Thursday, April 01, 2010

my sad little teddy bear



samuel's little teddy bear hat was lovingly picked out and paid for by his older brother for his christmas present. he wore it yesterday morning while we met some family and friends at the wild animal park. it has been nice and chilly out lately with even a little bit of rain last night! i love it when it feels like a real springtime down here. tristan had a great time running after his cousins and samuel enjoyed watching all the action from the confines of his stroller, bopping his little head up and down when he got really excited. after a couple of hours i left tristan there and took samuel home so that he could catch a bit of a nap before his 9 month checkup (though he's closer to 10 months) later that afternoon.





it must have something to do with mommy amnesia, but i don't ever seem to dread the doctor's visits that include immunizations. i tend to just think "how nice, now he'll be weighed and measured and i'll get to record those numbers in his baby book." perhaps it is more a decision on my part not to think of the shots? i'm not sure. anyhow, so we met the doctor (samuel's usual doctor wasn't available this month) and she was very nice and didn't chastise me for not giving him vitamin D supplements (which i had NO clue i was supposed to be giving him) and listened very sympathetically as i shared my breast biting woes. she recommended i try expressing and feeding him from a cup since he won't take a bottle and hasn't gotten the hang of a sippy cup yet. after all, only 2 more months before he'll be able to drink cow's milk, so no point trying to get him back on a bottle. samuel was his usual outgoing, flirty, grinning self the entire time, often trying to lunge from my arms straight into the doctor's. then she asked to see his immunization record.

i have no idea what went wrong since my mommy amnesia tends to extend not only to things i don't want to remember, but also to things that i really should remember. but somehow, he only had 1 immunization recorded in his yellow book, and that was the one he received at the hospital following his birth. the doctor seemed slightly alarmed at this, and that's when i furrowed my brow and tried super hard to remember if and when he had received any other immunizations. since our insurance has changed so many times, he has had a few different doctors and i guess they don't share patient records very easily or something because this little yellow immunization record book seemed to be the only evidence of his shots. and that's pretty silly since his little yellow immunization record book is entrusted to my care. upon more fruitless brow furrowing on my part and a deeper dig into his records on the doctor's part, she discovered that he had indeed received a few vaccinations at his 6 month visit, but she still needed to "catch him up". as soon as i heard those words i inwardly cringed, while trying to keep the smile still pasted on my face. i watched her count off on her fingers all of the different antibodies he absolutely could not live without and i think it was something like 8 or 9. oh, good heavens. "but he'll only have to get 4 pokes" she said cheerfully. i dutifully asked about the risks and she just shrugged it off saying that he may be a little grumbly with a low-grade fever and that was it. with a deep sigh, i said "okay".

why does it take SO forever long to get those vaccines ready? i think we waited for about 15 minutes before the nurse came wheeling in her deadly weapons. first was the toe prick to check for anemia. then some sort of 3 in 1 vaccine with a needle as long as my pointer finger. samuel was already disgruntled from being pricked in the toe, but he was more concerned with flirting with the nurse than the pain. i was holding his arms while the nurse held his legs and just as she started to get the needle in, his little leg got loose and he gave a tremendous kick which caused that cursed needle to scratch his thigh with a pretty lengthy gouge. oh, the tears. oh, the wailing. oh, the blood. oh, the shades of red and purple that i have never before witnessed on my baby's face. the nurse seemed disgruntled at him for kicking her and, after unsuccessfulyl searching for neosporin, slapped a bandaid on his thigh and left for another 15 minutes to prepare that vaccine all over again. it must have stung like crazy because samuel screamed the entire time.

the next time we lay him down and i again took hold of his arms while she held his legs. she poked him first in his other thigh and, can you believe it, he kicked and got scratched AGAIN!! i could tell she was flustered and muttered an apology before sticking him three more times while my little boy looked me in the eyes and howled. it was really very awful. i held him in my arms for close to 20 minutes before he was calm enough to put in the car and drive the half hour home. i wasted no time in administering tylenol and put him to bed nice and early. he made not a peep the entire evening and i allowed myself to believe that the worst was over before i fell asleep. then, 1:30 came around and let me tell you that "grumbly" is not the word i'd choose to describe my poor little man. once the motrin kicked in, he thankfully nodded off for a few more hours.

this morning i decided to search his medical folder and what should i find but another little yellow immunization record book! this one has 10 immunizations recorded in it. how in the world he ended up with 2 of these things is beyond me, but i'm hopeful that at his 12 month visit, when the records are combined, i'll be told that he has enough to last him until he's 5. yeah, i wish ;)



12 comments:

Miranda said...

poor thing. :( I dread having to take baby to do shots. My worst fear plus the fact that she will cry might equal me crying

kelly ens said...

awww, immunizations are always tough, but to get scratched twice in the process with a rather unsympathetic nurse...even worse :(

Lori said...

That is really a horrible story. Poor baby. But I am more concerned with...VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTS? Is this especially for your baby or something they are all supposed to have? I've heard nothing of this.

Julie said...

My doctor said that Vitamin D suppliments are only needed if your child never sees the sun (like in Alaska during the winter when its almost always dark). He told me this in the middle of winter here in the midwest, your almost always sunny there. I wouldnt worry about those. Poor little Samuel! My son had to get "caught up" on immunizations when we switched doctors at his 9 month. He got 4 or 5 pokes but no scratches. Hope Samuels feeling better.

L&D said...

Oh dear. I remember when the little boy was getting his baby vaccinations and had to be "caught up"......5 shots later. I thought I was the world's worst mama. I cried.

Hotshot's Wife said...

Thomas got some immunizations today and we have to go back in 4 weeks for a few more. I hate it when he stiffens his body and lays into my body like I'm supposed to protect him. I am glad someone else had 2 immunization cards. I had 2 and we had to sort it out which was the keeper and which was the bad one.

M.R. Tumnus said...

Hope he is over the trauma and slept better tonight. I'm the one who can't sleep right now, oh well. Poor little guy. XO

Unknown said...

That was a terible story. I am traumatized now...and I don't mind needles and shots! Hope he recovers quickly.

I always think that immunizations are a bit of a catch-22. I am hoping to go to Africa this fall, and the list of shots I am going to need is as long as my arm. I certainly don't want to get any nasty disease, but I have an excellent immune system and I am never sick. The thought of putting all those diseases in me just to prevent me from possibly getting sick makes me cringe. Oh well.

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Unknown said...

What a horrible experience! So sorry :(

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Poor Samuel! A senile mommy at such a tender age!

DO remember to write "Samuel's First Earthquake- April 4 2010" in his baby book. Do it now before you forget. It was a real lulu, wasn't it? (We are visiting, and are in Laura's condo overlooking Sea World, you wouldn't believe what the quake felt like on the second floor of the building and the aftershocks during the night!)

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

PS: I was instructed to keep my babies records written on a plastic credit card sized form, and to have it in my wallet at ALL times. It was good advice; it amazed me how often that information was needed when they reached school age. Saved me endless trips back home to get the info when it was unexpectedly needed.
The plastic copy stayed in the wallet, a copy was kept at home.

I finally gave the cards to them when they were old enough to drive....Laura just told me she still has hers!

Neha said...

Poor baby...and I hate that nurse...whosoever can treat babies like this???!!!

I hope the little man is doing better now. Take care of him and you :)