The stitches are out!

Friday afternoon I took Lily to the pediatrician's office to have her stitches removed. I talked to her about it a lot beforehand, always emphasizing that it wasn't going to be anything like when they put them in, it wouldn't hurt, there wouldn't be any "spicy medicine" (her term for anything that stings her skin), etc. We got her up on the table and the doctor took out one of the 7 stitches with no problem. Then, when she tried to take out another, Lily started to panic and scream. So we took a break, then tried again. No dice. Tried having her sit on my lap. Nope. Tried sitting on my lap while eating a Tootsie Pop with the promise of more candy when the stitches were all out. Nope. Put her back on the table with 3 nurses restraining her. The doctor got one more stitch out but then reopened the wound a little bit because Lily was kicking and screaming and fighting so much. So they brought out the big guns: a board with an almost life-vest type thing on it that velcroed her in tightly, plus 3 nurses and me holding her down. The receptionists were holding Tom at this point so he wouldn't get in the path of Lily's kicks. Finally, the doctor was able to remove the last of the stitches. We were all totally stressed out by the end of the ordeal! But minutes later, Lily was picking out stickers and deciding which piece of candy to eat first, and she was fine.
I hope she never, ever has to get stitches again.