The deed is done

I hope Pea never gets out-toughed by a child 95% younger than her.

It's done. 

Last Friday, Pea received her H1N1 flu shot.  Ultimately, the decision just kind of made itself.  The Pod and I discussed it almost daily and it eventually became "Ok, when can one of us take a day off to take her for the shot?"  Somewhere along the line, the decision to actually do it became implied.

I took the day off and along with the Pod-in-law for moral support, we arrived at the clinic at 10:30am.  We were given a ticket at the door that gave us our waiting number, and from start to finish it took about 50 minutes.

Pea barely noticed the shot.  The nurse stuck her with the needle, it took her a few seconds to realize there was something in her arm, she cried for a bit and then stopped.  It was just like every other shot she's received.  She is a trooper if I have ever seen one.

Over the next 30 hours, Pea spiked a fever.  The Pod and I feverishly (pun intended) tried to cool her down with Tempra, compressed and shirtless naps (Pea, not us).  We'd never really experienced a fever before and we were quite worried... even though, on the fever scale, Pea's was quite low-grade.

Upon waking Sunday morning, Pea was right as rain.

The very fact that she spiked a fever, when she hasn't had any adverse reaction to her other shots, had me concerned.  Why this shot and not the others?  I don't think I will ever know, so I'll move on, because I really don't want to think of the reasons.

Now, we wait 3 weeks and return to the clinic for H1N1, Part II - The Booster Shot!

I will say this - Pea fared much better than I did.

That's right... I too received my H1N1 shot.

In my mind, the choice was simple.  If Pea was getting it, I had to man-up and roll-up my sleeve too.  (Actually, I practically had to remove my top... my sleeves were far too tight, on account of my bulging biceps muscle.) 

But I didn't think I would be able to get it so soon.  After all, I am not in any priority group.

From the minute we arrived at the clinic, I asked everyone who would listen if I was allowed to get the shot.  No one flinched, no one debated me, every health care worker in the clinic said yes. 

Despite the permission from all levels, I still felt like I was lying or cheating somehow. But the guilt that I was feeling for taking a shot away from someone truly in the priority group clearly dissapated since everyone in the clinic was virtually emploring me to get it.

The next 48 hours for me were pretty tough.  Muscle aches, soreness and stiffness everywhere, and exhaustion that is far worse than my usual weekend exhaustion. 

Thankfully, the Pod let me sleep in Saturday morning... she is just that special. 

So, for those keeping score at home, when it comes to toughness, I just got beat by a 16-month old.

That's all for now.  I have to go to the gym.  Clearly.

I may not know what I want my Pea to become, but I hope she never gets out-toughed by a child 95% younger than her.