I have been dreading the day that Jacob would come to understand visits to the Doctor. I remember being terrified as a kid every time I went to the Doctor wondering if I was going to get a shot that day (I was also terrified of the Dentist and knew for certain I would be getting shots when I went there. I had way too much work done on my teeth as a kid.) Unfortunately, this day came sooner than I had expected. Jacob used to like to go to the Doctor's office with all of the toys in the waiting room and the big round fish tank with Nemos and Dorys inside. We'd then be escorted into the room where there would be Thomas decals all over the walls. It was considered a "fun" experience.
Not so much anymore people. Jacob had his 2 year check up visit the Wednesday before last and before we even got into the room he was saying "bye bye Mommy. No Doctor." I had to distract him with cars and songs and games. The visit itself was harmless and he actually cracked a couple of smiles for the Doc. He ended up measuring 35 1/2 inches tall and weighing 35 1/2 pounds. Our bruiser is proportional I guess? It was the end of the visit that has permanently ingrained fear in my child's mind. They had to prick his finger to get a blood sample to check his iron. Then, they made me hold him down on the table while they shoved 2 syringes up his nose to give him the nasal flu shot. THEN, I had to hold him down while they gave him a Hepatitis A vaccine in his thigh. The whole thing took about 5 minutes and he was screaming bloody murder the whole time while looking at me with these tear-filled eyes as if to say "mommy, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" Needless to say, we both walked out of there in tears.
He's had many, many shots before but I don't think he had the capacity to remember/associate those instances with the Doctor's office. All of that has changed.
Jacob came down with a fever over the weekend which resulted in 2 very sleepless nights. Once again, I found myself going back to the Doctor's office with him on Tuesday. Mind you, this was almost one week after his 2 year visit. The memory was still fresh on his mind and Jacob started crying as we pulled into the parking lot. We hadn't even made it to the door! I knew then that I had my work cut out for me. We were only there about 15 minutes but I would say the entire block of 2nd Avenue and San Mateo Drive was aware that there was a toddler in the Bay Area Pediatrics building that was NOT happy. It ended up being another ear infection (the 3rd one in 3 months) and we high-tailed it out of there to get his antibiotic at Walgreens.
I called Mark immediately and said "The next Doctor visit is yours."
Poor baby. I don't blame the little guy. It's scary and confusing. But I just didn't think the fear would start this soon. I guess we have more years and years of Doctor's visits to look forward to.
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