Getting the Lead Out

Yesterday I took our 1 year old to the doctor for his 12 month appointment. He's growing to be a healthy, happy toddler. While there he got two shots and then the doctor wrote up an order for a blood draw to check for lead. She said they were checking all of the children that came in just to be sure.

We went to the floor where the lab is and began to wait. The guy who checked us in asked if we had an insurance company we'd like to bill it to...I thought about saying, "How 'bout we bill it to Fisher Price since that's why we're having this done."

After the lady behind the counter at the lab check in asked if my "little girl" had ever been there before to have blood taken, we went and sat and waited for the inevitable.

I'd already had to hold him down for his shots, but nothing had really prepared me for this. When we had to take him to have his newborn screening redone I stood and cried as he cried. This time I had to hold his arm as they tied a tourniquet on his little arm...one woman held his arm while the other swabbed and got the butterfly syringe ready. I was trying to focus on calming him down when something caught my eye. I almost came unglued when the woman with the syringe proceeded to move the needle around until she found a vein. I don't like it when someone does that to me let alone when they do it to one of my little ones.

I appreciate the doctors being vigilant in their attempt to nip any lead problems in the bud. However, I think the phlebotomists could have been just a little nicer. The one lady just wasn't very nice.

It took me back to my childhood with the two Nancys that were nurses for our doctor. One was nice and when she gave you shots they didn't hurt. The other was really mean and when she gave you a shot it was like a bull in a China shop.

Thanks, Fisher Price, for outsourcing your labor.