Oh What a Night

Monday night = nightmare!!!

I took Alaina to the doctor on Monday afternoon for her 6 month checkup and (gasp) shots. I think she knew something was up the moment we stepped into the office.

She was ok in the waiting room. After all, she had her floppy bunny to keep her company.


Then we were called in. Dum dum dummmmm....I undressed her and we headed to the table in the hallway. You know, the location where all the important measurements are taken. Alaina SCREAMED bloody murder the whole time. Every other time, she's been fine. She doesn't really like having her head measured (who would?), but I mean she screamed when no one was even touching her. I tried holding her hand, but that didn't work. She clearly wanted mommy to hold her. Nurse Amy tried to hold her, but HELLO, she had already made it perfectly clear that only MOMMY would do the trick. Duh.

I bet you'd never guess that one of the topics of discussion was SEPARATION ANXIETY! Yes, Alaina has it. Early. Nurse Debbie said it's normal, but usually not seen until 9 months. Alaina is obviously early in this department. In a way, it worries and frustrates me, but in another way, I love that I'm #1 in her book :) I know one day this will change, so I'm kinda enjoying it a bit while it lasts.

Anyway, Alaina has climbed to the 50th percentile for her measurements! She put on a bit of "holiday weight," which happens to the best of us :) She weighs 15 lbs and is 25.5" long. I told ya she was striving to catch up to her peers. We discussed introducing her to baby food (which we did last night), among other things. She has a little contact rash on her back, we think from her bath tub mesh ramp. I'm trying special cream in an effort to heal it. Blah, blah, blah.

Until I looked back through my pictures, I failed to remember the rare happy moments she had while crunching on the table...



But the few moments of happiness did not last long. It was soon TIME...TIME FOR SHOTS!!!! This has become harder and harder for me to watch. I most certainly don't remember me getting anxious about it early on. Now, it breaks my heart. My job is to hold her arms down and distract her from the big fat scary needles. I don't look at the needles going in. I bury my head in her face and pray for it to be over! She got 3 shots total and 1 oral vaccination. She screamed the entire time.


2 of the 3 ouchies :(

Break. My. Heart.

We flew out of there as fast as we could. She thought a nap would help matters, so she gave it a try.


We got home and everything seemed to be ok. I left for a couple hours while Adam played Mr. Mom. At some point in the evening, I looked down at my phone and noticed 4 missed calls from Adam. Never a good sign. I frantically called and he said she had been screaming since the time I left. I rushed home and found my baby helpless in her crib. Crocodile tears all over her face. She screamed if she was held, she screamed if any weight was put on her legs. The only way she was comfortable was lying flat on her back and not moving at all. Her legs HURT from her shots! In fact, Adam could not get her to take her bottle (which never happens). He experimented and found that the only way she would take it is if she was lying flat on her back in her crib. So he did it her way. He gave her tylenol to help, but it takes a bit to kick in. Soon she had some relief, and I managed to carefully put her pj's on and get her ready for bed. No bath that night. No way. She slept on her back the whole night, which is not like her. She always flips to her stomach or occasionally on her side.

We honestly were terrified! I've never seen her this way. And I knew that there are some side effects from vaccinations, but this seemed severe. We were on high alert that night, but she slept like a champ. Oh, what a night it was.

The next morning, she was better. Not 100%, but an improvement. We took it EASY and Alaina got to hang in her (Christmas) pj's all day. Her legs were still a little sore, but we could carry about our normal activies.

This was taken yesterday morning. She wasn't quite sure she was feeling up to playing in her exersaucer. I wasn't either.

Furthermore, bath time was a little rocky...

But thank God for today! Our bright eyed girl is back (and into everything!)