The Day Started Well

My son was in a great mood from the time he woke up today.  Until we visited the pediatrician.

The little one had fun playing with the toys and books in the waiting room.  My son flipped out when the medical assistant showed up to take us to the exam room.  I guess he hadn't realized where we were until he saw the hallway decorated with safari animals.

My son whimpered when we set him on the scale.  He screamed when our friendly medical assistant measured his height.  He outright wailed when we removed his clothes so that he could wear an exam gown.

Thanks to my Rain Man-esque ability to memorize and recite Elmo songs, the little one calmed down enough to stop crying.  We looked at fun books for a few minutes and I was sure that things were going to be fine.  Then the doctor walked in the room.

The howling began afresh.  The upside to all his screaming is that the doctor was able to easily look in the kiddo's mouth.  The downside is that my toddler shrieked for nearly 30 solid minutes.

The doctor did nothing to hurt my son.  He was very patient and gentle.  He even gave the little guy a new book to take home.  Yet my son spat out a "bye-bye" as he waved the doctor away.

The medical assistant returned and my son went berserk.  He screamed and thrashed about so much that he was pink and sweaty.  Shots are never all that fun, but I knew that they were going to be worse because he was working himself up so much.

Three shots; two in one leg, one in the other.  For being less than thirty pounds, he is sure a strong little guy.  It took three adults to administer these shots.

His good attitude returned as soon as we left the doctor's office.  He never did nap today, but he ate a hearty dinner and he had fun playing with his new book.  Since he is so fond of Elmo, I let him watch two Elmo videos.

Shortly before bedtime, he started limping a little.  His left leg, the one that had two shots, was clearly hurting.  I took off the bandages and the injection sites look normal.

He seemed perfectly fine, except the limping, but I gave him extra cuddles and snuggles tonight.  I really didn't want to put him in his crib because I wanted to keep him close.  Since we don't normally co-sleep, I figured that he wouldn't sleep any better in my bed.  So I put him in his crib. 

As I do every night, I'll look in on him before I turn in for the night.  Yes, I still check to see that he's breathing and make sure that he doesn't have anything like bedding or stuffed animals up close to his face - I guess I took all that SIDS prevention info a little too seriously.  I'm sure he'll be fine in the morning, but my heart hurt to see him limping tonight.

Of course, I'd feel worse if he ended up with HepA, Hib, or pneumococcal meningitis and I refused the shots.  I guess the limping isn't all that bad in comparison.