Our Brave Little Girl

At Madeline's last doctor's appointment we were given paperwork to go get some routine bloodwork done for her. (At 9 months, their blood is tested for lead and something else, I can't remember what.) I put the paperwork on the fridge and then forgot about it until last Friday. So, I took Madeline to our local LabCorp to get her blood drawn.

She had a great time in the waiting room. She walked around to all the people and showed them her lion. And then she spent the rest of the time running away from me, down the ramp and out the door. :)

They finally called us back. I asked them if this was going to be a heal prick, like all the other bloodwork they had done since she was born. The nurse said, no, they were going to draw it from her arm. Yikes! She just seems so little. So, I had to hold her on my lap with her left arm pinned down and her right arm held out. They put the rubber thingy around her arm to make the vein pop out. Then I watched as they inserted the needle into Madeline's arm... It was silent. I was waiting for that heart wrenching cry that comes after a long silence since I couldn't see her face. But, it never came. Madeline just simply watched them as they took 2 viles of blood. She didn't fuss, wimper or cry. What a brave girl.

Here she is with the bandage around her arm. It was basically falling off by the time we got home. So, what I was expecting to be a very traumatic experience, ended up being nothing at all. Maybe she will be a nurse or a doctor one day since she doesn't seem to mind needles. I told the nurse we will have to get her again next time since she must have done it so nicely.