Making it work...
As you know, yesterday was Reagan's 2-month appointment where she received 3 shots:( Jason met us at the hospital where we were "seen" 15 minutes earlier than our 9am appt! That never happens, right? Right. We actually just went back early to get her length/weight (24 1/4 inches, 13.2 pounds) and other vitals...then we waited almost 20 minutes for the nurse practitioner to finally come see Reagan. No worries, though, we were still on track to make it out of the hospital at a reasonable hour...that is until she said, "Ok, now go take Reagan to the immunization room." Jason and I look at each other dumbfounded thinking, "What, you mean you don't just take care of that here?!"
Turns out, that everyone in Jacksonville was visiting Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital to get shots yesterday. After we signed in and they ushered us to an alternate waiting room due to the max capacity limit being reached in the actual waiting room, Jason decided to go back to work. He doesn't have the luxury of waiting an hour and a half like I do:) We finally made it into the real waiting room and Reagan got her shots with a minimal amount of tears. In fact, I was genuinely shocked that she wasn't more traumatized. She slept in the car, we filled up the gas tank, and even picked up some groceries on the way home.
After we got home, she ate, played, and then went down for a nap. All very normal behaviors. So yesterday I decided to test out a plan I've been cooking up for a week now. The street I live on (from end-to-end and back) is .25 miles. My plan was to place the monitor on top of the mailbox and just run "laps." Each lap takes me just around 2 minutes, so at most, I might miss her cries for a brief period. No worries. The plan worked wonderfully. I ran 1 mile (8:54), then 2 x .5 mile (4:08/4:21), and finally 3 x .25 mile (1:59/1:56/1:58). The last intervals should have been 4 x .25 mile, but Reagan woke up just as I was going to start my 4th one.
Now typically she cries a bit when she wakes up, but immediately smiles when I go get her. Apparently upon waking up from this nap, she realized just how miserable those shots were. There was NO smile...no happy coo to say hello. When this happens I usually take her outside and the warmer temps relax her, so I just ended up doing my 4th interval at a leisurely cool-down pace with a 13-pounder. Still, not soothed. If you've never heard a child scream in a cul-de-sac, try it. I swear it echoes, but I'm not sure how.
We headed inside because it was nearing feeding time. She was so upset that she actually started to cry tears, so I pulled off my shirt and sports bra, toweled off, calmed her down the best way I know how. It worked. Briefly. Once we were finished, I tried to play with her as usual. That lasted 10 seconds. The crying continued unless I carried her (thank God for Baby Bjorn!) for 2 and a half hours. That might not seem so bad, but 13 pounds gets heavy after about 15 minutes. Seriously, don't believe me, come on over and I'll let you try it.
Finally I got her down for a nap, but every time I set her down, the wailing started again. So I resigned myself to an afternoon of holding a baby and settled down with my Kindle (thanks Jason!). When Jason arrived home, he offered to feed her a bottle, to which I responded, "Good luck. She's probably not going to take it." I couldn't have been more wrong. Reagan ate every last drop for him, burped like a champ, and then laid down of the floor for play time without a single whimper. In fact, she sang for an hour! Guess we've got a "Daddy's girl" on our hands.
All in all, I expected worse from the day of shots. I was thrilled that my plan to exercise sort of worked. And I love my husband for the break he gave me when he arrived home from a full day of work. He's a saint.
Turns out, that everyone in Jacksonville was visiting Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital to get shots yesterday. After we signed in and they ushered us to an alternate waiting room due to the max capacity limit being reached in the actual waiting room, Jason decided to go back to work. He doesn't have the luxury of waiting an hour and a half like I do:) We finally made it into the real waiting room and Reagan got her shots with a minimal amount of tears. In fact, I was genuinely shocked that she wasn't more traumatized. She slept in the car, we filled up the gas tank, and even picked up some groceries on the way home.
After we got home, she ate, played, and then went down for a nap. All very normal behaviors. So yesterday I decided to test out a plan I've been cooking up for a week now. The street I live on (from end-to-end and back) is .25 miles. My plan was to place the monitor on top of the mailbox and just run "laps." Each lap takes me just around 2 minutes, so at most, I might miss her cries for a brief period. No worries. The plan worked wonderfully. I ran 1 mile (8:54), then 2 x .5 mile (4:08/4:21), and finally 3 x .25 mile (1:59/1:56/1:58). The last intervals should have been 4 x .25 mile, but Reagan woke up just as I was going to start my 4th one.
Now typically she cries a bit when she wakes up, but immediately smiles when I go get her. Apparently upon waking up from this nap, she realized just how miserable those shots were. There was NO smile...no happy coo to say hello. When this happens I usually take her outside and the warmer temps relax her, so I just ended up doing my 4th interval at a leisurely cool-down pace with a 13-pounder. Still, not soothed. If you've never heard a child scream in a cul-de-sac, try it. I swear it echoes, but I'm not sure how.
We headed inside because it was nearing feeding time. She was so upset that she actually started to cry tears, so I pulled off my shirt and sports bra, toweled off, calmed her down the best way I know how. It worked. Briefly. Once we were finished, I tried to play with her as usual. That lasted 10 seconds. The crying continued unless I carried her (thank God for Baby Bjorn!) for 2 and a half hours. That might not seem so bad, but 13 pounds gets heavy after about 15 minutes. Seriously, don't believe me, come on over and I'll let you try it.
Finally I got her down for a nap, but every time I set her down, the wailing started again. So I resigned myself to an afternoon of holding a baby and settled down with my Kindle (thanks Jason!). When Jason arrived home, he offered to feed her a bottle, to which I responded, "Good luck. She's probably not going to take it." I couldn't have been more wrong. Reagan ate every last drop for him, burped like a champ, and then laid down of the floor for play time without a single whimper. In fact, she sang for an hour! Guess we've got a "Daddy's girl" on our hands.
All in all, I expected worse from the day of shots. I was thrilled that my plan to exercise sort of worked. And I love my husband for the break he gave me when he arrived home from a full day of work. He's a saint.
Last night Mason fell asleep 3x on my chest. Each time I went and placed him in his crib and he started to scream!! I mean, I am pretty sure our neighbors could hear him. After 2 hours of falling asleep on me followed by placing him in his crib, I gave him. He slept with us on our chest. Talk about fun?!
ReplyDeleteSo glad Reagan is feeling better now. I dread the 2 month shots.