Friday morning I took Layla in to see her Dr for her 5 year well child check. The last or 3 times Layla has been to the Dr have all been croup related, I believe, so she hasn't had any shots on those occasions. Because of those trips, she's gotten to rather like the Dr, showing off all her skills (hearing, eyesight, etc.) and knowledge. When I told her on Friday morning that we were going to the Dr together she immediately asked "But Mama? Are you sure the Dr is not gonna give me a shot? Are you sure?" My response was "I'm not sure, honey...we might have to get a shot. We'll have to ask Dr. Mayrand. But if you DO get a shot, it will be over very fast, and it won't hurt forever, and I will hold you the whole time."
Well, she did have to get to shots--her 2nd chicken pox one, and a DTaP/polio combo. She has had at least 3 other DTaP shots before, with little to no reaction that I remember, but this time it was BAD. She was so brave for the whole visit, even though I knew she was nervous about shots, and then at the end...when the brought them in...oh, she was crushed. :( She cried during the shots, of course, but her reaction to the shot made ME want to cry! Her entire upper arm has turned red, puffy, and is hot to the touch. Layla doesn't want to move the arm, cried when it was touched for 2 days, etc. So I finally called the nurse line today (3 days post-shot) and described her symptoms. Sounds like it's relatively normal--which makes me think WTF??? This happens on a regular basis?? Why does it have to be that way?? Come on, modern medicine--let's step up our game a bit. The only change I can see is that this shot was combined with polio, where as her previous ones were not, so I thought maybe her body doesn't like the combo" shots as much (and I actually do try, as much as possible, to have her get only single shots whenever possible--there is no need to combine them like they do, in my small research history)...but the DTaP is in and of itself a combo shot, so my theory there is shaky at best.
I have a picture of her arm to show you, but she was in the bath when I took it and I can't crop it to my satisfaction yet...okay, fine, I can't for the life of me figure out how to crop it at ALL and then save the final product as a usable picture file. (The editing software that came with my camera is a joke, and the free one that Renee found me/installed for me I still don't quite...get. ;) )
The only stat that I remember from her appointment is that she weighs 42 lbs now, at age 5. So, my children remain on track to be incredible average and middle-of-the-road when it comes to weight. :) I'm still crossing my fingers that they got a gene from Jonas that includes his startlingly fast metabolism, because that just makes life so much easier, overall. :) Her eyesight and hearing are both fine, although she had to re-do the hearing test (I think because of how they did the instructions) and passed just fine the 2nd time. Her vision seems to be slightly worse in one eye, and for that I am not surprised at all She got CRAP genes from both her parents when it comes to vision, so I guess I'll start looking out for some super cool kids glasses, and maybe an insurance program for them too. She doesn't need them yet--her Dr guesses by 2nd or 3rd grade, most likely.
Will post a picture of her vaccine "injury" later on...
