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 met with a nurse practitioner. She couldn’t determine what the mark was or what caused it, so she consulted with other doctors on staff.
Depreta was told that it was likely a birthmark and Bella would need to see a specialist — actually, two specialists.
Photo: Facebook/Darian Depreta
This was not an acceptable response to Depreta.
“I’m now being told that my daughter will be set up with 2 specialists,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Depreta was firm in her insistence that the spot was not a birthmark. So the NP took a second look at the roof of Bella’s mouth.
“I point out it looks a little white on the side and she really gets in there trying to scrape it,” Darian wrote.
That’s when the mystery of the spot was solved: Bella had a piece of cardboard stuck to the roof of her mouth!
Photo: Facebook/Darian Depreta
“I can never show my face in that office again. I cried/laughed for a solid 5 minutes straight,” she wrote.
Turns out, Bella had been chewing on a cardboard box briefly before mom snatched it away from her. Although Depreta had checked her mouth for small pieces, apparently one had gotten stuck up in there.
She was a super-relieved mama after finding out it was cardboard and not some crazy infection — but she also felt a mix of emotions. And, of course, some readers of her post were quick to judge her.
Photo: Facebook/Darian Depreta
“Yes she could have choked on it and I’m thanking God she did not,” she wrote. “The only reason it was posted was because 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.
Photo: Facebook/Darian Depreta
“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!
