Orthognathic surgery before & after

This week I’ve been thinking A LOT about Before and After.

What will After look like? Feel like?

I have been pouring over the usual suspects (other blogs & archwired) to prepare for surgery. I named this blog Babies and Braces because that’s where I am right now. Most of my analogies link these two ideas. I feel just I did when I was 34 weeks pregnant with my first baby. Every physical sensation (i.e. chewing anything) reminds me that the Big Day is coming very soon. Excitement and anxiety collide in my waking thoughts. Just like reading birth stories helped me prepare for my labor, so has seeing others’ After photos. Thank you y'all for bravely posting your shots of swollen cheeks, bloody noses, and bizarre elastic configurations. Will I be as brave?

Here are links to a few of the Before & Afters I admired. (Of course, there are others, but I focused on the easy-to-navigate-pages for this post). If you have one to add to the list, please note it in the comments. I hope this will serve as a quick reference instead of scrolling through the yahoo group photos.

· Karl http://www.thisisjustwrong.com/
· Rachel http://breakrachelsface.blogspot.com/2008/08/one-woman-two-faces.html
· Kelsie http://orthognathicsx.blogspot.com/2007/03/looking-back.html
· Leah http://leahsjawsurgery.blogspot.com/2008/05/last-post-before-surgery.html
· Amie http://amiesjaw.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html
· Lisa http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h287/npfieldhockey/jaw%20surgeries/?action=view&current=ca25e93b.pbw
· Tori http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=27353&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
· Arvensis http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=27529&highlight=pics