Yesterday was Connor's annual well-visit. With no morning appointments available for the foreseeable future, we scheduled one for immediately after school. The little guys had to tag along, much to their displeasure.
The visit was fine. Connor is healthy, and he always does well with these visits. There were no shots, so that was a plus. He is currently 45 inches tall and weighs 50 pounds, which puts him in the 90th and 95th percentiles, respectively. His pediatrician, who's used to seeing me at these visits, said that by looking at our kids, you would think their father was over six feet. I chuckled, because that's not the case. At five foot nine, I am the taller parent. Josh chuckled later too, when I shared it with him, insisting that I give up the name of the boys real father.
Now, to the real fun part of the visit. As I mentioned, there were no morning appointments. The twins had to come along, and they did so in the double stroller because they are not exactly fans of doctors offices (or any offices, for that matter). They cried when we turned the wrong way out of their school parking lot. They cried when we parked in the parking structure. They cried as we were going down the sidewalk to the office building. They cried in the elevators. They cried harder when we got to the actual doctor's office.
Are we seeing the pattern yet?
Mommy thought she had come prepared. I brought Xander's most recent obsession, a comic book of Connor's that he loves to flip through. I picked a second book for Sawyer, who usually just likes to flip pages and isn't as concerned about content. I had fruit snacks and the holy grail of bribes, ring pops. Those came out the second we entered the waiting room.
Unfortunately, the crying was just muffled around the ring pops.
The continued to cry at every little thing. They cried when the nurse and the doctor came to the waiting room to bring us back. They cried each and every time a nurse or doctor came within five feet of the stroller. If they happened to speak to the twins, they cried even harder. They cried while Connor was being weighed and measured, while he ears were being checked and definitely during his finger prick (iron test). They cried and cried and cried.
It was annoying, and slightly embarrassing.
At the end of Connor's visit (and he, I must add, was being perfectly well-behaved, attentive and even polite), the doctor assured me she took no offense. She asked if they would take a sucker from her, as she was going to get Connor one for his successful visit. I explained that they already had one, but that I was pretty sure they wouldn't turn down another one.
She returned with the suckers and the crying stopped. We all looked at them in amazement, even Connor. Holding their mostly gone ring pops in one hand, they were simultaneously holding out their still packaged new suckers to me, wanting those opened.
And that's how we left the office, with Connor happily sucking on his hard-earned sucker. And the twins were double-fisting theirs, the ring pop in one hand and the new one in the other. Of course, they also pulled both out to cry again as people smiled and attempted to talk to them on our way out. Heaven forbid someone look or speak to them, much less lean over and try to touch them!
And that was our cry-filled visit.
Which means I am not at all looking forward to their doctor's visit next week. They're scheduled to see an audiologist and an ENT physician to do a hearing screening and exam to check for any ear problems. Both boys failed their screenings at school. Xander, largely because he screams bloody murder and thrashes so much you cannot even dream of getting near his ears. Sawyer, who is generally more cooperative, had low tone in both ears, making the audiologist think either onset of a double-ear infection or a chronic problem. We made appointments for both of them, just to see.
That's going to be a fun appointment, don't you think?
