Vaccinations

Nolan got his first set of shots last Thursday. So I shall tell you about the experience. It was an experience and a half.

First of all, it's a nightmare trying to get an appointment to get vaccinations. Here, the doctors apparently don't do them, you have to go to the South Central Health District office to have them done. There are currently 3 health district offices within driving distance from me. Gooding (10 miles), Jerome (10 miles) and Twin Falls (20 miles).

So I call Gooding. Nope, they only have a nurse there on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. No good there. Twin Falls, my first choice, since I have to go there for his 2 month checkup anyway, only has them on Mondays, but you can't get an appointment in advance, you have to call on Monday, and hope you can get in. So I call Jerome. Jackpot. They have an appointment on Thursday at 1:45. Superb. That gives me enough time to get him ready, go, and still be back in time for track practice at 3:00

So Thursday Morning, we prepare. We take a bath. We get dressed, I dose him with Tylenol 1/2 hour before the shots, like I'm supposed to at 1:15, as we walk out the door. I made it to the office in plenty of time, about 1:35. I signed in, and sat down. There were about 12 people ahead of me. So I sat there, and I waited, and waited, and waited and waited and waited.

And I got a neighbor. A lady with her kid sat down beside me. Oh, this child was something else, I tell you. He ran around. He yelled. He poked his dirty little fingers in Nolan's carrier. Multiple times. I tried asking his mother to hold on to him, but she doesn't speak English! ARGH! Finally, I got Nolan's carrier situated between my legs and the chair so this little heathen couldn't bug him, and I set about to read my book.

At this point the little monster was standing next to me, facing the same direction I was. As I was reading my book, he sort of leaned up on my leg, and I felt something moving on my thigh. I looked down to be treated to the sight of the world's biggest booger being wiped on my pants.

At this point, you might want to read my blog from December, or more specifically, two particular entries: Creepy Crawly Critters and Childbirth Classes. And then continue with my story:

I had had it, so I grabbed his arm. Oh, my goodness, the world came unglued. Screaming, yelling, panic, torment, torture! At which point his mother gave me a dirty look and moved away from the obvously unstable lady with the new baby.

I sat there in the waiting room until 2:50. Yes, that's over an hour. Why on earth can I never get into an appointment at the time I made the appointment for? I am cursed, I tell you. At this point, I'm getting quite uptight, since I have to be back in Wendell, 10 miles away, by 3:00 to coach track. Argh.

They finally called my name, and the actual shots were not all that bad. Nolan's small enought that there's no anticipation there, just a little squeak when they gave the actual injections. They're pretty good at it, he got 3 injections, and they did two of them at the exact same time, one nurse on each leg. So he thinks he only got 2 shots. :-) He got 3 cute Taz bandaids, and we went home.

SO, as we're leaving the parking lot, the little booger wiper came out the door of the office with his mother, who STILL wasn't keeping an eye on him. I was watching, so luckily my vehicle was not moving when HE ran into the back of IT. Yep, bonk. right into the back of my Grand Cherokee. At that point I hit the lock button, and it's a good thing I did, because he bounced off the bumper, did a little turn, and ran up to my driver's door, where he promptly tried to get in the car with me. All this time his mother is laughing "Oh, isn't he so cute". ARGH! If I hadn't been watching HIM, I could have killed him!

At any rate, the vaccinations are done and don't need to be redone for another 2 months. You better believe I'm showing up an hour early for these, and I'm bringing my dog crate for the little monsters.