Girls at the Doctor

In the last month, both girls have visited the doctor for the well-child check. Ella’s visit was during her school day, we pulled her out before lunch and brought her back around recess time (having fed her in the middle). Ella was pretty happy to be there, a little shy with the doctor and staff, but a pleasant trip all around. She took my phone and used it to snap photos of the office while we were waiting. No shots and she’s in the 95th percentile for height and 45th percentile for weight.

One of these photos was not taken by Ella.

As you can see, she’s cool as a cucumber. This doctor stuff is easy-peasy when you’re six. Apparently the eye doctor is a different story.

Then I brought Lily to the doctor this week…

It occurred to her that she *might* need shots earlier in the week. She brought it up on her own, and I told her we didn’t know if she’d need shots. Upon reviewing Ella’s updated immunization record that was still sitting on our counter from her visit, I was pretty confident Lily was in for a boatload of immunizations. Boatload. But I wasn’t about to tell her that. I was going to leave that job for the one with the medical degree. I wasn’t taking the fall, no way. But Lily continued to fret over it and the day of her doctor’s visit, I picked her up from school, and rather than run down the path, waving and smiling at me, she slowly dragged her feet down the path with her head held low as if our next stop was to euthanize puppies.

I prepared myself with Bonnie, a play doctor’s kit, blankie and a snack. I also had the carrot that *if* Lily *had* to get shots, I’d take her to Amy’s Ice Creams afterwards.

All in all, Lily was very happy at the visit. Sat patiently while her hearing was checked, made it through the eye exam and blood pressure check. While waiting for the doctor, she gave Bonnie a full exam and seemed to really relish just sitting around in her underpants.

Everything was going great. Lily is in the 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight (a record!) Our pediatrician is one of the nicest people on the planet, I could tell Lily was mesmerized by her.  The doctor asked Lily to identify a square, triangle and circle…child’s play. Then she asked Lily to draw a picture of a person. In classic Lily fashion, she drew the person upside down and in great detail. The doctor was shocked, she’d never had a child draw the person in her point of view, and then remarked the detail was like that of a six year old. She was further impressed when I told her that Lily could write upside down and right to left so it would make sense to someone who is facing her.

But all good things must come to an end. The doctor broke the news to Lily that she’d be receiving four shots. But, we could combine two, so three pokes. And, we’d use numbing spray. And, no more shots until she’s 11 (even though that’s a lie because of flu shots). Lily was visibly nervous, but holding herself together well, I had hope it might go well.

It took awhile for the nurse to get the shots together, and Lily was losing her brave. I actually poked my head out to let them know we had to get the show on the road or we were going to have an underpantsed runner.

The nurse came in, and even sweetened the deal by telling Lily she had a pocketful of chocolate for her. We readied Lily for the shots. She giggled as the alcohol was rubbed on, but the numbing spray was cold and she was not a fan. The actual pokes came and so did the blood curdling screaming. Thankfully, it seems there was only a newborn also in the exam rooms, because I’d feel horrible if another child had to hear what came next. What came next? Complete meltdown. Despite having chocolates, a sucker, stickers and imminent ice cream, Lily screamed at the top of her lungs. And not just crying, oh no. “It HUUUUURRRTS!! It hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS. THE SHOTS HURT MY LEGS SO MUCH!! The shots hurt me sooooo much!!” Drama much? I dressed her and carried her from the office while she was screaming this non-stop.

She pulled herself together long enough to go into Amy’s to get her ice cream and then whimpered all the way home, while eating her ice cream. I heard about it all night. She even leaned against me and fell asleep shortly after we got home. Eventually, I convinced her to take some ibuprofen that took forever to kick in.

I figured once she went to bed, this was behind us. Nope, the moment her eyes popped open the next morning, she reminded me constantly of the pain she was in. I gave her a note for her teacher explaining the problem. Apparently, Lily stayed pretty close to the teacher all morning and had some ice packs for her legs. I braced myself for her return, but after school, she was back to being her happy self. No more leg pain. Which is good, because our next stop was amputation.

It’s so strange to look at our visit sheets and see that our next appointments are when the girls are seven and five. How is that possible? And I’m so thankful there will be no more immunizations until they are 11. Otherwise, I’d need that numbing spray for my ears.