We went to the travel clinic to get our shots the other day. I figured we'd each need about four or five things, but it turns out that you really only need worry about Hepatitis and Typhoid if you're going to Asia. Yellow Fever and the like are concerns in South America and Africa--two places we're not really considering for this trip.
Olivia, at age six, is incredibly articulate and intelligent (but what Mom DOESN'T say and think that about her kid, sorry!), so we have to talk in code about anything involving needles. I got the nurse to use the term innoculation and we eventually settled on one Typhoid shot per child for now. Unfortunately, she caught on and got upset. She crawled in Bryan's lap and started to cry, confusing Helena and alerting her that something bad was coming.
When the time came, I took Olivia in with me. She got progressively more upset as it came time for me to get my shot. Eventually she was standing rigidly in the corner of the room, refusing to touch me and starting to breathe in crying gasps. My shot was easy--it felt like someone dully pinching my bicep. As soon as I was done, Olivia started full-on screaming. I was forced to hold her on my lap, pinning her arms down and using a wrestling arm-lock to keep her from kicking. The shot was done, but all three of us (Olivia, the nurse and I) were tearful. I felt like a wrung out wash cloth.
We got Olivia calmed down and rewarded with a sticker and two suckers. Then we went out into the lobby where Bryan was waiting with Helena. She actually grabbed the door frame to avoid being pulled into the exam room! Yikes. Just when I had Olivia calmed down, she heard Helena crying in the exam room (we were in the lobby by then). Olivia threw her hands over her ears and started crying, red-faced, again. Which made me cry, again, of course.... Ah, the glory of parenthood.
Strangely, these Typhoid shots are good for two years for the girls, but since Bryan and I can take the pills, our immunity is good for five years. There is a bizarre protocol for taking the pills. There are four pills and you have to take them on a truly empty stomach with as little water as possible and no food. You can't eat for two hours before and one hour after. The nurse suggested we take them if we get up in the middle of the night. We do that a lot, so it was easy. Here's the confusing part--you take one pill every other day. So it takes 7 days. We started on the Wednesday/Thursday overnight at 2am. Then we had to do another Friday night/Saturday morning in the middle of the night, etc. They gave us a sticker to put on our bathroom mirror to help remind us. The main side effect is nausea, so I was glad we got to sleep through it.
Alarming note: the shots and pills are only good for two and five years, respectively. If I hadn't gone, Bryan would have thought that we were good with this set forever. You sort of figure shots are shots and once you've had them, other than a Tetanus shot every 10 years, you're good to go. Not so. I'm now feeling like I need to have a clear understanding of what innoculations we'll need and on what schedule. I want to get our medical records and future needs in one location, all written down neatly and clearly so anyone can understand it.
Yeah, I'll get right on that, uh, someday soon.
And today I get to take the girls for their first round of Hepatitis A. Great. I know it will be worth it someday soon, but for now, I'd rather take 10 shots a day for a month than have to pin Olivia's arms down against her side yet again. But, adventures come with the good and the bad, right? So let's get the bad over with so we can be on to the good soon.
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