The day for our immunization shots.
I've been trying to plan these forever, because the Hepatitis A & B shot that we get needs to be done in 3 shots over 6 months. So David - although I asked him again and again - never told me dates that would work.
WAIT. That is a lie. He told me on our second to last day of Christmas break that we could go before school started up again. Lovely. Are you surprised there were not appointments available?
Oh - and he told me the first morning of spring break that any time that week would work. Oddly enough - we couldn't get in on such short notice. SO WEIRD.
So I planned a personal day and scheduled the shots and crossed my fingers that he would be able to come. We could have done them on different days, but we saved like $60 in administrative fees if we went together.
Miraculously he made it. But he was stressed out the whole time because he needed to get back for a meeting that I'm sure just wouldn't happen smoothly without his witty charm and organization skills. YES - those same organization skills that caused him to keep forgetting to list a few dates for shots, that would not interfere with any meetings.
So he stressed about going 'first' for a week before the shots and got out of the office a whopping five minutes before me. Because I had to pay. Which was actually a little more painful than the shots :) You'd be surprised to hear how much 7 shots cost us.
We got the shots that our health department suggested. 3 for him, 4 for me. I needed to get one more "booster" shot than Dave because I can't find my immunization records from childhood. My mother is CERTAIN she gave them to me at some point. And although I'm pretty organized at this point in my life, I haven't always been that way. There's a slight chance I misplaced them in my reckless abandon days. But don't tell my mom. I told her I was SURE she had it, and must've lost it :)
So that particular shot was the one that hurt the worst. SERIOUSLY. It was an MMR booster. Because although I probably got the second shot as a child, I didn't have record of it so I might as well be "sure" and get the booster. The nurse told me this shot is the reason kids cry when they get shots. Its not the actual SHOT - but the "whatever it is" they are shooting in your arm. It burns. And I cringed. And almost cried like a tiny little baby.
But I didn't.
Fast forward 2 days to my first grade classroom. A student says, "Mrs. Stefanich, there is a red spot on your arm." I look, and sure enough - a big red spot the size of a silver dollar. And here's the weird part. My whole are is normal - "coolish" feeling skin. But this red spot? Its hot. How weird is that?
So obviously I call the health department.
Because I could be dying, of course. Which is a hilarious preview of how I'll be as a mother whenever my child has an ailment. Apparently I'm going to be THAT mom.
And of course it was nothing. Apparently reactions on the arms where you got the shots are normal. Which I'm skeptical of - because did she hear me say the red spot is warm? But now I'm left with a large bruise, which is probably appropriate. And my arm hasn't fallen off, so other than a little soreness, I think we're good.
In other news, we're also taking some pills for our Typhoid immunization. We've heard there can be some nasty side effects. David had a killer headache after the first pill, but I handled it like a champ. Unlike the way I handle shots. We'll see how the rest of them go.
I'll keep you updated on my arm. Although if it gets much worse I'll be typing with just one hand… And that could be tricky :)
