Doctor Visit

Yesterday was Nathan's 4 month check-up appointment.  We were in the well-children's waiting room, and like a typical Monday morning, it was busy.  I gave myself plenty of space from the other moms and kids, probably for the sake of germs.  As I sat there, I heard one mom complaining about a headache, feeling achy and not feeling good. Another lady told her it was probably H1N1 as her toddler was running back and forth between her and the toy station. Another mom came in who had the most uptight demeanor about her. She looked anxiously around at number of people in the room, and sat her two kids down in chairs as far away from others as possible. Her two year old jumped up to play with the toy station with the other kids. The mom clearly disapproved, but didn't say no to her child. Instead, she hovered by the toys, watching each child. When the mom in the corner complained again about not feeling good, her eyebrows shot up and she looked around to see if anyone else was concerned. I was amused, but keenly aware that I would probably be that mom if Nathan was old enough to be running around. The whole vaccine issue, especially the H1N1, has us talking and we still don't know what to do.

Well, Nathan was happy and standing on my legs and cooing at teenage girls in the room. He had them charmed. The poor kid had a rough day after that, however. They weighed him – he is now 16 lbs, 3 oz! That puts him in the 95^th percentile for his age! I understand from my mom that Aaron, Nathan's cousin, now weighs 16 lbs, and is in the 5^th percentile for his age (9 months). He is a big boy.

I asked the doctor all sorts of questions, and he looked him over. There was a fold of skin (on an area that we won't talk about) that we had been concerned about, and the doctor said that it had started to fuse together. Quickly, he pealed the layers apart, which caused Nathan to go from a happy cooing child, to a shocked and then betrayed unhappy one.

Then it was time for the vaccines. Up until now, he has not had any. I was going to wait to start until he was 6 months. I've been reading and reading about this, and decided to start a few of the more important vaccines now. (Pc and HIB) I wanted to avoid having more than one vaccine with aluminum given in any one visit. This was based on recommendations or suggestions from a couple sources, including Dr. Sears. There was a combo vaccine, Pentacel that I asked not be given with Pc, and they found a HIB only vaccine for me. So, when the time came, I stood by Nathan's head as the needle went in. It hurt my heart to see him in so much distress, so I only sort of noticed that the doctor paused and did not push the liquid in. He pulled out the needle, and put the other needle in. After this, he said he hadn't given him the first one because it was Pentacel. Not that this would have killed him, but it was upsetting. I think he realized I was upset before I did, because he was very gentle in explaining what had happened and asked if I was okay. Nathan got the HIB vaccine in the other leg, so just when he was getting over the first two, he went through it again. Trauma.

By the time I got home, I was agitated, and frustrated. I should have checked the needles, and package insert. I should have asked for the lot number and written it down before it happened. I just forgot in the moment. I am thankful that the doctor caught it. I talked to Jon who told me to take a deep breath, and my mom who told me it was going to be okay. I knew that, but it was still a difficult day with Nathan crying because his legs hurt, as well as the sensitive skin that had been re-exposed. I joked with my mom in asking if I should take his temperature every hour, or half an hour, - but in reality I did check it often. After hours of fussiness and crying, I called the doctor to see if there was anything I could do for him. They suggested infant Tylenol, so we went to the store.

The medicine did not really go down, because I gave it to him directly, instead of in the bottle (which he won't take). He tasted it and then pushed most of it back out, but I think a little went down. It didn't seem to help much, but as long as we didn't touch his legs, or make him stand on them, he was calm. Nathan has such a serious expression at times anyway, but last night he looked as if all the good times in life were over. He sat there and looked at us every once in awhile giving a halfway smile. Poor poor kid.