Jab Day

Maya B&W, originally uploaded by Luminosity.

So, today was the day that I'd been dreading: Immunisation Day.

I roped in the services of my sister, an experienced Immunisation-Day-Times-2 mama to be my support and/or to hold Maya if I decided I couldn't bear to hold her myself. We walked down to the Maternal Health facility, took a number amongst all the prams, crying babies and crying-harder mummies and I sat down to let Maya get some comforting milk in her system before she took the jabs. I had spent the morning playing with her and telling her that I needed to take her to get some needles because they would help her to not get sick etc etc.

I think it helped me more then it helped her. She was so happy and smiley this morning too, I felt like shit that I was about to turn her day into a crappy one. It was worse when, right before the nurse jabbed her in the thigh, she was sitting contently in my arms and talking away to me and smiling.

As the nurse took the first of the needles to her thigh, I watched her face turn from content to a look of surprise and pain then she screamed her lungs out and cried in a "WHYYYY did you DO that to me mamaaaaaa!" sort of cry.

It was awful because when she started to calm down and hug into me, searching for comfort, the nurse would do it again. She had a total of 3 needles.

God, I started to cry...it just felt so cruel. (I know, I know....it's for her own good yada yada).

Even my support mama started to cry!

She was ok and smiling not long afterwards, after I gave her a comfort feed on the boob but an hour later she started to feel it and started crying, shivering and all that lovely stuff associated with ones body trying to fight the half a dozen or so recently injected viral bugs. I gave her some baby panadol and spent the afternoon and evening cuddling my darling girl and kissing her over and over as she slept, whispering in her ear to "Sleep it off my sweetheart".

Some days I wish I could have kept her safe, warm and sound in my womb.

On a happier note, I ran into a childhood friend and her mum (they were neighbours when I was growing up and have known them for 18 years) at the center. Georgie has an 8 week old little girl and was there to get her immunized also. Turns out she lives around the corner from me!

Yay to catching up with an old friend and having her as company whilst taking this mummyhood journey together for the first time!