The Princess' 6 month Check Up

My baby turned 6 months old yesterday. That means it was time for the dreaded "Well Child Appointment" which means......shots. I hate that part.

The little princess is doing very well - growing, thriving, changing and charming. Yep, she charmed her doctor with that amazing smile of hers.

She is 17.5lbs and 26.75 inches tall. Perfect. She lands around the 70th percentile which is SO much smaller than the prince was that I feel like she is super tiny. (He was 95 and 100% across the board - and still is.)

She was given 3 shots, 5 vaccines. I opted from the get-go to have the 3 in 1 shot to cut down on the number of pokes she was getting. All told, I've saved her 6 pokes. I feel good about that part at least.

The nurse, upon walking into the room to find a smiling baby babbling to her mommy said "I hate when I come in and babies are in a good mood. It makes me so sad to know that I'm the one who is going to ruin it for them." I felt sorry for her - it must be hard to have to hurt babies for their own good.

The first two shots were a breeze...she didn't make a peep. But then there was the last one. Ugh. She screamed until I could pick her up and I could tell by looking in her eyes she didn't understand. That's the hardest part for me. If I could tell her what was coming so she could understand I would feel better. But I feel like I blindsided her. There she was, blissfully looking into my eyes, listening to me talk sweetly to her and then BLAM! She is hit with pain.

I had given her Tylenol before the appointment - and I'm glad I did. When we got home she wanted to nurse and sleep but every time she would roll on her tummy (her preferred way to sleep these days) she would scream, push up on her toes and hoist her tiny hiney into the hair to remove the pressure from her thighs. Poor little darling.

After going through this a few times I picked her up, snuggled her tight and tucked her into the swing to nap. She was out within 10 seconds.

I gave her Motrin tonight and she seems to be sleeping comfortably.

I know tomorrow will be better and I know, that for her, I made a sound decision to have her immunized. I know that in the long run, this experience hurts me more than it will hurt her. She will forget - I won't.