I thought this visit would be pretty quick and uneventful so
I scheduled Gavin and Wyatt’s check-up’s together since they did so well last
year. I didn’t realize that the 5 year checkup
includes 4 shots and a blood draw for kindergarten so this visit ended up being
incredibly exhausting and stressful.
Gavin actually did really well with his flu shot last year
but this year was full on freak out (nurse gave him the award for loudest screamer :))and ever since if he
even hears the mention of a shot he starts freaking out. I felt bad because I had told him several
times no shots just a routine checkup and then we go back to have them get
their height/weight and blood pressure checked when the nurse mentions a blood
draw. Gavin immediately picks up on that
and starts panicking and asking about shots.
I try to explain that in order to go to kindergarten you have to get
certain tests taken and he wants nothing to do with it and is already
professing that he’s not going to kindergarten if it involves shots.
Then we get to our room and the nurse comes in and asks if
we are going to do it all today. I have
no idea what she’s talking about so she mentions that he needs 4 shots and a
blood draw and this brings on the hysteria. First the nurse comes in for the lab draw and
he sits on the table really nicely and she’s explaining everything and he’s
doing good. I’m holding his other arm
and then she mentions the finger prick and he freaks out screaming at the top
of this lungs, kicking his legs, thrashes his arms and throws his body
back. Neither of us were quite expecting
that so it was all she could do to get his finger pricked but as soon as it was
done we were able to calm him as he watched the little tube fill with
blood. The rest of the time waiting for
the doctor involved him going between bawling and giving me threats about what
he was going to do if he had to get shots.
I’m not sure where my sweet little boy went but I was told that he would
kick the nurse, spit in her face, throw up all over really any threat he could think of if I made him get shots
and I spent the time trying to calm him down and bribe him with anything I could
think of that might make him relax a little. Nothing was working!
Thankfully Wyatt was amazing during all this and just sat in
his chair quietly. When the doctor came
in he did Wyatt’s checkup first and he did awesome. He answered all the doctors questions and sat
still. Gavin was a train wreck but the
doctor assured me that they see this all the time which made me feel slightly better. Finally the nurse came back for the shots and
was smart and brought 2 other nurses for back up this time. We had to force him to lay down but I think
it helped because I then held his hands and laid on top of his chest which
sounds awful but I think it made it better because then he couldn’t see what
they were doing. He still screamed at
the top of his lungs but once it was over he was totally fine and the nurses
actually thought he did really well considering all the screaming and crying he
did leading up to the actual event. He
was back to normal and excited that he got extra cookies and stickers.
It’s a good thing that they don’t need routine shots again
until they’re 11 because even though he told me it wasn’t that bad after the
fact I guarantee if I told him we needed to go back and get another shot tomorrow
we would get full on freak out mod again.
So probably the worst doctor’s appointment to date for me as a parent but
we all survived and thankfully we have 2
healthy boys :).
Gavin’s stats: Height – 45.3 inches (88%), Weight – 44lbs 13
ozs (75%), deathly afraid of shots J
Wyatt’s stats: Height – 38.5 inches (75%), Weight – 33lbs 13
ozs (72%)
