For Rick and myself, yesterday was an ordinary day. If you were to ask Damien, though, he would probably tell you that it was the worst day of his little life, aside from only two short months ago when he had to leave the comfort and warmth of the womb! He would tell you this because yesterday he had to be subjected to his first round of immunizations at his pediatrician's office.
Rick fed Damien only an hour before his appointment in order to keep him happy, and he was first seen by a nurse who took his weight and measurement. We were delighted that he is right on track with his growth now at 10 lbs, 3 oz, and has grown to 22 inches! After about fifteen minutes with the nurse, the three of us were taken to a room to wait for his regular checkup by the doctor. Dr. Shoja (show-j-uh) came in to talk with us about any concerns we might have had or questions we needed answering. Since I couldn't have asked for a happier, more content baby, the doctor brought in an infant specialist to confirm a few small things, such as the movement of his joints and legs and how the soft spots on his head were growing. A nurse came in a little later to briefly go over the types of immunizations he would be receiving. Unfortunately, unlike the checkup Damien was taken to only weeks after his birth, we were at this appointment for a couple of hours between waiting to go in the room, seeing the nurse first, going through two doctors, the second nurse going over things with us, then actually performing the immunizations. All in all, we were at the office for almost two hours, and that's even a standard appointment when Damien is in perfect health. I can only imagine what it would be like for someone who's baby had some health problems as I'm sure they would be there for half the day! Although we had planned on being there for a little while as the health center we take him to caters not only to pediatrics, but to pregnancy and the health of seniors as well. The bad part about not having much of a choice of where we can take Damien (since he's covered under Medi-Cal) is that the waiting times can interfere with the feeding and napping schedule of an infant. At his age, Damien is awake and alert at times, but can become overstimulated quickly and needs constant naps. With every health professional that came into our room, each had to inspect him awake and alert.
By the time the immunizations were ready to be given, Damien was already falling asleep in my arms and would fuss and cry every time he was move or awoken. Then the actual shots were given! I held him in my arms, talking to him and somehow hoping to prepare him for the painful experience he was about to undergo. It is temporary pain, yes, and I realize that he won't remember it, but it can break a new mother's heart seeing her child extremely unhappy and wailing like a banshee knowing that she is unable to make it any better in that moment and he must simply "get through it." He received two shots in one thigh, one in the other, and luckily the last was a sticky sweet-tasting syrup for him to swallow that immediately distracted him from the shots he had been given only moments before. Rick and I had been forewarned that Damien might run a slight temperature from the shots but so far the only side effect was what seemed like a bit of soreness in his legs last night, which needed only the comforting embrace of his mother!
