Muffin had an Orthodontist appointment today. As soon as she took off her outerwear - she started to scratch her head. I was having to tell her stop every 2 minutes and then fix her head band. The assistant takes some pictures of Muffin's mouth and profile etc. and then starts to show us the pictures on the computer when Muffin starts to scratch again. I tap her on the leg and then reach up to pat her hair down - when I see what looks like to be a piece of lint. I grab it, have a quick look at it and notice it starts to move! Your freaking kidding me! I drop it on the floor and step on it - then I completely zone out with the thought that my daughter has lice! For 20 minutes, I didn't hear a thing they said to us - I was completely inside my own head, freaking out and keeping a very close eye that she didn't touch her head again. All I heard was blips of "...she needs this appliance within the next few months", "...her teeth need to be pulled back before her adult teeth come in..." and then -HELLO!- reality comes rushing back when she slides an estimate across the table with the amount of $2640.80 written at the bottom. *Cough, cough*... excuse me? So we commit to a payment plan, all of which we really can't afford - esp. while trying to save for this adoption.
We get in the car, I tell Dan to drive straight to the pharmacy. We get home and I do a quick inspection - I see nothing! Then... I use the lice/nit comb... I found 4 little bugs (half the size of the one in the office) and probably 30 nits. Then I soak her hair in olive oil and let it stew under a shower cap.
Mister got the inspection when he got home - 1 little tiny baby and 5 nits. I'm not nearly as grossed out by this all as I would have expected. Then... I think I should run the comb through my hair as Muffin and I share the same brush. So, even though I don't have an itchy head - I run the comb through... and out came 2 nits! Your kidding me! Yuck! I turned up 2 little bugs and about 30 nits as well.
Now this is all kind of ironic, because we have been getting lice watch warnings from the kids' school for the last 4 years. Someone always seems to have it. And I admit... I have turned a nose down at them. Mister has one girl in his class who has repeatedly had them and I am always thinking - what the heck is going on at your house? Why hasn't this been taken care of? I hope your not getting close to my son! And... if I volunteer, I keep my distance from her. I guess I thought we were immune to them. It is a bit humbling... and now having first hand experience, I can honestly say it is not all that gross. My head would itch nonstop when someone so much as mentioned Lice - I'd have pictures of grotesque, swarming bugs scurrying through my hair - running through my mind... and now here I've literally been nit picking for the last 3 hours... and my head isn't itching at all.
This is not something I would have normally admitted, but I know that no one I "know" even knows my blog exists ... and I now realize that anyone can get them - no one is immune to it. I found myself thinking where did we get this from... who gave it to us!? But, I know it really doesn't matter - because they got it from someone else the same way we got it. It really has no relevance to your personal hygiene, or the people you associate with. I get it now...and it is sad that I had to "get it" to get it.
Now back to the sterilizing...
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