I realized that I never discussed how my little hero Zach did with his blood work. He was a champ. Like his sister, he really amazes me sometimes. There were 4 scripts that he went in there with - 1 for genetic testing, 1 for Fragile X, 1 for allergies, and 1 for Lyme disease.
As the phlebotomist lined up the vials of differing colors, I watched as she took out 1, then 2, then 3... and finally 13. My heart sank. Could they even get that much blood out of the little guy safely?
Zach cried at first, Steve held him in the chair, Mommy sang and pulled out toys from her bag of tricks to distract. After the initial cry for the pin stick - he was just awesome.
Steve, being the smarty pants that he is, took the stuffed Tigger toy I brought and placed it in front of the needle in Zach's arm, so he could not see it. Very useful. Then we sang "Pop goes the Weasel", which he sang the pops which was too cute. After a few minutes he began to get restless. Out came the singing Barney toy... "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family...." It lights up and plays too loud, in other words, it's obnoxious. A terrific distraction for my favorite little boy.
The minutes were passing, and there were still several vials to fill, but the blood was starting to come out slower and slower. I got mad at myself for not having made him drink more. The phlebotomist stuck the needle in a little further or jiggled it around or something, she moved the darn thing and Zach didn't like that. Several more minutes, and her wiggling the needle around continued. A few more vials, and finally she called it quites at 11 while saying: "They'll work with what I give them." I loved her attitude.
She went on to say that she was impressed with Zach. We all were. My fear was not unfounded, it was still a lot for him to go through. We are just starting to see what my little trooper is made of. They way he did inspired me, gave me hope. On this day Zach was my hero.
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