Yesterday was Nolin’s six month doctor visit. It was a routine check-up and time for a few more shots. Did I ever mention that Nolin never cries…well if I did, then I was lying because yesterday he let it all out.
It started off innocently enough. Teresa and I were back in a room waiting for the nurse to come in. Meanwhile Nolin sat eagerly on the table pulling up all of the tissue paper, putting it in his mouth and then laughing. The nurse asked me a few questions and then took Nolin’s measurements. 75-25-50…nope not a lyric in a new Sir Mix-A-Lot song, but Nolin’s percentages. He moved up to the 25% in height which was very exciting! He is holding strong at the 75% for head circumference and 50% for weight (looks like all of those sweet potatoes and avocados are paying off)…all in all, our boy is doing pretty darn good.
After the nurse left, we waited for a few minutes until the doctor arrived. She went over some charts and seemed to be very happy with his growth and weight gain so far. Nolin is growing like a weed.
After that, it was time for her to check his heart beat, ears, etc., pretty routine stuff and nothing too exciting. As soon as she pulled out her stethoscope Nolin started crying…awesome. I think he suddenly remembered where he had seen her before…during the big cut and his previous round of shots. Needless to say he realized this outcome probably wasn’t going to be good. She finished, Nolin relaxed and the nurse came back to administer the shots (they really give the nurses the short end of the stick…who wants that job?)…I tried to prepare myself because he had already been upset once, so I knew this was going to get interesting real quick.
The nurse gave Nolin an oral shot…just some liquid for him to drink…and the hysterics ensued. Really?! It was just a little liquid, how can that be worthy of tears? So out comes needle #1. Nolin calmed down and took the shot like a man…he just sort of looked at me like is that all you’ve got? Then I had to open my big mouth and said, “Nolin, how in the world could you get so upset with a liquid shot and be fine for a real one?” Apparently I forgot that he was only six months old and thought that by reasoning with him it would make what was happening that much easier.
Then came the blood curdling scream…which didn’t stop for shot #2 or #3.
After the torture session was over, Nolin clung to my neck and wouldn’t let go. I have to admit although it was awful to hear him cry like that it was kind of nice to know that he needed me and I was the one he felt safe with.
The crying continued until the moment we stepped out of the room. Then Nolin put on his brave face and began flirting with the nurses again…yep, that’s my boy.
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