Welcome to the Sickside

So Kaylani's sick again. Well, it's possible she never fully recovered from her fever last Sunday, but the bottom line is she's sick. And since we didn't go to the pediatrician earlier this week, we decided that we should go today. It's only the second time we've been to the pediatrician while Kaylani was sick (because this is Kaylani's 2nd cold). And since this was the second time, I processed things a little bit differently.

Last time Kaylani had a cold, it was 4:50pm on a Friday afternoon when we went to the pediatrician. I remember it well because we were headed up to Boston that night and wanted to make sure Kaylani was well enough to make the trip. Since it was 10 minutes before the office closed, there was no one in there besides us and we got seen right away. At that time, it was just like a regular visit.

This time, it was 11am on a Thursday morning, and we were definitely not the only people in the office waiting to be seen. The office is separated into 2 sides, the Wellside, where all the healthy kids go and that we've always sat on, and the Sickside, where you're supposed to sit when your kids are sick so you don't get kids on the wellside sick. Since Kaylani was sick, we obviously sat on the sickside. And I didn't like it one bit.

I like the idea of a sickside to keep the healthy kids from getting sick. Well, I like the idea of a sickside when we're the ones sitting on the wellside that is! But being on the sickside not only means the healthy kids don't get sick (in theory), but it also means that the sickside kids could get sicker! Kaylani has a minor cold that consists of a lowgrade fever, slight cough, and a runny nose that should last less than 5 days. Nothing serious, but still enough to put us on the sickside. The little girl 4 feet in front of us had pneumonia. Does anyone see a problem here?

Here we are on the sickside. Kaylani with a minor cold, and a little girl with pneumonia. I'm pretty sure that the person in the office with the most to lose is not any of the kids on the wellside, but Kaylani! I know it's not right, but I'm going to have to say that I would have rather sat on the wellside and risked the other kids getting a minor cold then have Kaylani get pneumonia! If we were healthy and on the wellside, I'd let a little kid with a minor cold come over so they wouldn't get pneumonia. Okay, maybe I wouldn't, but I would have today!

Anyways, there's no real way around it, and we're just hoping that Kaylani doesn't get pneumonia, or whatever the other 2 kids on the sickside had. Maybe they should consider a sickerside, and we can put all the minor cold kids together, and anything more serious over there. They could even have a chicken pox side, and parents could put their kids in there if they have the chicken pox, or want their kids to get the chicken pox (makes more sense then the chicken pox parties that actually exist).

Well I've rambled on to long. Must be the lack of sleep, or the constant worry that Kaylani caught something worse then her minor cold at the pediatrician's office today. Whatever it is, let's just hope that all the kids at the office today (and even those not at the office) get better from whatever it is they're going through. And if that could happen, maybe we wouldn't need a sickside at all.

It's coming...

Every day it gets a little closer. It's been on the calendar for weeks now, and it's getting harder not to think about it. I don't even know how to prepare for it, and I definitely don't know what I'm going to do when it comes. I think I'm going to put everything off until the last minute, because if I don't, I might just break down.

Unfortunately I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm actually ready for Christmas. It's what happens a few days before Christmas, and also what's going to happen a few days after that's on my mind. Let's talk about one at a time though, and since a few days before Christmas is only a few days from now (yikes), that comes first.

This coming Monday, Kaylani has her 8 week checkup, which is actually 2 weeks early. For all of you who have kids, you know what happens at 8 weeks. For those who don't, you're about to find out. At 8 weeks, Kaylani will get her first series of...shots. Shots, in my book, are no good, no matter what age you are (or what type of "shot" we're talking about). The worst part about these shots are that they're not being done on me. I can take a shot (again, no matter what type we're talking about), but I'm not exactly sure I can take watching Kaylani get a shot.

It's seriously been on my mind since we scheduled it 1 month ago. I remember taking my dog to get shots and having to hold him down when the doctor stuck him with the needle. He would whimper sadly and I'd be sad. Those were feelings I had for my dog 12 years ago, which expalins why I'm completely afraid of what's going to happen when the doctor pulls out the needle and Kaylani doesn't whimper, but cries. She'll put on her sad frown, cry hysterically, and there won't be much I can do about it...except be sad with her.

Apparently they also get sick for a day or two immediately after any shot they get (which apparnetly happen pretty frequently for the next year)! That's also kinda sad since it's only 3 days before Christmas. Is my baby girl going to be sick for her first Christmas? Is she going to be dazed and out of it? I know she won't remember any of it anyways, but still, I really hope that she won't look back at pictures 5 years from now and see herself crying. She'll ask why she was so sad on Christmas and I'll have to tell her she got shots right before it. Then she'll associate Christmas with getting shots, and hate Christmas forever.

Oh man, maybe we should skip the 8 week checkup...