Vaccinations!

Ava had her first set of shots on Thursday. The whole day went really well, it was our best outing yet. Ava was in a really good mood, which only made what was about to happen to her worse. Our appointment was at 1:45pm but we drove up early to go to my parent's house for a bit. We don't get up there very much lately. Ava was really good there, not fussy or crabby at all. Then we went to the doctors. She was being so good! She didn't fuss at all while she was being weighed and measured. It turns out that she is very tall for her age, 23 inches, so she's grown almost a full 3 inches since birth. She is in the 90th percentile for height! She obviously gets that from Brent. She weighs 12 lbs, so she's gained almost 5 lbs since birth.

After they did all that, Ava and I waited for the doctor to come in. She was lying on the table and being such a happy baby. The doctor checked her out and said she looks great, everything is going good. Then came the bad part - the needles. She had to get 3 of them, and they were pretty big too. I felt so bad because she was in such a good mood, and had no idea what was about to happen to her. I stood over in the corner with my back to the room. I did not want to be anywhere near her when they gave her the shots. I know she will never remember this, but I don't want her to associate me with the pain. Anyway, I was standing in the corner and then all of a sudden Ava lets out this cry like I have never heard. She wailed! And she held her breath a long time too, and that was freaking me out. The nurse gave her the shots really quick, and then gave Ava to me. I had never heard Ava cry like that before. Tears were streaming down her face, and I felt so awful! As soon as she had started to cry, so did I. I just held her wrapped in her blanket and she was doing those pathetic little hiccup-cries. I felt so bad. As soon as I put her in her infant seat to go home, she fell asleep. I think she cried so hard that it wore her out.

When we got home I gave her some Tylenol and fed her, and she pretty much slept the rest of the afternoon. She didn't run a temperature, and it didn't really seem to bother her much after that. We gave her the Tylenol a couple more times though, just in case. In 2 months, we have to take her back for the exact same shots. I am dreading it, I don't even know if I will go. I might make Brent do it this time.