Since I have a husband who is very squeamish and I can't even tell him this story, I'm going to warn you, if you're at all squeamish about blood and needles, do NOT read this! I warned you!
Journey had a blood draw today, some routine stuff (although not exactly what I asked the pediatrician to do...I asked for genetics and she didn't put that on the script...but hopefully Eric is getting that figured out now) Rather than going to the closest hospital, Eric requested that we go to one of his hospitals so his company gets the money for it. No big deal, just a 20 minute drive. Eric is working from home and Journey and I got up early and left while Vivi was still sleeping. We got there and checked in pretty fast, and only waited about 3 minutes before getting called back to the room. At that point I was pretty optimistic that we'd be in and out in no time. Boy was I wrong!
I sat with Journey on my lap, and she held her stuffed seal, which has become her best friend, and we had 2 nurses to help hold her and change the vials and everything. It took them a few minutes of each of them prodding to find a good vein, they checked her right arm, then her left, and finally found a small one. They got the needle in and Journey didn't even flinch. Again, I was feeling optimistic, my brave little girl! Unfortunately they couldn't get the blood out fast enough and it started clotting in the tube and not letting more out. So they had to stop and throw that vial away and start again. They decided to try her other arm, and thought they had a good vein, but after poking around with the needle, weren't able to get anything, so they had to pull it out again. At that point Journey started getting a little annoyed, and when they decided to try the other arm again and wiped over her first poke hole with the alcohol cloth, that was the end of being compliant!
She ended up getting poked at least twice in each arm, maybe more, I lost count. She was gripping me with one arm, and her seal in the other, and was quite unhappy. Finally they decided to give up and call someone from pediatrics in who was better at smaller veins. She checked each arm, tried the needle in one arm, didn't work, and then she spent a few minutes trying to find a good vein somewhere else on her body. They checked her wrists, backs of her hands, fingers, and eventually found a good one on top of her foot. Once they got a good one, the draw was over in about a minute. Phew! Poor baby has a bandaid on each arm and one on her foot, and I'm pretty sure all 3 areas are going to be sore for awhile after all that poking.
She cried for a few minutes afterwards, but then calmed down and even waved goodbye to the nurses as we were leaving, which is way more forgiveness than the eye doctor got from her!
We stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way home to get a treat for her and one for Vivi (with sprinkles of course!) and then she played with her sister, and is now taking a well deserved nap.
My lesson for the day is that next time we'll ask for a pediatric nurse right away!
Here's a picture from right after the appointment of Journey with Sealy the seal :)
Journey had a blood draw today, some routine stuff (although not exactly what I asked the pediatrician to do...I asked for genetics and she didn't put that on the script...but hopefully Eric is getting that figured out now) Rather than going to the closest hospital, Eric requested that we go to one of his hospitals so his company gets the money for it. No big deal, just a 20 minute drive. Eric is working from home and Journey and I got up early and left while Vivi was still sleeping. We got there and checked in pretty fast, and only waited about 3 minutes before getting called back to the room. At that point I was pretty optimistic that we'd be in and out in no time. Boy was I wrong!
I sat with Journey on my lap, and she held her stuffed seal, which has become her best friend, and we had 2 nurses to help hold her and change the vials and everything. It took them a few minutes of each of them prodding to find a good vein, they checked her right arm, then her left, and finally found a small one. They got the needle in and Journey didn't even flinch. Again, I was feeling optimistic, my brave little girl! Unfortunately they couldn't get the blood out fast enough and it started clotting in the tube and not letting more out. So they had to stop and throw that vial away and start again. They decided to try her other arm, and thought they had a good vein, but after poking around with the needle, weren't able to get anything, so they had to pull it out again. At that point Journey started getting a little annoyed, and when they decided to try the other arm again and wiped over her first poke hole with the alcohol cloth, that was the end of being compliant!
She ended up getting poked at least twice in each arm, maybe more, I lost count. She was gripping me with one arm, and her seal in the other, and was quite unhappy. Finally they decided to give up and call someone from pediatrics in who was better at smaller veins. She checked each arm, tried the needle in one arm, didn't work, and then she spent a few minutes trying to find a good vein somewhere else on her body. They checked her wrists, backs of her hands, fingers, and eventually found a good one on top of her foot. Once they got a good one, the draw was over in about a minute. Phew! Poor baby has a bandaid on each arm and one on her foot, and I'm pretty sure all 3 areas are going to be sore for awhile after all that poking.
She cried for a few minutes afterwards, but then calmed down and even waved goodbye to the nurses as we were leaving, which is way more forgiveness than the eye doctor got from her!
We stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way home to get a treat for her and one for Vivi (with sprinkles of course!) and then she played with her sister, and is now taking a well deserved nap.
My lesson for the day is that next time we'll ask for a pediatric nurse right away!
Here's a picture from right after the appointment of Journey with Sealy the seal :)
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