needles and pokes

Today we spent a good half of the day inspecting, detecting and injecting Thea. It was pretty rough. We slammed a bunch of appointments into one visit because Matt has insurance right now while he's working for a few days training to be a trainer of firefighters. Coming from Canada, it feels so strange to not be able to just get the health care you need - especially for my children. But here we are.
First we had our 1-year check-up. That went well. Thea is following a wonderfully steady curve up the growth chart with a weight of 24 pounds (is that all - when she is squirming it feels like 50) and a length of 31 inches, which is almost exactly where Liam was at 1 year. She's in the 90th percentile for height, 88th for weight and 80th for head size. All good stuff, considering the struggle we have been through to give her a nutritionally balanced diet.
Then, sadness, her shots - three of em. Tears.
And on to the next appointment. We met with the nurse-practitioner who works with allergy testing next. We talked about options for testing, and I found out there was no easy (read quick) result for some of the foods I suspect most, like tomatoes and potatoes. So that meant we had to do some blood testing. But first, we did three panels of skin tests, which revealed some interesting things. Her response to milk had decreased significantly, and beef showed no response. That means in another six months or so, we can probably start doing isolated introduction of those foods and see how she handles it.
It showed three new allergens, however. Salmon and tuna popped up slightly. I don't think she's ever had either, so her response could be more dramatic if her body had a chance to develop the allergy. Ironically, I have always said there are two foods I can't eat - and salmon is one of them. One bite makes my stomach feel like an over-inflated balloon and very uncomfortable for hours.
But the big whammy du jour - cats. She showed her most dramatic response to cats, which didn't show up at all last time. So now we have to monitor that and factor it in. My thought is we'll start by looking at an air purifier and vacuuming often and go from there. Right now, I haven't seen her having an extreme response to interactions with the cat, in fact I think I have more itchy eye issues with the cat than I've seen her have. So we'll just see. But I did a lot of vacuuming today as a result.
So Thea was subjected to a lot of pokes at this point, and was starting to get sad every time someone inspected her. But it wasn't over yet. She had to get her first blood draw, and we won't get the results for a week for over a dozen foods.
We had to sit forever in the waiting area for the woman who would take Thea's blood for the other tests. Then, she tried to find a vein and couldn't find one. So she sent us up the hill to the hospital. It was so hard, holding her still while they inflicted pain on her little body. I know many people go through this, but I'm just going on record as saying that was tough. Finally, it was over, and we went for a drive while she took a much-needed nap.
Thea fell asleep tonight at 5 p.m. and hasn't gotten up since (it's 10 p.m. now) Probably the immunization shots, combined with the stress of the day. I figure she won't care if she sleeps one night in her clothes.