Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Give it to me straight Doc...


I have been blessed with decent coordination and a fairly strong immune system, so I have rarely had to go to the doctor for anything other than a cough-n-turn check up. I have not, however, been inside too many pediatrician's offices. So today was new for both Benjamin and myself.

First, the parking lot is packed (never a good sign). Second, they must tell everyone to just come in at 9:00 AM. Third, I didn't want to look or touch anything or anyone there. Again, I am not a germ freak, but I don't want my baby to catch whatever these walking dead were infested with (harsh?). I seriously held the baby carrier in both arms as if it were the last parachute on a crashing plane. This waiting room looked like the leper colonies of Calcutta, minus the lepers and the cattle, but you get the point.

Thankfully I slipped the nurse a $20 and she let us wait behind closed doors (I avoided the pun of slipping her a 'benjamin, you're welcome). The doctor is a very nice woman and seems competent in every way, but there's one thing I can't get out of my head - how much she looks like "Stands with Fist" from the movie Dances with Wolves. She is explaining how great Benjamin is doing, gaining weight, etc. but all I can hear in my head is "John Dunbar", "Kicking Biiird", and "Ta-ton-ka!"

Enough of me. Benjamin is back to his birth weight (9.6lbs) and has grown an inch. He has lost his bellybutton-thingy and skin is looking good - thanks Aqua Velva! He does have one little malady, a blocked tearduct. Not a big deal, but it gives his eye a very alien-like quality. When he opens it, it looks like a xenophobe egg is hatching, yellow strands of mucus preventing the eye from achieving full breach. There may be some hyperbole in the last sentence.

He is a trooper. Life is good. And we thank God for blessing us with a healthy baby, xenophobic eye and all.

2 comments:

Mommy said...

While we were signing in for our apointment, I saw a child coughing and wheezing, with a yellowish mucous dripping from her nose onto her shirt. Some parents had worried looks on their faces. The dad of this little one said, "don't worry, it's not RSV or anything, probably just a little cough." It was shortly after that we asked to sit in the back of the doctor's office.

chadhot said...

it's fun when it's yours that is sick in the waiting room or at church. you'll feel like everyone is starring at you like, "really? you brought that walking disease out of the house so we can all get sick?" stop judging me!