Getting My Blood Drawn

Daddy took the day off today to take me to the lab to get my blood drawn.  It was a mistake on my part, to expect that there is such a place/lab that is children-friendly.  Hey, if my Doctor’s specialty is children, shouldn’t a children specific lab exists too?

The moment Daddy and I step inside this lab, I knew I was in trouble.  I did not see a single kid around.  Not only I’m the youngest in the crowd, I might even be the youngest EVER patient stepping inside this lab.  Come to think of it, Daddy could even be the second youngest person there!  Within seconds, Daddy covered my stroller with a blanket and we hid out in a corner that is furthest away from the crowd. 

Although it was still an hour away from the posted ‘lunch hour,’ we soon learned that we were the last patient for the morning.  And after waiting for more than an hour, my name was called.  (By then, Daddy and I were the only ones sitting in the waiting area.)

Nurse:  “Hi, how are you?”

Daddy:  “Very well.  Thanks.”

Nurse:  “That’s a lot of blood work for a 2-month old.  Please take off her clothes”

Daddy:  “Okay.”

Nurse:  “Uh.  Jaundice?”

Daddy:  “Yes.  Are you going to draw the blood from under her foot, like how they did it while she was still in the hospital?”

Nurse:  “Oh no!  There are too many blood works ordered here… it won’t be possible to do it from her foot.  It has to come from the vein in her arm.”

Since Mommy did not come along, video taping wasn’t possible.  So considered yourself fortunate for not having to watch what happened next.  First, it took the nurse more than 10 minutes to locate my vein.  She tried my left arm, my right arm, then back to my left arm.  She just couldn’t ‘feel’ it.  It was until Daddy suggested…

“They usually put something warm over her… (to increase the blood flow, so that the vein can be spotted.)”

Nurse:  “Ah, let’s try that.”

Nurse:  “Please be patience with me.  I want to make sure that I only have to stick the needle in her once!  Therefore, I want to make sure that I have the vein accurately.”

It worked!  She did catch the vein in one try!  Just to give you an idea on how much blood was drawn from my little 11-pound body, please take a look at this video below.

First of all, I don’t know that person in the video.  But do you see that tube that was used to collect the blood sample?  FIVE tubes of blood were drawn from me!

Of course I did cry!  What are you thinking?

Here are a few pictures of my ‘injury’ that I sustained from the blood draw.  Can you tell I was not in a good mood when these pictures were taken?