Flu Shot Fun

Each year, we choose to get our family vaccinated for the seasonal flu. We do this for a number of reasons, including the fact that 36,000 people in the US die annually from the seasonal flu and over 200,000 are hospitalized with flu-related complications. Vaccines have all but eradicated certain diseases (polio, measles, mumps, etc.) in our country and have decreased deaths from other diseases substantially.

And while all of that is well and good, it is still no fun getting shots. Definitely not for the kids. Jacob had his 18-month check-up yesterday and got his shot at that time- much to his displeasure. Today, our pediatrician's office was trying a new procedure for administering flu vaccines- a walk-in flu clinic.

Now, Emma watched Jacob get his shots yesterday and immediately started crying that she did not want to get a shot. Despite my best efforts to distract her from the topic, she cried all the way home and at home as well. Jacob didn't cry as much- and he got two shots!

Fast forward to this morning....Both girls wake up anxious about getting their shots. Chris and I are rock/paper/scissoring to see who has to take them (I lost). I bake cinnamon rolls to help ease into the AM and both girls, at this point, are assuring us that they are going to be brave.

Expecting a long line at the "clinic" at the pediatrician's office, we get there about 10 minutes before it starts (thankfully we got there early- the line was outside and around the building 25 minutes later when we left). When registering, the woman tells me that Emma would be able to get the FluMist insted of the shot. The FluMist gets "squirted" into the nose. Much to her disappointment, Casey is not eligible to receive the FluMist because she has asthma. I break the good news to Emma- that she won't have to get a shot after all. Expecting relief and excitement from her, I was surprised when she started crying and saying she wanted to get the shot. I thought she'd clearly come to her senses when I explained it to her again. She did not. She insisted she wanted the shot so that she could be brave.

The appropriate paperwork is filled out and, thankfully, our wonderful Dr. Chung calls the girls back. He's so good with them and they adore him. Emma volunteers to go first but continues to cry to Dr. Chung and tells him she wants the shot, not the mist. We both raise our eyebrows and shrug our shoulders at this unusual request, and he goes to exchange her mist for the shot. Sure enough, she hugged me, got the shot with a little nose crinkle, and was done. Emma definitely knows what she wants and it's wise to choose your battles with her. If it's a shot she wanted, a shot she would get. (I hope she's still feeling brave next month when she has to get her 4-year-old booster vaccines at her check-up.)

Casey...another story. She started crying as soon as Em was done. I felt so bad for her. She wouldn't come near the exam table. It was worse than trying to catch our cats to put them in their carriers...mostly because my heart was just breaking for her. She moved from one corner of the room to the other while crying- at one point threatening to bolt through the door, until we could finally corrall her and coax her onto the table. Once up there, she continued to sob and kept her hand over her arm - I couldn't even pry it off. Eventually she relented and, as soon as she felt the shot, she stopped crying and said, "Oh, that was it?" and smiled.

I have a feeling it was a long morning for the doctors and nurses at Carroll Children's Center today!