So we arrived at her appointment and after a few minutes (and a trip to the bathroom, where I am certain Ella lost at least 1 lb), the nurse called Ella back. As we were walking to the scale Ella said to the nurse, "Can you tell Dr. Bindner that I only want one shot?" The nurse cracked up and said, "I've never heard that before!" I explained that Ella was an allergy shot kid, and since March she has been getting allergy injections, one in each arm, once or twice a week. So to Ella, getting only one shot sounds fantastic! She was weighed (30.4 lbs...would have been 31.4 if she hadn't made that trip to the bathroom!) and her height was measured (40 inches), and during that whole time Ella NEVER stopped talking about the shots. We dropped our stuff off in the exam room and then went into the hall for the eye exam. I was interested to see how this went. Ronnie and I both have bad vision. Ronnie's is bad...well, it was until he got Lasik, and mine is terrible. So its only a matter of time before Ella and Kendall are rocking some super snazzy glasses. Not the huge ones I rocked back in the day. (Thanks, Mom.) The other day, Ronnie gave her an unofficial eye exam with an eye chart app on his iphone, and she did ok, but we weren't sure how accurate it was. Today they said she came out at 20/30. Dr. Bindner said anything between 20/20 and 20/40 was fine for her age. Yay!
We went back in the exam room and the shot talk continued. Anyone who has been around Ella very much knows that she talks...a lot. But this was even a lot for her. That poor nurse (who was excellent, by the way) answered probably 50 questions in the 10 minutes she spent with Ella. She mentioned that they had to do a finger prick. Sheesh. I hate those! Bring on the shots, but don't prick my finger! Ella didn't understand what this was...so by golly she started asking questions about it! "What are you going to do with that? Is it going to hurt? Is it going to bleed? What does that do? Where does that go? Why are you going to use my finger with the orange polish?" She pricked her finger (oooh I hate even watching that! It's like popping a can of crescent rolls, even though I know it's coming it makes me jump every time) and Ella had a stunned look on her face. As soon as the nurse started to squeeze blood into the little tube, Ella was mesmerized. "Can I squeeze the blood in there?" she asked. She watched in awe as the blood came out of her finger into the tube. It wasn't until the very end that she started going "oww...owww...Owwwww...OWWWWW!" She was a trooper! Then, we were back to the shot talk. "Tell Dr. Bindner I only want one shot. How many shots do I have to have? Are the shots in my arms or in my legs? I don't want to get shots today. Can I get the nose spray?" The nurse was checking things off her chart, asking me about her sleeping and eating habits. Then she laughed and said, "She definitely doesn't have trouble speaking clearly," as she marked something off on her chart. Then the nurse started asking Ella basic questions. Her answers were hilarious. Correct, intelligent, but hilarious. Do you go to school? Ella: "No, I'm only 4. I'm not 5." Ella do you know where you live? Ella: "Louisville....I mean...Kentucky." I asked her if she could tell the nurse our address and she quickly rattled it off. Then she asked Ella if she could tell her her name. Instead of saying it, Ella spelled it, "E...L...L...A." The nurse cracked up and said, "You are definitely my best patient today...I'm not even going to ask you about colors!" And...we're back to shots.
The nurse left and as we waited for Dr. Bindner Ella immediately wanted to take the bandaid off her pricked finger and wanted to wash it off. So we washed her bloodied finger until Dr. Bindner walked in. Poor Dr. Bindner, the second Ella walked in the door she got slammed with 50 questions just like the nurse. Dr. Bindner reminded her that the shots will keep her healthy and keep her from getting sick, and Mommy and Daddy love her very much and want her to stay healthy. I just love our pediatrician! She said that Ella looked great and was very healthy. I was a little concerned since she has gained very little weight in the last 6 months (for the record, she was 27.6 lbs at her 3 year checkup, so almost a 3 lb gain...would have been more if Ella had held off on the poop!). Dr. Bindner said that her height and weight were both around 50th percentile, and that this is an age when weight gain usually slows down a lot. Ella is a great eater so I wasn't really all that concerned.
Then Dr. Bindner left and it was time to wait for the shots. Poor Ella burst into tears. With her allergy shot regimine, the poor girl is just exhausted with shots. As my aunt said today, since March she has basically been a little pin cushion. Thank goodness we are only a few shots away from beginning maintenance, where we go only once every 2 weeks. Woo hoo! I often feel guilty for putting her through this. But then I think back to my childhood, packing tissues with me everywhere, constantly having a runny nose, and if this will help ease her misery for the rest of her life then I know it will be worth it. The nurse came in and we got the shots over with as fast as we could. Every person in the office park knew Ella was getting shots. I haven't heard her scream and cry like that in a long time. It was tough! Today she got MMR, Dtap, Polio & Chickenpox. Two shots in each little thigh. :( Thankfully she calmed down pretty quickly and didn't seem too fussy or upset about them tonight. She did have a nice long nap, though. The best part of the checkup...I found out that Ella is completely finished with vaccinations until she is 11. Woo hoo!!
Ella as she helped squeeze the blood into the tube.
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