Shots!

I've talked about Kinsey and shots before. She is terrified of them. I know exactly why. Kinsey was just about 3 when Kaitlyn was born. After Kaitlyn came home from the hospital, I had to take her in for weekly blood draws. She was a "hard stick" as she had such tiny, tiny veins. If often took a couple of tries and she would cry and cry. Kinsey came to almost all of the appointments with me. All she saw was her little sister being held down and stuck with a needle and then she heard her cry and cry and cry. Then I started to give Kaitlyn shots at home. More needles, more crying. Kinsey decided that needles must REALLY hurt (never mind that the last time she had shots at 18 months all she did was say, "Ow"). When it came time for her 4 year old shots, our pediatrician said that she could have them then, or we could wait awhile. I knew that she wouldn't be starting school until she was almost 6 so I decided to wait. It was just too much trauma for a little girl who had seen so much already!

Kinsey is starting kindergarten is August and has to have all her vaccines current before she starts. I made an appointment and the night before, we devoted our FHE to talking about why we need vaccines and how shots really don't hurt that bad. She understood, but still did not want shots. We told her that she HAD to have them if she wanted to go to kindergarten. She really wants to go to kindergarten, so it was good motivation. I also promised her a trip to Target afterwards where she could pick anything (within reason) that she wanted as a prize. We settled temporarily on bike streamers.

Kinsey woke up the next day and was so anxious about the shots. Her appointment wasn't until the afternoon, so it hung over her all day. I felt so bad for her, but she handled it about as well as could be expected. We finally got to the appointment and she did great in all the tests they gave her--completely averaged weight and height, 20/20 vision, perfect hearing (YAY!), and very on track developmentally. After the doctor was done, Kinsey leaned over and whispered, "I really don't want a shot, can we just go home??"

The nurses came into give the shots (there were 4 shots, I didn't tell Kinsey this). One nurse was great and told her, "Ok Kinsey. Here's the deal. Every kid that goes to kindergarten has to have these shots. BUT not every kid gets to pick out a prize from our special basket." I picked Kinsey up (she wasn't moving willingly by this time) and lied her on the table. The nurses each grabbed a leg and told me to hold her arms. They stuck her super fast, but she still had time to scream. Kaitlyn giggled so hard when Kinsey started crying. Stinker.

Kinsey got her prize and then we were off to Target. Turns out they don't sell bike streamers at Target. Lame. We did however find a knock-off American Girl doll. Kinsey had been asking for one for awhile. It was on sale, still more than I planned to spend, but we got it anyway. Kinsey deserves it, if for no other reason, for sitting through HOURS and HOURS of appointments for Kaitlyn.

She LOVES her doll. Her name is Jessica Anne. She thinks she is a real American Girl doll, which is fine with with. Kinsey tells everyone that, "American Girl dolls costs one hundred dollars, but mine was on sale." She still sleeps with her every night.




Holy cow that was a long post about shots!