So, I realize that I told you that Chandler was going for her physical and she would be getting 4 shots and she was handling the news pretty well, but I never told you how it went... the whole surgery thing took all of my attention for a while!
Here's how it all went down....
We dropped Riley off at my neighbor's house and headed to the doctor's office. I didn't think I could handle Riley and still give Chandler the attention she would need before, during and after 4 shots!!
Waiting
Still waiting... we actually didn't have to wait very long, but with 4 shots looming in the near future I'm sure it felt like an eternity!!!When they called us back she immediately asked the nurse, "Do I get my 4 shots now?" The nurse looked at me as if to say, "YOU TOLD HER ABOUT THE SHOTS!?!?!"
Yes, I am one of "those parents" who doesn't want her child to find out at the last possible second that we are going to torture her!!! :)
The nurse never answered her.... I guess avoidance was the best way to handle it!
First was the weigh in: 43.5 lbs.
Chandler informed the nurse that she was wrong because last time she was 44 lbs. I told her that it was probably because the nurse had her take her shoes off this time.
"Do I get my shots now?"
Next was height: 3'8"
Again Chandler's response, "I thought I was 44!?!?" My response, "Yes, you are 44 inches. 3'8" is the same as 44"." She looked confused, but she was ok with it.
"Do I get my shots now?"
Next... Pee in a cup.
To which Chandler's response was, "WHAT?!?" WHY!"
Ok, I knew this one was coming... I had been informed by my pals Janna and Melanie (both whom have boys) that I should be prepared. I forgot to tell Chan about it, but I did have her drink extra fluids before we went to make it a little easier. Now, Chandler went to ALL of my ob visits while I was pregnant with Riley (I take that back... my neighbor kept her when I knew the doctor would be "checking" me) so she has seen me pee in a cup and we talked about it at the time, but it had been a while and she had forgotten so we talked about how the doctor needed to make sure she didn't have any "germs" in her body.... I didn't think I could really explain iron and all that so we went with germs. She was ok with that answer. It took her a while... that's alot of pressure for a 5 year old! She looked at me and said, "I think I just need to take a deep breath." I laughed at her and she said, "What?"
"Do I get my shots now?"
Hearing was next: Passed
Now, during our talk the day before (you may recall from the previous post all of the MANY questions she asked) we talked about how, "mommy, daddy, and aunt erin all had to have kindergarten physicals." To this she responded with, "How about Grammy? Did Grammy do it too?" WOW! Good question! Did you have to have Kindergarten Physicals in the 50s?? To help my argument I responded, "Of course she did!"
I told her about when I went (I didn't actually remember, but I remember having my hearing tested once a year in elementary school so I went with that memory and hoped that's how they still check hearing) and I had to wear earphones and every time I heard a beep I had to raise my hand. If the beep was on the left, I raised my left hand. If the beep was on the right, I raised my right hand.
So, the earphones they had looked like something out of "Return to Oz". If you have never seen this movie you really can't appreciate how startled I was when I first saw those earphones. It looked like a torture devise that they used on Dorothy in a psychiatric experiment at the beginning of the movie before she is "called back to Oz". Rent it sometime... it's WEIRD!
It took some SERIOUS convincing to get Chandler to put those things on her head! They were old and scary looking. After the nurse begged her and told her we would only try it once and if she didn't like it she could take them off she FINALLY gave in.
The nurse didn't even tell her what she should do (which I though was a gross oversight on her part), but as soon as Chan heard that beep she threw her little arm up in the air... I laughed because she did it with such force that it reminded me of the old black and white footage I've seen of Nazi soldiers saluting Hitler!
At one point she stopped raising her hand and I thought maybe we were done, but the nurse looked concerned and said, "Chandler do you hear those beeps?" Chandler stated rather matter of fact, "Yes, I hear them, but they are so quiet I don't think I should raise my hand." :)
"Do I get my shots now?"
Eye Exam: 20/30 (Great for a 5 year old.)
I have always wondered how they test a 5 year old for vision... what if they don't know all of their letters yet? Well, here's the answer. Pictures. The chart has about 6 different pictures on it. The nurse had her come up close to the chart and she asked her to identify all of the pictures (I'm guessing so that she could make sure she knew what all of them were before they added the distance factor). She knew them all so the nurse sent her to the appropriate distance and asked me to cover one of her eyes. "I can do it, mom" was Chandler's reply to the nurse's request... I would have expected nothing less!
She could see all of them except the bottom line (maybe it was the bottom 2, I can't remember now).
"Do I get my shots now?"
A little chat with the doctor:
In walks the doctor... Chandler's first question, "Are you going to give me 4 shots now?"
No not right now. Can I ask you some questions? Yes
What do you like to eat? Cheese
Do you like milk? Yes
Do you like green beans? Yes, they are my favorite
Really? My son hates them. Yes, I love them
Can I look at your belly? Are you going to give me shots?
Well, yes, but not right now. Ok, promise you won't put them in my belly? My mom said you will put them in my legs.
Yes, I promise.
She asked if I had any concerns. Chandler complains about her feet a lot so she looked at them and told me that she needs better arch support in her shoes... her ankles almost touch the ground... how have I never noticed this?!?! According to the doctor she should develop better arches over the next year to 18 months.
Then... the shots!
The nurse came in. Chandler asked, "Are those my shots? Are there 4 of them". The nurse didn't really answer her so I talked to her while the nurse prepped all of her stuff.
I had to really work with her (she would probably tell you I worked against her) to get her pants pulled down and hoist her up onto the table... then came the hard part. I literally LAID ON HER to keep her on the table. 4 shots. 2 in each thigh. She screamed like I've never heard her scream before and RIGHT IN MY EAR! I told her after it was over and we got her all dressed and sitting in my lap that I might need to take that hearing test because she screamed so loud! She started laughing and I think that helped some.
We headed out to the lobby. As we were walking down the hall she saw her doctor and said, "You can't give me anymore shots. I got 4 and NOW I can go to school!" Her doctor replied, "Are we still friends?" Chandler gave her a high 5 and said, "Yeah, I guess so!" She flashed a big grin and we were off!
Of course, as I promised, we stopped at Wal-mart for a prize. She picked out brand new markers and a Disney Princess painting set.
Every few days she'll ask me, "Mom? Am I all finished with shots?" My response (without scaring her to death), "You are done for now. You don't have to have anymore before you go to school."
Yes, I am one of "those parents" who doesn't want her child to find out at the last possible second that we are going to torture her!!! :)
The nurse never answered her.... I guess avoidance was the best way to handle it!
First was the weigh in: 43.5 lbs.
Chandler informed the nurse that she was wrong because last time she was 44 lbs. I told her that it was probably because the nurse had her take her shoes off this time.
"Do I get my shots now?"
Next was height: 3'8"
Again Chandler's response, "I thought I was 44!?!?" My response, "Yes, you are 44 inches. 3'8" is the same as 44"." She looked confused, but she was ok with it.
"Do I get my shots now?"
Next... Pee in a cup.
To which Chandler's response was, "WHAT?!?" WHY!"
Ok, I knew this one was coming... I had been informed by my pals Janna and Melanie (both whom have boys) that I should be prepared. I forgot to tell Chan about it, but I did have her drink extra fluids before we went to make it a little easier. Now, Chandler went to ALL of my ob visits while I was pregnant with Riley (I take that back... my neighbor kept her when I knew the doctor would be "checking" me) so she has seen me pee in a cup and we talked about it at the time, but it had been a while and she had forgotten so we talked about how the doctor needed to make sure she didn't have any "germs" in her body.... I didn't think I could really explain iron and all that so we went with germs. She was ok with that answer. It took her a while... that's alot of pressure for a 5 year old! She looked at me and said, "I think I just need to take a deep breath." I laughed at her and she said, "What?"
"Do I get my shots now?"
Hearing was next: Passed
Now, during our talk the day before (you may recall from the previous post all of the MANY questions she asked) we talked about how, "mommy, daddy, and aunt erin all had to have kindergarten physicals." To this she responded with, "How about Grammy? Did Grammy do it too?" WOW! Good question! Did you have to have Kindergarten Physicals in the 50s?? To help my argument I responded, "Of course she did!"
I told her about when I went (I didn't actually remember, but I remember having my hearing tested once a year in elementary school so I went with that memory and hoped that's how they still check hearing) and I had to wear earphones and every time I heard a beep I had to raise my hand. If the beep was on the left, I raised my left hand. If the beep was on the right, I raised my right hand.
So, the earphones they had looked like something out of "Return to Oz". If you have never seen this movie you really can't appreciate how startled I was when I first saw those earphones. It looked like a torture devise that they used on Dorothy in a psychiatric experiment at the beginning of the movie before she is "called back to Oz". Rent it sometime... it's WEIRD!
It took some SERIOUS convincing to get Chandler to put those things on her head! They were old and scary looking. After the nurse begged her and told her we would only try it once and if she didn't like it she could take them off she FINALLY gave in.
The nurse didn't even tell her what she should do (which I though was a gross oversight on her part), but as soon as Chan heard that beep she threw her little arm up in the air... I laughed because she did it with such force that it reminded me of the old black and white footage I've seen of Nazi soldiers saluting Hitler!
At one point she stopped raising her hand and I thought maybe we were done, but the nurse looked concerned and said, "Chandler do you hear those beeps?" Chandler stated rather matter of fact, "Yes, I hear them, but they are so quiet I don't think I should raise my hand." :)
"Do I get my shots now?"
Eye Exam: 20/30 (Great for a 5 year old.)
I have always wondered how they test a 5 year old for vision... what if they don't know all of their letters yet? Well, here's the answer. Pictures. The chart has about 6 different pictures on it. The nurse had her come up close to the chart and she asked her to identify all of the pictures (I'm guessing so that she could make sure she knew what all of them were before they added the distance factor). She knew them all so the nurse sent her to the appropriate distance and asked me to cover one of her eyes. "I can do it, mom" was Chandler's reply to the nurse's request... I would have expected nothing less!
She could see all of them except the bottom line (maybe it was the bottom 2, I can't remember now).
"Do I get my shots now?"
A little chat with the doctor:
In walks the doctor... Chandler's first question, "Are you going to give me 4 shots now?"
No not right now. Can I ask you some questions? Yes
What do you like to eat? Cheese
Do you like milk? Yes
Do you like green beans? Yes, they are my favorite
Really? My son hates them. Yes, I love them
Can I look at your belly? Are you going to give me shots?
Well, yes, but not right now. Ok, promise you won't put them in my belly? My mom said you will put them in my legs.
Yes, I promise.
She asked if I had any concerns. Chandler complains about her feet a lot so she looked at them and told me that she needs better arch support in her shoes... her ankles almost touch the ground... how have I never noticed this?!?! According to the doctor she should develop better arches over the next year to 18 months.
Then... the shots!
The nurse came in. Chandler asked, "Are those my shots? Are there 4 of them". The nurse didn't really answer her so I talked to her while the nurse prepped all of her stuff.
I had to really work with her (she would probably tell you I worked against her) to get her pants pulled down and hoist her up onto the table... then came the hard part. I literally LAID ON HER to keep her on the table. 4 shots. 2 in each thigh. She screamed like I've never heard her scream before and RIGHT IN MY EAR! I told her after it was over and we got her all dressed and sitting in my lap that I might need to take that hearing test because she screamed so loud! She started laughing and I think that helped some.
We headed out to the lobby. As we were walking down the hall she saw her doctor and said, "You can't give me anymore shots. I got 4 and NOW I can go to school!" Her doctor replied, "Are we still friends?" Chandler gave her a high 5 and said, "Yeah, I guess so!" She flashed a big grin and we were off!
Of course, as I promised, we stopped at Wal-mart for a prize. She picked out brand new markers and a Disney Princess painting set.
Every few days she'll ask me, "Mom? Am I all finished with shots?" My response (without scaring her to death), "You are done for now. You don't have to have anymore before you go to school."
1 comments:
WOW. Our dr. is one of few who give the shots at 4 yrs of age, so we will be getting them this year. We actually will have 5 shots. I'm completely dreading it after the fiasco we had last year over the finger prick. I think it's funny how she kept asking if she was going to get her shots over and over again. It was kinda rude of the nurse not to respond though...
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