"Natalie Faint"

Steve and I took the girls in for their necessary vaccinations yesterday. This is not one of our favorite days, as Miss Natalie has pretty bad anxiety over getting shots. She always requests dad's presence, so for as long as she's been getting shots, Steve always comes for moral support. When we arrived, we were told that we had to wait until the doctor was in for the day. This meant waiting about 30 more minutes. So we found something else to do awhile, then went back in. When we arrived, 2 others were also getting vaccinations, which turned out to be the last 2 doses they had of one in particular! So, we waited another half hour to get 2 out of the 4 shots they needed. Nat seemed fine in the waiting room, though I know she was anxious.

They headed back, leaving me to wait in the waiting room. It seems they were back there forever, and so I read a bit, and watched people come and go. At one point I heard a loud crash, and pictured a drug rep dropping a big box of flomax, or some other weird-sounding drug.

Minutes after the crashing sound, the girls came back into the waiting room, Natalie being led by the nurse. "Well, mom, you've got a fainter!" she said with an uneasy smile. "And she hit her head on the desk on the way down, so we're watching for signs of a concussion." Smile gone. Crash sound identified! Not a box of drugs, but a box of my Natalie!

Apparently she said she felt a bit dizzy, and then she just dropped, hitting her head on the way down. It took awhile (probably just seconds) to bring her back around, but the nurse handled it expertly. Natalie woke up confused and laughing, saying "what's going on? This is so weird!"

She was still feeling a bit whoozy in the waiting room, almost having another fainting episode. Her blood pressure dipped way down and she broke out into a hot clammy sweat! Her face was completely white and she seemed a bit confused.

Obviously her anxiety over the shots had been building up not just for days, but for years! Apparently, she remembered me telling her years ago that she'd have to have more shots in 5 years. She admitted that every birthday, she'd panic, knowing she was closer to getting those dreaded shots! Funny thing is, the shots don't even hurt! She said it herself. It's just the idea of it all, I guess. The poor kid just worried herself silly and after it was done, she just let go.

She's fine now and has no signs of a concussion, just a bit sore from the fall. We told her we were changing her name from "Natalie Faith" to "Natalie Faint". That got a big smile out of her! The bad news is, we're on a waiting list for the last 2 shots. We have to go back!! How I will ever get grandchildren out of her, I will never know! :)

We followed our day with lunch and school shopping, which seemed to make us all feel a bit better about the day.