Late Afternoon

[elfs]

(I'm sorry for dumping these all at once. I write them on my laptop as I go along and only send them to LJ later, when I get home.)

I went over to Kouryou-chan's school half an hour early because I had to take her to her doctor's appointment. That was half excitement, half trial. The fun part was when we got there. The nurse was taking her vitals and doing the usual run-through of developmental milestones: "Can you hop on one foot? Can you skip? What color is this? And this?" And then there was, "Can she recognize any letter shapes?"

I pointed at the wall. "Kouryou, what does that sign say?"

"Which one?"

"The one on the door?"

"Please turn off your cell phone while in the examination room."

The nurse shook her head. "I guess she can." We ran through the rest of the examination in quick order. The doctor came in and gave her the same bit. We're a little worried about her persistent winter cough and her skin looks rougher than it should in places, but otherwise she's in great health. Tall and thin for her age, but not too drastic about either. And then it was time for her shots. She did not like that at all, especially since one of them was a tetanus immunization.

Oh, but that wasn't the worst of it. Oh, no. Then we had to go to another building to get a blood draw. And the intern fucked up the thumb draw. And she hated the thumb draw. It wasn't until the experienced nurse came over and did an elbow draw, during which she was freaking out and I was holding her down in that way that makes you feel more like a horrible monster than a loving father, but it had to be done.

Afterwards, I held her in the lobby and comforted her until she stopped crying, then hurtled north again to pick up Yamaarashi-chan from her daycare. We're home now and the girls are watching Kimba the White Lion. I'm going to go make adult Mac'n'Cheese.

Comments

Poor little thing...

[velvet-wood.livejournal.com]

Stupid medical vampires. Thumb draws _hurt_. I was in the hospital for 4 months a few years ago, on IV drugs which destroyed a vein a day until finally they put in a central line (through the front of the shoulder and into the upper aorta...big line, doesn't get messed up easily, but still had to be changed to the other side every couple of weeks), and I can say that the thumb, at least for me (and most other people, according to our household RN) is just about the most painful place to get an IV. The back of the hand is next. Poor Kouryou-chan. Poor Daddy, too...I had to hold Jaime down when he was two and busted open his chin and needed stitches, and I felt like the biggest monster in the world.

Nothing will take the pain of this visit away, but for future visits, you might consider asking your doctor beforehand for a prescription for a couple of EMLA patches. It's a topical anesthetic that really, _really_ works. You put the patch on a couple hours before, they take it off to do the blood drawing or shots, and the baby doesn't feel a _thing_. The effects last for several hours afterwards, too, so it's great for shots like tetanus boosters which leave you sore and aching. It's designed for minor surgeries, but also very commonly used to keep kids from developing a fear of doctors because of the unpleasant things they have to do to them.

I've never had a problem with getting a shot, or having blood drawn, or anything _myself_, but when it's my kids hurting, it really tears me up. When I found EMLA, it was an absolute gift from the gods.

Sounds like you've had a rough couple of days. I hope things pick up this weekend and everything works out for you.

Velvet

Re: Poor little thing...

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Only the doctor's visit was rough. I took time off from work and am doing work from home (I got VNC over SSH working, so I can work from home now. I have to shut down bittorrent to get decent bandwidth, but it can run at night). It's mostly been very different, being a housefather, doing the laundry consistently and keeping the place tidy. I'm more bewildered than exhausted.

Thanks for the kind words, though. And I'll ask for the EMLA thing if it's necessary. This was a very minor draw, only 23ga, but I wish they hadn't gone with the thumb draw first.