Being a parent comes with its fair share of worry and fear. It’s all too common to feel a little panic the first time your little one falls, bumps their head, or tries to eat something they shouldn’t, and rightly so — it’s terrifying to think about your little one getting hurt. It gets easier after your first (or so I’m told) but worrying is always just part of the territory!
When mom-of-two Darian Depreta was playing with her daughter, Bella, and noticed something strange in Bella’s mouth, she was immediately concerned about her baby girl’s health. Bella had an unusually large, circular, brown spot tucked up into the roof of her mouth. First, Depreta tried to wipe it off. But when it didn’t move, she took Bella to the doctor.
They had an appointment with a nurse practitioner. She couldn’t figure out what the mark was or what caused it, so she sought advice from other doctors on staff. Depreta was informed that it was most likely a birthmark and that Bella would require the services of a specialist — actually, two specialists. This was not a satisfactory response to Depreta. “I’m now being told that my daughter will be assigned to two specialists,” she wrote on Facebook.
Depreta was unwavering in her belief that the spot was not a birthmark. So the NP took another look at Bella’s mouth roof. “I point out that it appears to be a little white on the side, and she really gets in there scraping it,” Darian wrote. The mystery of the location was revealed: Bella had a piece of cardboard stuck to the roof of her mouth! “I’ll never set foot in that office again.” “I cried and laughed for 5 minutes straight,” she wrote.
Bella had been chewing on a cardboard box before her mother snatched it away from her. Depreta had checked her mouth for small pieces, but one had gotten stuck up there. She was relieved to learn it was cardboard and not some strange infection, but she also felt conflicted emotions. Of course, some of her post’s readers were quick to judge her.
“Yes she could have choked on it and I’m thanking God she did not,” she wrote. “The only reason it was posted was that after crying, panicking, and trying to figure out what it was (the doctors didn’t even know), she was ok.” “The laugh was after the storm of it all,” she added. “And I don’t “let” my baby chew on cardboard. She’s teething and tries to chew on EVERYTHING.”
Every parent understands the dangers and frustrations of teething. Little ones try to put anything and everything in their mouths, and no matter how close an eye we keep on them, sometimes things like this happen. Thankfully, Bella was okay in the end.“She just so happened to find a box while I was loading the dishwasher, which I of course took off of her right away,” Depreta wrote. “I just didn’t realize a piece got stuck up there. I checked her mouth for small pieces right away.”
We understand, mama, and we’re glad that Bella is doing great and that you can laugh about it now. It must have been so scary at first! What’s the strangest thing your child has ever tried to put in their mouth? Let us know in the comments!