one to her lips. If you know anything about button batteries, you know how horrifying this moment was. They can eat through your esophogas in under 2 hours. They kill toddlers all the time. I have never been so worried in my life. Not even with the bloody poop diary allergy incidents. I immediately began making phone calls to Travis (who was over an hour away with our only car seat and working car) and to our doctor. Lyra seemed alright and this is the toddler who loves to chew things and spit them back out. I was pretty certain she hadn't swallowed one, but I wasn't positive that she hadn't and if I was wrong, she could die. So I was pretty freaked out. I ended up calling am ambulance on the advice of our doctor. The paramedics said when they arrived that they did not think she'd swallowed one (they said she'd be gagging and coughing) so they suggested waiting and calling back if anything changed. Travis was already well on his way back from work by the time I got ahold of him again and we decided to make a trip to urgent care for x rays to be certain. We weren't going to sleep at night unless we double checked. Especially after reading sometimes there can be no symptoms after swallowing a button battery. Luckily we just wasted a day of unpacking, racked up some x ray bills, and added a TON of temporary stress to our lives with that misadventure. Now all our batteries are unpacked and above our fridge and Lyra isn't allowed in suitcases before they've been safetly cleared.
Meanwhile, throughout this whole set of adventures, I was scrambling to get to a dentist because my tooth hurt and I knew I was leaving for Colorado in a week with Lyra. Turns out I have some previously unexplored intense dentist anxiety. I had been looking forward to my relaxing Colorado vacation after all this moving and stress. Naturally, I found out I needed all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. And no way was I going to put up with the pain until we got back from Colorado. So I arranged to have them taken out while visiting my parents. That turned out to be the best plan though, I had extra help with Lyra from my parents and I got them taken out the same day Travis came to visit for the weekend (he was not there for the entire Colorado trip, just the small portion he wasn't at work for).
My main anxiety was originally the anesthesia portion of the procedure. I was pretty convinced I'd do something silly like confess to a murder (I've never committed one, honestly) or stab a dental assistant with a scalpel and wind up in jail for life. I know this sounds crazy, because it is. They strapped my arms down which actually did wonders for half of my anxiety and I felt no loopiness when I woke up. I think I'm going to ask for IV sedation the next time I need my teeth cleaned. Only half kidding. At first the pain afterwards wasn't so bad. I thought I had it easy until a few days in when things started to hurt a lot. Like, really bad, excruciating, all consuming agony. I'd rather give birth than have my wisdom teeth taken out again if given the choice. I had been trying to avoid narcotics as much as possible since Lyra is still nursing. But I had to have my mother call the dentist after hours for me by Sunday night. So I upped my meds and turned over toddler care to the grandparents. Thank goodness for parents. Also one of my nerves was damaged because of one tooth being so close to it. So I had no feeling in my left bottom lip. None. So weird.
Luckily after 5 months, my nerve damage numbness is gone. 😥 Get those teeth out early. And I'm not in jail for murder sooooo if I can do it, so can you!
