I Hate This

Posted on 08.29.07 in Parenthood and there are 22 comments.

My little boy had his well-baby checkup yesterday and he had to have 4, four, FOUR shots!

I don’t mind getting shots or having blood drawn, but stick a needle in one of my kids and I’m a complete wreck. Especially when they look at me with their big eyes wondering why I’d let someone hurt them. I loathe holding them down and listening to them cry.

Honestly? I’m pretty much near tears by the end of it all.

So yesterday I was dreading taking The Smallest Person to his appointment.

The Doctor said he’s very healthy. He’s in the 85th percentile for weight and the 90th for height. He was patient and calm during the whole checkup.

Then the nurse came in with a bundle of needles and shot accoutrements. My son smiled sweetly at her, unaware of the impending doom.

She grabbed his cute, chubby little leg and rubbed it with alcohol, picked up the shot and jabbed his pudgy thigh with her horrible, evil needle.

I braced myself for the screams and the look that my kids always give me that says (or I at least interpret it to say), “Why Mommy? Don’t let them hurt me, Mommy!?”

Then...nothing. He didn’t cry. In fact, even though he’s only 5 months old, I’m pretty sure I heard him say, “Ha! That tickles.”

Somewhat discouraged, the nurse grabbed another terrible needle and plunged it into his other cute, little, pudgy thigh.

Nothing. This time, I think I heard him say, “Is there a mosquito in here? I think I felt something. Hmm...maybe not.”

Finally, the last two shots got to him and he cried a bit, but as soon as it was over he stopped and started smiling again.

He’s so brave. I think he knew it made me cry and so he wanted to make me feel better.

My little hero.

What about you? How do you feel about shots?

The Comments:

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In part, we have our small person to thank for such a great outcome with the shots.  She knew the smallest person was getting shots so she asked her kindergarten teacher to have the class pray that it would go well and that he wouldn’t cry too much.  I believe the nurse’s comments regarding his calmness with the first two shots was something like....’well, that’s a first’.

The small person’s faith encourages me....like the other day when the smallest person was crying in the car and she asked God to help him stop crying ‘by the count of ONE’.  And he did.  These are little testimonies that help nail down for her who God is and how involved he is happy to be in our lives.

Not sure I recommend demanding a one second response from God all the time, unless you are 5...in which case it seems to be a good thing.

Yay for the smallest person!  And what a sweet story from Jimmy.

I’m not too bothered by shots as I’ve been living with type I diabetes since I was a teenager.  Six shots a day will get you over your fear of needles pretty quickly!  But that said, I still can’t watch when I get an immunization or else I faint.

Awwww, maybe the chubbiness of his little leg helped?  I’m glad it wasn’t terrible.

My goats were not nearly as brave as your son yesterday when Buck and I shot ‘em up with immunizations!  You should have heard their desperate cries, seen their feeble attempts to jiggle out of the goatstand, and watched their wild eyes of protest.

Grandma’s little brave soldier! What an angel he is! And Small person - that was wonderful that your class prayed for the smallest person! Love you all!

Texas in Africa,
Six shots a DAY? Yikes. You’re tough!

Cristy,
Thanks! I’m glad it wasn’t terrible too!

Truevyne,
Wow. I’m glad they make “goatstands” so that you don’t have to wrestle them like I do my kids!

Grandma,
We love you too!

We had two out of three get shots today.  The baby got one and our five year old got four shots.  I hate it.

Boo. I hate shots.  Every time, I think, do we really have to do this today?  The four-month shots were the worst for him, though.  He had a knot on his leg for three weeks afterward.

What a brave little baby!  That is so sweet that his big sister prayed for him too. 

Our baby and 5 year old had to get shots yesterday too, it is so sad.  My trick, is I bring my husband along, and he’s got to hold them down.  I comfort them afterward.  I hate holding them down.

I took my #3 for her shots yesterday and they realized she was wheezing too bad to get them :( So instead we left with 3 prescriptions, a breathing mask and an appt next week.

Kat,
What a brave lil’ man you have there.  My youngest wasn’t a crier either.  It almost made it worse for me.
My middle one on the other hand has a disclaimer in her chart for extra help
(she would run to the door screaming “you can’t make me do this… I won’t do this NOOOOOOOOO").  Shots are a blessing.  Imagine our (thier) lives without them.

Brody and Kristin,
Yikes! Two out of three? Ugh. I’m sorry. Good idea Krisitn, maybe I should start making Jimmy come along…

Stephanie,
Three weeks? The Smallest Person seems to be handling this round of shots better than the last one although he does still have knots in his cute, pudgy, fat little thighs.

Jamee,
That’s terrible. You got all geared up for the shots and you still have to go back now. Not fun.

Seuss,
Does she really have a disclaimer on her chart? She seems so mild mannered!

Yes she really has that disclaimer in the form of a red warning saftey label saying there needs to be another nurse in the room to help hold her down or child will scratch their eyes out. 
cats are mild mannered until you take two and tie their tails together.  She is mild mannered, until cornered in a small room with evil needles and nurses.  Then all restraints go out the window.

Shots don’t bother me.  But I’m all dead inside and don’t cry at sad movies either, so…

Funny...wait until your little cachinnators come along.

Kat,

I’m an absolute mess when it comes to taking my little boy for shots. Morgan has gone in for shots twice now.  Same thing...four needles in the leg.  Only, he’s not as tough as your little guy!  He smiled at the nurse just before the first needle...then he wailed as soon as it was jabbed into his pudgy little thigh.  He cried through all four.  Then my wife started to cry.  She walked away and turned her back to the table.  Which, of course, left me to do the crying!  Ugh!
Yeah, we pampered baby Morgan for the rest of the day.  I’m sure he forgot about his shots within minutes, but the guilt hung over our heads for hours.

I can’t stand my children getting shots.  However, I have a 5 and 3 year old who needs to see mommy’s ok with shots.  I have let my oldest stand outside with the younger one.  They usually get pretty upset if they think someone is hurting their brother or sister. I also nursed my kids (that’s 12 months and under) after the terribly experience and this always helped.

Most shots are a necessary evil. Some are an unnecessary evil.

My wife and I wait for a year on all vaccine shots and only give two at a time (three tops).  Add the fact that we won’t have our children get shots cultured in aborted fetus tissue and it makes for some interesting discussions with the pediatrician. 

MB

MamasBoy,
I honestly don’t really know much about vaccines. I suppose I just do what my doctor says.

Have you ever written a blog post about your thoughts on vaccines? I’d be interested to learn more about your approach and what information affected your thoughts on them.

No, I haven’t written on the topic.  It would probably result in some interesting discussion, though.  I’ll let you know if I do, in case you want to join in.

MB

MB,
Please do.

Kat

done, though I probably won’t stop by and respond to any comments for a week or so.

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