Dealing With the Herbst

Day 1. Wednesday, September 4th
This morning I got my Herbst appliance. I decided to keep a journal of what it's like for anybody who's interested or scheduled to get one. When I first got it on, it felt awkward. One thing the brochure told me was that it would feel like there was a lot in my mouth, they were wrong in my case. The first things I discovered was that I can't move my lower jaw side-to side and, of course, I couldn't relax my jaw back to where it usually goes since this is the basis of the Herbst.
Day 2, Thursday, September 5th at 7:54 am
I just woke up about out 15 minute ago and my two molars (one on each side) the upper parts of my herbst are attached to are really sore! I took Advil almost a soon as I woke up. I can't wait for it to kick in! I think the reason they hurt is that my lower jaw has been resting against them(via the Herbst), pushing them back all night.
Day 2, Thursday, September 5th at 9:13 am
About 45 minutes after I took Advil, my teeth got better. Now I don't have much pain and all (whew!). I basically had a mocha smoothie for breakfast because I didn't want to brave anything harder since my teeth hurt.
Day 2, Thursday, September 5th at 10:53 am
My lower front teeth are a little sore right now but my molars are fine. I forgot to mention day 1 meals so I will now. Day 1 lunch was Ramen, I just swallowed the noodles whole. Day 1 dinner was Penne pasta. I was able to chew it but I went very slowly. the only teeth that meet are my front and they aren't very good for chewing. My molars don't actually touch but I can chew with them if I put enough between them. I really don't know how I will chew thing like meat but I hope I will figure it out somehow...
Day 2, Thursday, September 5th at 8:29 pm
Lunch today was Ramen again, nothing new there. Dinner was Penne pasta again. I'm making progress in terms of chewing, now I can eat all of the pasta on my plate before it gets cold! I have been on Advil all day, we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning.
Day 3, Friday, September 6th
I had oatmeal for breakfast. Due to my Herbst, I can't really chew it. Ramen for lunch for the third time. For dinner, I had to eat pizza. I wasn't sure if I could eat it but I managed, thanks to my practice with pasta.
Day 4, Saturday, September 7th 1:44 pm
I had a snack before lunch of oranges and a little bite of Snickeroo. The oranges probably weren't a very good idea since as I bit them, they pushed on my braces. I went to a potluck for lunch, I pretty much just took all the kinds of pasta. There was plenty of pasta so I got plenty of food. I had cookies and cake, they were quite easy to eat.
Day 5, Sunday, September 8th 9:12 am
For breakfast, I had rice crispies, non-meat sausage, and cantaloupe. It was my first big breakfast.
Day 5, Sunday, September 8th 12:46 pm
When I first woke up, I felt like taking Advil but I fell back asleep and when I woke up later, my molars were ok so I haven't taken any Advil so far. For lunch, I had Pho. That was easy since it was just broth and soft noodles.
Day 6, Monday, September 9th at 7:45 pm
I haven't been writing as much since every little bit of food I eat isn't such an accomplishment. I am doing guite well and I am eating more things every day. Soon, I will put up an analysis of the past few days that's a little more to the point. I did have a bagel with cream cheese for lunch. It had part of the top and bottom cut off so I could eat it without putting stress on my braces.