H1N1 Flu Clinic

It wasn't supposed to start for another hour and a half as we drove up to the Davis Conference Center where the H1N1 flu shot clinic was being held today. The main lot immediately adjacent to the building was already full. Thank goodness the one across the street still held plenty of spots. I strapped the girls into the Bumbleride and attached the rain canopy (that's right, folks, it was cold AND wet this morning!) and with Mister D, my sis, and my niece walked across to the center... then walked along the north side of the building... and halfway down the east side to the end of the line. Yeesh! And I thought we were getting AHEAD of the pack.

The rain remained a constant drizzle as we waited about thirty or so minutes as the line slowly crept forward. There was about another fifteen minute wait inside. Overall, it wasn't near as bad as I had feared. I had expected at least a three hour wait.

I had spotted neighbor/friend/nurse extraordinaire Miss Jill at one of the stations, and hoped we would get a friendly face to do the sticking, but we were herded to another not-so-friendly woman.

**OK, I know and understand it's a hectic day. Poking umpteen million people with needles all day is not my idea of fun (unless I'm in one of my sadistic moods), so I don't expect these nurses to be Miss or Mister Sunshine. But still!**

We were blessed to have a patronizing and downright snooty lady to administer the children's vaccines. Mister D and Soph did fine. But as usual, Little Liv always has to be the exception. I was preparing to hold her in my lap, but Miss Snooty Nurse sighs with impatience and says, "No! Let me show you how it's done."

She grabs my hands and forces it around Liv's and crosses them like a human straightjacket. I shake my head at the lady, "No, this isn't enough to keep her still."

Snooty Nurse clucks at me and in her most nasal patronizing voice says, "Trust me, I've been doing this for years."

I just smiled at her and hoped silently the needle doesn't end up breaking while still embedded in her thigh. You see, Little Liv, as little as she is somehow manages to gain supernatural strength when needles are involved. It took three people to hold her down for the seasonal flu shot last week...and they still ended up poking her twice. The position we were in left Liv's lower body unrestrained. And guess what? The needle almost broke. It bent drastically as Liv bucked her lower body at the pain of the injection.

Then Snooty Nurse glares at me, "Don't let her move!"

Well, DAMMIT! If you had let me hold her the way I wanted in the first place, we wouldn't be struggling, now, would we?!?!

These medical personnel with their certifications and licenses and education need to step down off their self-righteous pedestals and succumb to the fact that parents DO know their children better.

Anyway, it's over with. I hope we get Miss Jill next time we go in for the booster shot next month!