Being the mother of four take patience, planning, and efficiency. I knew this early on. So when the Dr needed to see Peter just five days after he was born and Talmage was due for his 18 month checkup, i thought i would efficiently combine the two. Now remember it was just days after giving birth and since it was a hard pregnancy it was a very slow recovery.
Except a few things made this visit not so efficient. Like getting there late because i am not yet used to preparing two babies. Like Talmage refusing to leave the play area when the nurse called us back, and running away from me once i did get him out, and repeating this three times - each time squeezing back further between toys and kids and chairs. This made all the other calm, put-together moms in the waiting room start to murmur and wonder to each other if there was some way they could help me. And when the nurse did come pick up Talmage up he started screaming.
The toy trucks in the exam room calmed him efficiently. I got both boys undressed and in dry diapers and then started nursing Peter. (see, efficient change BOTH diapers, then wash, then feed) Except it wasn't so efficient when Peter had his first and only blowout. So now we were both covered in mess and he had to be changed again. Just in time for the nurse to come get us to weigh the boys. I coaxed a nervous Talmage out into the hallway reassuring him it would be fine. I used my happiest Mom voice to suggest "Well put Peter up first to see how big he is!" I thought this would efficiently demonstrate to Talmage that it was fine and fun to be weighed. Except when i set Peter on the scale he started screaming, so Talmage flatly refused to stay on the scale. And rather than let him jump off to his death (that would not be efficient) we skipped the weighing. So now both boys are crying and i cannot effectively calm either one. Finally Talmage decides he will be fine as long as he can bring two huge dinosaur toys to the room with him. Except they are almost bigger than him and he cannot carry them. So now i am herding Talmage, carrying Peter, and carrying a dinosaur. The nurse is kind enough to carry the second dinosaur. Back in the room we happily waited for the doctor. When she came in i thought we would try the Peter first tactic again to prove to Talmage that it really is fine to get checked by the doctor. But Peter started crying again and then his circumsision had to be fixed so then he was
really screaming. Talmage had a death grip on the back of my leg and huge eyes wondering what this doctor does to people. But we finally got Peter calmed down and Talmage on the table and things went pretty smoothly until we left and Talmage again tried to escape to the play area. But i just forgot about all the rules of recovery and pick up both boys. Who cares about the "don't lift anything heavier than your baby" rule anyway - my sanity was at stake here. Maybe next time we'll skip the doctor and just do at home care.
"Say 'Ahhh', Peter"
