Shots

Jesse was due for shots again and Noah needed his last ones before Kindergarten so I took them both to the immunization clinic together. Lucky for me Tim was laid off that day so he kept the other boys at home. It's usually such a zoo in there.

We take them to the county clinic, because while we have insurance, our insurance doesn't pay anything for preventative care, which includes immunizations. I made the mistake with Eli at three months and got the shots in the doctor's office, they were at least $45 each depending on what he was getting. We utilize the state's subsidy and pay $10 per shot (it used to be $8).

Anyway, it is usually a really long wait to get the shots since there are so many people there. They do a good job cycling you through, there's just the volume. However, this time when we walked in, there was no one in the waiting room and no one getting shots. I filled out paperwork, paid and then they called the boys back.

I decided it would be best for Noah to go first since I didn't want him to have to think about it for very long. I was holding Jesse so he wouldn't get into trouble and was also hovering over Noah and holding his arms out of the way.

The nurse we had wasn't as good as the other one who's normally there, but she did okay. Noah however, started to scream. With each shot (3 total) he screamed even louder. I know it did hurt some, but it was funny. He was screaming for all he was worth. Which of course, made Jesse cry.

Next was Jesse and he was crying but got over it quickly. Noah, not so much. As we walked out Noah was limping and dragging a leg. He started his "What if" scenarios. They have been known to drive me to brink of insanity.
"What if it still hurts tomorrow?"
"What if it never stops hurting?"
"What if it's still bleeding?"
"What if I have to get more shots?"

When he was getting ready for bed he was talking to Tim. Tim relayed the conversation to me. "Well there was no one there when I got my shots, but I was screaming so someone would hear me!" That kid!

The next morning Noah said to me accusingly, "Mom, it STILL hurts!" and proceeded to limp some more. He likes a little bit of drama in his life.

Then the following day he was telling me how his one leg was bigger than the other one where he got a shot. You never know with that boy so I asked him to show me what he was talking about. Right where he had gotten the chicken pox shot it was a little swollen and red. So, truely his one leg was "bigger" than the other one. I reminded him that the Nurse said that it might get a little red around it and told him to keep an eye on it and let me know if it hurt, got "bigger" or more red. But alas, he's fine.