Mila's Earrings

This morning we got Mila's ear pierced. Jorge and I have been going back and forth on this for months and we finally decided to do it. I had mine pierced when I was a baby and I'm so glad I did. So we thought we'd get Mila's pierced as well. Not to mention that our family has been asking when we're going to get it done! We finally decided to do it a few weeks ago, but then Mila got the sniffles and then she had her vaccine appointment so it kept being delayed. Finally we scheduled it for today. I'd been dreading this day for months! My mom went with me to take Mila.

Last night I barely slept thinking about it. And all morning I had a horrible pit in my stomach knowing we'd be going. Ugh.

We considered going to Claire's to get it done, mostly because they do it all the time and they had a larger earring selection. But we ultimately decided to get it done at the doctor's office instead mostly because we'd have a private room (at Claire's it'd be out in the open) and I knew Mila would be crying, so I wanted some privacy to try to calm her down without feeling like everyone was staring at us.

We left the house early to stop by CVS and pick up some Bacitracin that my friend Spencer recommended. It's an antibacterial ointment that also helps calm the pain. We ended up getting to the doctor's office half an hour early, but they let us in right away. The pit in my stomach was totally making me feel nauseous. Mila was in a good mood -- she had no idea... that is, until the nurse came in. Mila stared at her. The nurse took out some alcohol to wipe her ears and asked us to lay her down on the examining table... and that's when Mila lost it. I think she smelled the alcohol and knew what was coming.  :(

The nurse had to wipe her ears and then was going to mark a dot on each one so she could make sure they would be even. Mila cried the whole time the nurse tried to mark the dot. She knew. Poor thing! We tried sitting her up, putting her in my lap -- nothing! It was awful. Finally, the nurse had to hide behind Mila so that she could calm down. And even then -- Mila kept turning around looking for her because she KNEW she was there. We tried distracting her with her favorite toys but that wasn't really working. Finally, with the nurse crouched down hiding, she was able to finish marking the dots and make sure they were even. All that took like 15 minutes, when it could have easily taken 1 minute and no tears had Mila not been so aware. Ugh -- we should have totally done this sooner!

The actual piercing was bad but it was over in a minute. Of course Mila cried. I almost cried too. She cried for just a couple of minutes afterwards and then she took the boob. She was actually much better as soon as the nurse left! She cried more before the piercing than during or after!

I thought she might be fussy afterwards, or that it might bother her, but I put the Bacitracin on and she's had no problems at all. She took a nap just fine and even though she's a tummy sleeper, it wasn't a problem.

I'm still untying all the knots in my stomach from this morning, but seeing that she's feeling alright, I feel better. I'm glad so glad it's over with! I'm still getting used to seeing her with them, but I think she looks cute. It was rough, but in the end, I'm happy we did it. I think when she gets older she'll be happy she has them, just like I am happy I have mine.