…of the long, yet rewarding, journey of braces. Brace yourself. 
To the POINT: I got headgear! Thursday, at 10:40, I got my headgear, which, to be accurate, is neckgear. ;D I’ve been so excited to start this, but I really had no idea how sore I’d be. LOL It’s day three of having it though, so it’s a lot better. I apologize for not posting this sooner, I’ve been writing some, then saving the draft, writing more, saving draft, until today, I finished it! Hurray! Read on…
<–Before and After–>
Total (Tedious) Time:
<–10:40 to 11:20–>
It was really sore the first day and night. The second day (yesterday), was a lot better, although still really sore. Today it’s just pulling, which is uncomfortable, and it’s hard to eat because I’m sore. I have to eat really soft foods for the time being. The bands that the neckgear slip in and out of, stick out and press into my cheek (from the inside, of course), so it’s swollen from that. I’m still working at perfecting my skills in getting the neckgear off and on. It’s quite a challenge! From the picture above (the “after” picture) you can only see the front of the neckgear. There’s a strap, behind my neck, that connects to the metal part and pulls back, moving my jaw backward. I have an overbite, so that’s why I have this. Haniya’s neckgear took about 6 months, so I’m hoping mine’ll be as quick (or quicker is fine with me!) as that. But I’m still a long way from being done when I do get my neckgear off.
Me trying, not succeeding, in getting my headgear in. Still in the ortho office. Doesn’t the mirror make it harder to get small things RIGHT in there places? It makes backward look like forward and vis versa!
Me in my special chair! I will always remember then green leather… oh the plastic-covered head rest…
Areli. Amazingly, she’s fast asleep! That’s her lovely, neat bed in the truck. She had to come along with us all day because we didn’t want to skip her meals, or leave her all alone all day at home.
Oh, I’m so sorry, Naomi! Now I have learned about the tedious, yet rewarding, process that I will endure sometime in my next four years. Noooot pleasant. Everybody keeps on saying, “It’ll be fine!” but when I hear real testimonies, from real people, that really had this….. well, you get the point.
Areli is just so cute! Our kittens were so active the first couple of months we had them, but now they just sleep a lot, and are calm. It’s weird. Hopefully they’ll grow out of it!
LOL! Well, here’s a very true testimony… It only hurts for the first 2 days. Truly. It’s still uncomfortable, but NOT unbearable at all.
But actually, you might not need headgear/neckgear! Do you have an overbite?
I’ll tell her you said that! LOL
She’s gotten a lot more energetic the last few days. The first couple days she was really tired, but it was just from the stressful journey, I guess. ;D
Hm. Maybe they’re catching up on sleep they lost the first months!
We need to come over to your house to see them!
Yep, I have a small overbite. And my mouth is very crowded, so some of my teeth came in all small and weird.
It will be nice when they’re pretty, though! 
Yeah, probably!
I think that might be one of the reasons, as well. Also, I think it’s because they’re growing, and they need more rest. You really need to come over and see them, before they’re all grown up!
Hm. I’ve never noticed that. Of course, I’m not exactly staring at people’s teeth or anything! LOL
Haniya had a bigger overbite then me, I think.
Oh yeah, I can’t wait till the end result!!!
Yep. That’s probably why also. We just took Areli for a walk to the mailbox.