Saturday 17 December 2011

Jabs, Scabs and Christmas Shopping

It's been a busy old week and no mistake.
We had the next round of immunisation jabs this week and that was what's caused all the problems. He's part of a clinical trial where they're looking at children's immunity levels to see if they actually need as many booster jabs as they are given or whether we can give them less. If less are needed then this is a good thing as it will cost the NHS less and little babies don't have to be jabbed in the leg as much, as it really looks to be a very unpleasant experience giving all the noise Joseph made about it.
To do the trial they need to take blood samples. At least an hour before they're due I have to put analgesic cream on both Josephs hands and elbows and then cover them with a dressing that's like sticky clingfilm to hold it in place. Over that he needs long socks and long sleeves to stop him getting at the dressing. He found this a bit baffling, but then he got used to it. He did look a bit odd, especially as the only socks of his I had that were long enough were the ones with the rubber bobbles on the bottom to help him grip.
The cream worked fine, the problem was that they couldn't get any blood. He was very well behaved, he sat on my knee beautifully still and was absolutely as good as gold save for the fact that he simply wouldn't yield a drop. We rescheduled having not given him his booster jab so that someone else might have a go with a bit more luck.
So, two days later I repeated the procedure with the analgesic cream and the socks. I put him down for his nap and he lay there holding up his little hands, probably wondering why they were green and bobbly once more.
This time he yielded 1/2 a millilitre. Not a lot, but apparently just enough. He's got arms like pincushions now, but they didn't cause him any pain thanks to him being a good boy and sitting still and the lovely pain killing cream.
It was a different story for the boosters. You don't get analgesic cream for those and the moment the first one went in he absolutely hollered. My poor little boy, I did feel awful subjecting him to it, but the alternative is worse. Still, he's got two red marks on each leg now and we have to spend a week measuring them and checking his temperature. It's not as fun as it sounds, especially now he's big enough to try and escape.
Last night he woke up early and refused to go back to sleep. In hindsight I should have reached for the Calpol, but when my sleep is disrupted I don't think clearly. Andy sat up with him for a bit and then we swapped over. He finally fell asleep again at about 6.45am for about an hour which means his schedule has been a bit off today, but no matter.
I wish it all just stopped there. Alas not, 'tis the season to have to brave the crowds to buy stuff you'd normally not bother with. Yes, we've left it later than I would normally but it's just been to manic to think of the festive season until now. We've bought bits for the nieces and nephew and something for each other and that's all. My gift to my Mum is that I'm doing all the cooking so she can spend the day being social rather than the kitchen pariah. As for my Dad.... socks? I don't know, I really don't. Why are Dads so hard to buy for?
We got into town before nine and were done by ten. Phew, thanks to  a well known chemist for having a 3 for 2 offer on toys as it saved us a long walk round. One coffee and Christmas muffin each later we went home. Andy put Joseph to bed and then did the same thing with himself to catch up and I beetled off to my Mums to do some emergency sewing.
The Cat is still trapped in her cone as her skin is recovering from a bad bout of feline flea allergy dermatitis. She scratches and gets scabby and then scratches off the scabs and now it's bad. She's very uncoordinated in the cone and needs to be kept trapped in the kitchen most of the day and needs grooming every day. Joseph loves grabbing hold of the cone, the Cat doesn't. The sooner her scabs heal up the better for all our sakes.
Tonight I have to bake a cake for a carol service tomorrow which I'm not going to as instead I am going to watch my Mum go for her provisional black belt exam in karate. He he, at school I always wanted to say "You can't mess with me, my Mum's a black belt." Now I can!!!
I'm hoping by next summer I'll be able to say "You can't mess with me I'M a karate black belt!" Our family feuds could get nasty......
On Monday Joseph is going to the GP for his 1 year check up, there's a Mums group on Wednesday, I'm working on Thursday and Friday I'm doing the big Christmas grocery shop. On Saturday it's all hands to the galley to pick up the turkey and do the prep for the big day the day after. I'm exhausted just typing it all out!
Tomorrow I think I'll buy some pro-plus. I think I'll need it.

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