Played my Mom Card... *update*
Today Ruby had her 2 year old checkup at the doctors.
(albeit a month late...)
Everything was going swimmingly... she's 28 lbs, her height is 35 1/4 inches, and she's in all the right percentiles for everything. Great? Great!
Then, comes the phlebotomist...
... not. so. much.
(thought Ruby)
This is when the 'Mom' card comes into play.
I politely told our lovely 'woman holding butterfly needle' that she gets ONE SHOT (literally & figuratively) to get this done. It works, kudos to her.
It doesn't, we're done & Ruby's getting dressed & we're out like trout.
She gave me sort of a 'funny' look & said " well, we really need this blood to run 'a,b,c' tests... blah blah blah."
I smiled back at her & said again: " I understand that & can appreciate that, however, you can then understand & appreciate that my mind is made up & I've told you how I feel. Ruby isn't a pin cushion, period."
(one pin cushion in this house is enough and I'd rather it be ME not my daughter...)
She gets into position, as I have to physically pin my daughter down on the exam table while she's screaming bloody murder. Add to this scene a student nurse there for observation blah blah blah... recipe for disaster, and I know this.
She wipes with alcohol, swabs the area dry & in goes said butterfly, and out comes the most heinous sound from my daughter. She opened her mouth so wide I do believe I saw down to her toes. My right ear was right next to said cavernous opening & the sound was piercing.
I'm sorry, what's that? I can't hear you now as I'm temporarily deaf in my right ear.
One shot, butterfly being moved & jiggled inside my daughter's arm... nurse trying skillfully to 'get it done'...
not working.
Kept wiggling without actually poking her again, which to me, is a deal breaker. One shot, means just that, ONE SHOT.
Don't be wiggling all around inside her poking her INSIDES repeatedly, cuz whether it's topically poking her or internally poking her, IT'S STILL POKING HER & HURTING LIKE HELL!
Both her AND ME at this point!
No mother ever wants to see their child in pain.
So I looked straight into butterfly woman's eyes & said very sternly: "That's enough..."
She tried the, " well let me just try this one little area... blah blah"
I reached over & grabbed her wrist and said
"No. I said that is enough. Pull the needle out, your one shot is more than done."
Dirty looks & screaming snotty sweaty child later & we're out the door & headed home.
As I type this little miss Ruby'cheeks is sound asleep in Momma's bed nose to nose with her beloved Bear. She didn't want her pack & play, she didn't want her crib, she just kept quietly sobbing "momma bed, momma bed..."
so, 'momma bed' it is.
Because 'momma loves her little girl' more than words exist to elaborate on the subject.
And as far as the tests go?
They can wait...
*Ruby is no stranger to having her blood drawn. Upon our arrival home from China, we went into Boston & they took 11 vials of blood... ELEVEN!
Needless to say... she remembers.
(albeit a month late...)
Everything was going swimmingly... she's 28 lbs, her height is 35 1/4 inches, and she's in all the right percentiles for everything. Great? Great!
Then, comes the phlebotomist...
... not. so. much.
(thought Ruby)
This is when the 'Mom' card comes into play.
I politely told our lovely 'woman holding butterfly needle' that she gets ONE SHOT (literally & figuratively) to get this done. It works, kudos to her.
It doesn't, we're done & Ruby's getting dressed & we're out like trout.
She gave me sort of a 'funny' look & said " well, we really need this blood to run 'a,b,c' tests... blah blah blah."
I smiled back at her & said again: " I understand that & can appreciate that, however, you can then understand & appreciate that my mind is made up & I've told you how I feel. Ruby isn't a pin cushion, period."
(one pin cushion in this house is enough and I'd rather it be ME not my daughter...)
She gets into position, as I have to physically pin my daughter down on the exam table while she's screaming bloody murder. Add to this scene a student nurse there for observation blah blah blah... recipe for disaster, and I know this.
She wipes with alcohol, swabs the area dry & in goes said butterfly, and out comes the most heinous sound from my daughter. She opened her mouth so wide I do believe I saw down to her toes. My right ear was right next to said cavernous opening & the sound was piercing.
I'm sorry, what's that? I can't hear you now as I'm temporarily deaf in my right ear.
One shot, butterfly being moved & jiggled inside my daughter's arm... nurse trying skillfully to 'get it done'...
not working.
Kept wiggling without actually poking her again, which to me, is a deal breaker. One shot, means just that, ONE SHOT.
Don't be wiggling all around inside her poking her INSIDES repeatedly, cuz whether it's topically poking her or internally poking her, IT'S STILL POKING HER & HURTING LIKE HELL!
Both her AND ME at this point!
No mother ever wants to see their child in pain.
So I looked straight into butterfly woman's eyes & said very sternly: "That's enough..."
She tried the, " well let me just try this one little area... blah blah"
I reached over & grabbed her wrist and said
"No. I said that is enough. Pull the needle out, your one shot is more than done."
Dirty looks & screaming snotty sweaty child later & we're out the door & headed home.
As I type this little miss Ruby'cheeks is sound asleep in Momma's bed nose to nose with her beloved Bear. She didn't want her pack & play, she didn't want her crib, she just kept quietly sobbing "momma bed, momma bed..."
so, 'momma bed' it is.
Because 'momma loves her little girl' more than words exist to elaborate on the subject.
And as far as the tests go?
They can wait...
*Ruby is no stranger to having her blood drawn. Upon our arrival home from China, we went into Boston & they took 11 vials of blood... ELEVEN!
Needless to say... she remembers.
9 comments:
Taylor would give Ruby a kiss on her boo boo if she were there.
Luckily for her two year exam all they had to do was a finger prink and Taylor didn't cry at all for that. I was happy because I knew what it was like when Taylor had her first Doctor's visit when we got back from China and they drew like 5 tubes of blood, it was awful.
Taylor sleeps just like Ruby does with Bear nose to nose.
Taylor must be a itty bitty thing, she was 35 1/2 inches tall but only 25 lbs. She probably weighs more now since the check up was almost 2 months ago.
Taylor and Michelle
Hi Amy,
I used Emla cream for lily, I put it on every possible place I thought they may take blood from. She went in looking like she was trying out some weird diet fad, arms and legs wrapped in plastic wrap! LOL I used it for her vaccinations too.
Even with the numbing Elma cream, she still screamed bloody murder for those first set of blood tests - 6 tubes later!!
She was horrified that I was holding her down, I felt so bad!
I wish there was an easier way!
Krista and Lily
Oh this made me so sad thinking of poor Ruby being tortured with the needle. I hate having blood drawn so I can only imagine how traumatic it is for her. I'm not looking forward to this day when it's my turn with Mia. I may need reinforcements cuz I got upset just reading your post about it....
Ugh...what a traumatic day for mommy and Ruby. We have a flu shot coming up soon and I'm not looking forward to that!
{{{{Ruby and Amy}}}} And I'm totally with you Amy, one try and we're out of there. I remember when Thomas was a few months old, they needed to do a blood test before he could undergo some testing for his kidney and the nurse (and I use that term lightly!!) tried again and again... it was just awful! Now, with Emma, we've had to get bloodwork done a few times (she was on medicine for TB and had to have blood tests to check that it had no negative impact) and I insisted on going to the blood clinic at the childrens hospital and there is one woman there I trust to do this and I just wait until she's available. Emma barely even cries when she does it, she's that good.
Poor Ruby - wonderful mommy.
Oh, poor Ruby! lots of virtual hugs sent her way. Kudos to you, mom, for standing your ground!!!!!! You are aces for doing it. I've done it countless times, pretty much said the same thing to the nurses that have done shots and bloodwork on my three girls, and they all have nasty looks for me like I'm some sort of degenerate mother who just doesn't understand the dire life and death need for this to succeed. However, I feel strongly, just as you do, that the child(ren) should not be put under any undo stress. Get the shots, fine. If blood needs to be drawn and it can't be done on the first try, then assign someone who is more experienced in the technique of drawing blood from a child's arm.
Stand your ground, girl, forever - cause I'm telling you it doesn't get any better as they grow older. Too often nurses and doctors try to undermine our position. They may have the degree in medicine, but we know our children better than anyone. In the end, that is what counts.
You've done good! Way to go mamma!
Poor Ruby - extra hugs and kisses coming your way!! Good job on the mom card and standing your ground!!
~Carla
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