Last week Jon and I took Thursday and Friday off and put the boys in school to celebrate our anniversary. Thursday we shopped for necessary items (new mattress, new bedside lamps). Friday we went to the spa then out to lunch. We then heard our county was getting more H1N1 shots and I called our pediatrician who told us we were not in their high-risk category. I found an urgent care clinic that had some left so we picked the boys up early to get the shots. On our anniversary. On one of our precious double-working-parent vacation days.
We waited with the boys for an hour, then Jon had to leave to meet the mattress delivery people at home. I waited 90 MORE minutes with the boys by myself. They were angels the entire time, which was our best anniversary present. When our name was called after 2.5 hours, Alex went completely out of control in only the way a 3.5 year can.
Kicking, screaming, yelling, thrashing, bucking, trying to run away, crazy out of control. This reaction made Nate scream and cry as well. It took 20 minutes to get both boys their shots because they were on this vicious negative feedback loop of screaming and crying. Despite being physically restrained by myself and a male nurse, it took five sticks to get all of Alex's vaccine into him.
The nurse was awesome and laughed at the entire situation. He found it hilarious that Nate was crying when he already had his shot. I said, "Welcome to twin parenting!" I did ask him if it got any worse than this and he said this was by far his worst vaccination experience.
We're #1!!!
After walking out into a waiting room packed with people staring at us in horror, I spent an hour in traffic driving home listening to Alex and Nate talk about how brave they had been. Seriously! I rushed in the door with two hungry boys to find the babysitter had arrived early and the mattress people had just arrived. Mass chaos in our house trying to get boys fed, mattresses in and out, dressed for our night out, get kids some pain reliever for the multiple needle jabs.
At dinner I had the biggest glass of wine I've had in a lonnnngggg time because as parents know, we need to get them an H1N1 booster in a month.
17 comments:
Happy anniversary! Ha ha. Hearing about your attempts with the shot make me keep thinking, is it really worth it?! But our ped office has it so we have an appt for next week.
Oh god, Laura. Only you could go through that and think to yourself "we are number one!" LOL! That rocks. Just keep saying to yourself, "This is better than the flu...better than the flu." :) Thanks for this story and cheers to the idea of TWO parent days OFF! That rocks! So does the spa!!
William was number #1, too, when he got his shot! Glad I'm not the only one. And yes--I'm dreading the booster. But I'm insisting that Ed come with me to that one! LOL. Yay for babysitters and huge glasses of wine. You soooooo deserved it. (And yay for a new mattress, too! I keep telling Ed that I want a new mattress and box spring for Christmas. The one we sleep on is 15 years old!)
It's crazy how hard it has been to get the flu shot. I hope that it gets easier when it's time for the booster. If my doctor didn't have it then my next move was an appointment at my county health department. They seemed to get a lot more doses than anyone else...
Sounds like a fun anniversary! Todd waited 3 hours to get his vaccine. I wonder if the booster is going to be as hard to find... guess I better start looking now.
Who would have thought that waiting for a mattress delivery could look so appealing?
My girls are still mad at me for their H1N1 shots. My littlest finally has stopped talking about it today (she had her shot on Tuesday).
I'm happy you were able to get them (even though it was on your vacation day). I'm on a 25 page wait list for H1N1 AND the regular flu shot with your pediatritions office for when they actually GET them in.
That's crazy! Hope you had a fabulous night out... you totally deserved it!
Sid the Science Kid (PBS)- have your boys seen that? Worth TIVO-ing. The episode that aired here yesterday was mislabeled, but it was all about flu vaccination. Too bad it was TIVO-ing WHILE we were at the peds office getting shots... but it still helped my Alex calm down about it after watching it. Maybe you can Hulu it?
I'm sorry. Fortunately, mine play "good cop, bad cop" with freaking out. Whoever gets to screaming first is bad cop, and the other one is all butterflies and sunshine.
I have SO much respect for the one nurse in Central Texas who gives Synagis shots. During RSV season, that's all she does. She is detested by an entire generation of preemies, and she never stops smiling.
She even told me that my screamy wigglers weren't all that bad. I feel bad for the parents of #1!
The Doodles are scheduled to be traveling when they need their second dose of the H1N1 shot.
Hehehe. That sounds like a really hard day. This was in the news here in Canada today http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/11/12/h1n1-vaccine-costs.html thought you may be interested. Not sure what they're saying in the U.S.
Whoa, that sounded intense. I too am dreading getting the booster, although not b/c Lana freaked out, but the WAIT, ugh, the long line.
Glad you had a nice anniversary dinner and a big glass of wine! Plus a spa day? That sounds pretty wonderful all around.
Ada did not put up that big of a stink, but
(A) we did not have to wait at all, amazingly and
(B) she got the flu mist up her nose, not a shot.
As the parent of under 6 month olds, I got the vaccine too, but I had to have the shot as I'm breastfeeding. But I didn't kick or scream. Much.
I am lol at the "we're #1" comment. I LOVE IT! So funny. I am glad they got it and it is over for now. Happy Belated Anniversary! :)
Last year I had a very similar scenario with Payton then 9yrs old. She screamed and kicked and make such a horrible scene I finally told the nurse to stop. Looked her dead in the eyes and told her that she was acting ridiculous and that I was not holding her down that she would sit there QUIETLY! It worked but I was completely embarrassed when we walked out to see everyone's terrified eyes after her outburst. Especially from a 9 year old! Trust me getting the vaccination is better than getting the piggie flu. We should know John and Payton have had it all week. And we have been trying to get the flu vaccination since we moved back to the United States. Well, now we dont need it!!!!! Amazingly enough Kiera and I havent gotten it. The principal called and Monday they are giving it for free at school. I told her "well thanks, but we dont need it anymore, we already have it." But at least they are doing mass vaccinations at the schools!!! What parent wouldnt want their kids to be protected? Kaylyn
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