A hard thing

September 14, 2012 - 8 months old

My poor baby had to get some blood drawn today. I hate seeing him suffer. It just tears at my heart!

He was scheduled to go in for his 9 month check up on Tuesday but his Dr had to cancel. We got the call just when we were pulling out of the driveway to go to the appointment. I was slightly annoyed because I knew he was due for shots and I didn't want to have to put it off any longer. I had already been dreading this appointment for that reason and now I just had to wait two more days before it was over. Not to mention we were already packed up and in the car, ready to go, which is not always the easiest of tasks.

That evening while he was eating he broke out into baby hives all over his tummy and the back of his legs. He was scratching and crying and miserable. We applied some itch cream and gave him a cool bath to try to help with the itching. Then, I was on the phone with a nurse and Justin was holding Everett trying to get him dressed when he started throwing up. His poor little body was not agreeing with something. We got things cleaned up and the rash seemed to be going away so we fed him some rice cereal and put him to bed. He slept fine and seemed fine the next day.

This morning Everett woke up early so we got ready and headed out early for the appointment to try to get it over and be home for a nap as soon as possible. His doctor is really great and gave us some good treatments to try for his Eczema which has been flaring up lately. I told her about his little incident (which I wouldn't have been able to tell her about if we had gone to see her Tuesday Morning) and she thinks it was caused by an egg allergy. She wanted a blood test to see if it is egg yoke, or egg whites, or both, and also to test his hemoglobin levels. Since he still had a little bit of a rash from the egg, the shots would have to wait.

Nap time had come and gone but we continued our journey and went next door to the hospital to get the blood test. Supposedly there was an expert baby blood drawer who works in the mornings and we would settle for nothing less than the best. If I was nervous for shots, you can imagine how I must have felt going in to have someone try to find a vein in my baby's tiny arm! The baby expert assured us that she was pro and not to worry. Well, I guess even the best can face challenges. I think Everett remembered something about cold offices, and white lab coats from his last set of shots because let me tell you, he was MAD.

He started crying before she even touched him and did not want anything to do with that place. She tried once in his arm and poked around but couldn't get anything. She tried again in his hand and got a little but not enough. She was about to send us home and have us come back another day because he was so upset, but after talking to the tech guys she decided to finish it then. (And it's a good thing too because once we left, I did NOT want to come back and have to put Everett through it all again). I tried to nurse him to get him to calm down but, for the first time, that didn't even work. So I held him tight on my lap and another girl steadied his arm while the expert poked him in the other hand.

Success. Finally.

Everett was beside himself screaming and shaking, but we made it through, and I was surprisingly calm no doubt due to prayer after prayer.

We're home now and Everett is sleeping.
The little dear had a hard morning.
So did his mama.