What an IRRITATING morning I had at the doctor's office this morning. Now that I have some time off work, I decided it's time to get William caught up on his shots. He had his 4 month shots in June of 2008 and hasn't been back since - OOPS! I am not a big believer in sticking to the prescribed schedule for shots because I feel it's a lot for a little one's system, but I had never intended to get this far behind. Also, with the oldest back in school now, there is more potential for him to bring something home.
So my mom and I took the two boys to the appt at 10am. It was just going to be a quick appt, as he only needed to see a nurse for the shots. No one ever asked me which shots I wanted and I assumed there would be some sort of consultation. At 10:40am (yes, 40 minutes past my appt time) a nurse came out to the waiting room to ask me what shots he's had since 2008 and I said none. That was it - she ran in back again and didn't call us until about 10 minutes later.
I walked in the room and she had a tray of EIGHT SHOTS! WHAT??? She started giving me those hand-outs like she was dealing blackjack, there were so many of them. I said NO WAY is he getting more than 2 shots today. She was clearly upset with me because she had gone to all the work of drawing up ALL the shots to catch him up. Well she never asked me, just assumed I would allow him to get all of them. I held firm as she went to ask the dr which of the two shots she should give.
When she came back, she was going to give him the MMR and the chicken pox vaccine. I argued that the MMR is actually 3 shots and she was again upset with me for arguing with her, since it's really only one poke. My motivation on limiting the number of shots is not as much to limit the number of pokes as the number of viruses they inject into his poor little system. Also, with all the hub-bub over the MMR and it's potential link to autism, I would prefer to wait until he is closer to 2 years old to get it. So I got just the chicken pox and he did just fine with it. They want me to come back in "a couple of days" to get some more shots. HA! After waiting almost an hour after my appt time while I'm CLEARLY pregnant and uncomfortable, I am thinking it will be a few weeks before we go back again.
I just can't believe that she was ever going to give him EIGHT shots in one day - and with one of them being the MMR, that is like injecting him with at least ELEVEN viruses at once! I understand that it would be more convenient for me to get them all done at once and not have to go back, but I will definitely suffer the inconvenience of several dr visits to insure the health and well being of my child. Wouldn't any mother do that???
1 comment:
First, are you my younger sister that I just found out I had??? No? Well then surely a fast friend.
Second, I am both laughing and appalled at the nurse with the 8 shots lined up and the forms flung out like blackjack!!!
Luckily for moms like us we do put some thought into this. I think once you have a hb or read about all the routines that personnel do for convenience or some dumb old rule you learn to question everything. I delayed a lot of shots till age two too. I just can't see how their little bodies can handle too many. By too many I mean 3 or 4. I am still screaming over here about EIGHT!!!!!
My oldest had to get 4 of them years ago before Kindergarten. I promised him no more till middle school. Then when he had to get 1 or 2 before middle school I had this other pediatrician telling me to get my 4th grader done since we were here. I told her we have a pre-middle school arrangement in our family. In between she is always telling us about Hep A and other stuff just recently approved but not a must for my kids. I have just switched my 13 and 11 yr old to our family doctor. Even she wanted to give them Hep A but I said no, only what the middle schooler needed. I also refused the blood prick when they were little since I know they eat well and was very painful for the oldest kid when he was 3 or 4.
Anyway, I do remember the days when the nurses seem to think we would prefer getting them all done at once rather than coming back.
And what about the pku heel prick at the hospital? I know it is an imp test but until baby has some breastmilk in him for a few days it is not accurate.
Enjoy the time with your mom!
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