So. Many. Needles.
** Friendly preface to keep big anti-vax opinions to yourselves 😘 No disrespect to you! Lets keep it respectful across the board. If you know you HATE vaccines, feel free to move along and catch the next blog tomorrow 😃 No love lost on my part! **
Whew! Ok guys. Yesterday was HUGE. Or it sure felt huge. I can’t believe we got it all done. Some important things have been put off long enough, so we decided to go in and see how much we could get done on a Friday. And somehow, we did it ALL! It was Brady and I, along with Rowan, Solomon, and Waverly.
We started at Lawson. I needed to get another blood draw to check my hormone levels. When the lab switched from Gamma Dyna-Care to Life Labs, it made online booking possible. Thats super handy, because wait times are often LONG. But naturally, when I’m needing to go in, the online check-in option went down all across Canada. So we just had to try. And the wait wasn’t bad. I did, however, have possibly the worlds least pleasant person draw my blood. This wasn’t my first go round with her, either. She just pretends you don’t even speak. Ignores me completely. Its bizarre. You don’t have to be a social, people person to be polite. I’m just saying. Don’t be like that. But we got that done. Boom.
From there, we headed to the hospital for my other blood work. I’ve had a requisition to get some blood work done since we lost our baby in October, and being that I don’t hang out at the hospital all too often, I haven’t prioritized getting that bloodwork done. But as the results have a month wait time tacked onto them, its been long enough. I also couldn’t make an appointment there, either, so I had to just go in. And guys I got SO LOST!!! I’m sure you’re thinking “But its just on the main level.” So I know that now, except when you look it up, it says fifth floor, above the old fetal assessment entrance. I double checked the requisition itself, and sure enough, it confirmed it was on the fifth floor. So I went there, figuring things had moved around maybe since the whole maternity ward moved over to the new children’s hospital. The fifth floor was pretty eerie, now that no recovering mothers were hanging out in there. There were all kinds of signs saying NO patient rooms, NO exits this way, etc. I finally asked someone and she pointed me towards some doors, saying I was in the right place. The “right” doors had a big stop sign, saying no entry, biohazard, etc. She reassured me I could go. So I did. And you better believe I was met with a man and a women in full blue hazmat type suits, telling me I couldn’t be there. Turns out I was at the actual test lab – where blood is taken to get tested, not where its taken from your arm. I was somewhat mortified and apologized profusely. I was reassured I was not the first person to make this mistake and likely wouldn’t be the last. Where, then, do I belong, I asked. They looked at me like I was a bit stupid and asked “Do you know where Starbucks is?” Yes, folks, I know RUH has a Starbucks, but at that moment, I had no idea how to get to it. But I figured it out eventually, once the elevators took me back to the main level and I looked for the little green mermaid. There she was, right next to a big sign with a big drop on it. Blood drop. I could’ve hugged the lady who took my requisition and confirmed I was in the right place. Whew! Finally! I waited maybe fifteen minutes and my name was called. I confirmed my name and birthdate, like you’re supposed to, and then the woman decided to take blood from the same spot my previous test had been done. And she knew it. I had to remove the tape and cotton so she could use it. Weird, right? She “didn’t want a challenge on a Friday” so she opted for the east spot, even though it was already poked. Anyway, I was just so happy I got it done finally. Now we wait a month.
That was a long, kind of frustrating stop, but I was relieved to have it over with. AND there was still time to hit the walk-in vaccine clinic at Westwinds!
So Waverly is 16 months old and we still haven’t gotten her her one year shots. And Rowan still doesn’t have his four year old booster, and he turned four in February!!! Yikes! Better late than never, right?? So we got to the clinic early and put our names in the queue. The kids sat really well, but didn’t have to wait for too terribly long before we were called in all together. The nurse who was paired with us was just amazing. SUPER sweet to the kids. She right away said something about Rowan being a girl, and when I corrected her, she was super graceful about it. She complimented Rowan’s beautiful hair and he giggled about it and wasn’t put off. It was one of the more seamless interactions in that way. We had decided that Rowan would have his vaccine first, and then if he got really upset about it, they could haul out and I could finish with Wavy. Our nurses brought up to us that the flu shots are available now, and asked if we wanted them. We hadn’t previously discussed it, but we both said yes, we’d like our kids to be vaccinated for the flu. (DON’T EAT ME!) I commented that I wish I had thought of it before, I’d have put Solomon on the list, and the nurse right away grabbed a form and gave us time to fit him in too ☺️ It was really nice of her to just roll with it.
So Rowan went first, and as you might imagine, he didn’t really sell it. 😬 I had tipped the nurses off that he was probably going to be pretty loud about it, and we said together that we’d just do one after the other, fast, and then be done. So it was a pretty dramatic 20 seconds but he lived through it, and got a sticker.
Solly was understandably concerned about his needle, and he was crying before it even started. Again, our nurse just blitzed it and was super loving the whole time. Solly was a sweaty mess, he was so worked up, but he recovered quickly thereafter. Brady took the boys out right afterwards to wait the fifteen minutes out in the waiting room. There was promise of timbits waiting.
Waverly was not happy with all the crying and was a little off her game, but that poor little girl needed FOUR shots! 😩 Poor dear! The nurse and I decided what would go where, and I got Wavy all snuggled up and we started. She was very upset, but she didn’t fight. She leaned back and cried, and we blitzed her needles. As soon as it was over, I sat her up and the nurse passed her a bell, and she was quiet and settled. I dressed her and she was tolerated me, but that was all. She was annoyed.
We saw ourselves out and went to sit out in an outer waiting area for fifteen minutes. Brady and the boys had waited theirs already and went to drive to get some timbits while Wavy and I waited. And it worked out! Those a fifteen minutes were a nice little grace period for Wavy to be back to her old self and want to wander and play.
She did great. They all did. No reactions, no lasting upset, nothing. I was SO proud of them!! Between all of us, we got NINE pokes today! Thats a LOT.
Aaaaand there’s more to come. More flu shots for the rest of us. Double up flu shots for Rowan and Solly. Wavy’s 18 month vaccines. Not to mention waiting for results from all the blood work. Its over, but not over at all. Ah well. Yesterday, at least, we basically crushed it. Win!