Kate's Second Doctor Visit

How can you give a baby with a face like this a needle that will make her cry...let alone 4 needles that will make her cry? Can't you just see it in her eyes? Please Mommy don't let them stick me with those cold, icky needles.

Well, this is the face I had to see staring at me over her daddy's shoulder right before Kate got her 4 immunization shots: Prevnar, Hib, OPV/IPV and DTP/DTaP/DT/Td. I took these pictures in the exam room while we were waiting for the nurse with the needles. Heart-wrenching, isn't it? Luckily, I've spared you the "after" pictures of her bright red face and teary eyes. Those would've been much worse.

This visit went almost as well as the last visit. Ken held Kate while I looked away and hoped that it would be over soon. Like last time, Kate calmed down pretty quickly while I nursed her. She only stopped twice to let out two yelps. I guess she wanted me and Ken to know that she wasn't forgetting about what just happened. BUT, by the time nursing Kate was finished and we bundled her back in her car seat, it was like nothing ever happened. Kate actually fell asleep during the time it took for us to walk her out of the exam room and to the car.

During the first 24 hours following the shots we didn't see many changes in Kate. She was a little more sleepy than usual, and wasn't as steadfast in her 3-hour eating schedule. We gave her infant Tylenol drops prior to the shots and had her Elmo cold compress ready for right after. Hopefully the two combined eased her pain just a bit.

After the first 24 hours Kate started to get a little crankier (not much but more than usual) and had an elevated temperature of 100.1. The on-call nurse instructed us to give her some more Tylenol, every 6 hours for the next 18 hours. So far she's been doing much better. Luckily, we only have a Hepatitis B shot at our next visit...only one needle and no expected reactions. Whew!
Posted by Jean-Marie at December 12, 2003 12:28 PM
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