Shots, Screams and Smiles

Jack turned 2 months old this week and I can't believe how fast this time has flown. Looking back at his old pictures it's crazy to think he was that small. Unfortunately, turning 2 months old meant the inevitable trip to the pediatrician to get his first round of some of his vaccinations.

Jack checked out fine, he now weighs 13 lbs. 6 oz. (75th percentile) and is 24 1/4 inches long (75th percentile). I don't remember the circumference of his head but that was in the 50th percentile. We didn't have any major questions except for one. The past few weeks we've noticed that Jack's pinky toe has been red. At first we thought it was a bruise but after reading Puffers post on Toe Hair Tourniquets (check it out here) I got a little more concerned. Oddly enough the doctor thinks it's a birthmark and that we just need to keep an eye on it. It'll be interesting to see if in fact Jack will have a birthmark covering his entire pinky toe. If so, it looks like being a foot model will not be in his future.

The visit was going well until the nurse came back in the room with her bucket of swabs, band aids and syringes (you know, the regular bucket full of baby torture devices). Jack was laid down on the table and I was asked to hold down his arms. As a side note, I have to say that I don't think it's right to ask a mother to hold down her child's arms while he is being poked with needles, I felt like an accomplice to an incredibly heinous crime. Well needless to say, Jack FREAKED THE FUCK OUT!! I thought I had heard that little boy scream before but I had no idea that he had been taking it easy on us these past two months. You would have thought that we had cut off his birthmark covered pinky toe the way he was carrying on.

The nurse left the room and I did my best to console him but he was having none of it. He screamed and screamed and screamed. So after 10 minutes I very ungracefully threw the diaper bag over one shoulder, carried the car seat in one arm and screaming Jack in the other and proceeded to go up to the counter with credit card in my mouth to pay. The nurse was very apologetic to Jack and the receptionist said that in the 4 years she had worked there she had only seen one other baby freak out that badly. I don't know if I should be a proud mama or worried that he probably has a red flag in his file now at the doctors office.

Thankfully they gave me a free box of Tylenol and Jack was a sleepy boy the rest of the day. All my worries were put to ease when the next day I got to see this little face again.