Shots

Today Finn went to the Pediatrician's office for his two week well baby check up. He was in such as good mood when he got there. We played with him in the office and he laughed and talked. I felt so bad for him because he had no idea what was about to happen to him.

At this appointment we learned that Finn weighs 13 lbs, 3 oz and that he is 23 inches tall. Dr. Thompson told us that her early assessment (based on the size of his feet) is that he will be a pretty tall guy. She was also very impressed with how aware he was (she thinks he will have a good attention span) and how expressive his face is already (I take full credit for that). Finn was mostly pretty good while she was examining him, but near the end he acted like he was going to cry. While she was listening to his breathing, Finn would look at me and Michael and stick his bottom lip out. It was so funny because he was so close to losing it but never quite got there. He has never stuck his lip out and pouted like that before. It is cute for now - I am sure later in life I will not find it quite as adorable.

After the exam the nurse came and gave Michael the H1N1 shot and gave me the seasonal flu mist. Then we all prepared to give Finn his shots. The nurse had the needles, I had the camera and Michael had the video camera. (Yes - we filmed our poor, unsuspecting baby being tortured). I couldn't help but laugh at Finn while he was getting his shots because of his delayed reaction. He didn't cry the moment the needle broke the skin - it took him a split second to process that whatever was happening to him was not pleasant. Once he made the connection he screamed his lungs out. I have never heard him cry that hard and that loud. After the shot the nurse put three little snoopy Band-Aids on his legs (Daddy got a matching one for his arm.) I know that the shot really bothered Finn because he cried real tears (I felt terrible for him). In order to calm him down I fed him in the exam room for a few minutes before we left - that worked like a charm.

After we got home Finn spent most of the day either screaming or sleeping. I did end up giving him some infant Tylenol because he was screaming so loud. Because he had such a bad morning I spent the rest of the day rocking and feeding him. He was so sweet today (when he wasn't screaming). He seemed very appreciative of the comfort measures. While I was feeding him he would look up at me with those big, sad eyes as if to say "thank you for saving me from the pediatrician." He seemed to feel much better by bedtime. He was still pretty drowsy, but at least he didn't seem to be in pain.

Before bed Finn and I took a bath in the big tub. During the bath I learned that Finn can float. I would support the back of his head and he would squish his body up into a ball and float on the top of the water. He kind of reminded me of a apple bobbing around in a bucket of water at a fall festival. I was amazed.

PS: In the video I made the statement that I would not post this on the Internet. Reasoning being I didn't think the nurse would want her face all over the Internet. When I watched the video I saw the only thing showing was her hand. As such, I decided to go ahead and post. I didn't want anyone to think that I was lying to the nurse.