A Trip to the Doctor's

We took Toby to the doctor yesterday because (you guessed it) the kid has a cough. Again. This kid gets coughs and colds so often I’m beginning to wonder if he’s half seal. We don’t usually rush him in so he hasn’t actually seen his doctor all THAT often, but this cough has persisted for 3 weeks and was getting wetter and a bit worse so we decided it was time to take him in.

In preparation for “the big visit” we read, “Farley goes to the Doctor” every night this week. Toby LOVES the book and was ECSTATIC to hear that he was going to get to go to his very OWN doctor and do exciting things like taking deep breaths and opening his mouth and saying AAAAAH. He even brought his beloved bear with him to share in the exciting experience. The excitement lasted all morning right up until the moment that Dr Clarke walked in the room; then he decided that maybe he didn’t want to see her after all. And he CERTAINLY didn’t want to sit on the exam table by himself and there was no WAY he was going to open his mouth and say AAAAH OR take a deep breath.

Sigh.

But he made up for it. My generous family doc offered to save me a trip in and do my prenatal appointment while I was there and, in an attempt to engage my stubborn child, asked if he would be willing to help out.

Toby didn’t say anything but promptly jumped up onto the examining table on which I was sitting and positioned himself behind me while attempting to wrap his little legs and arms around my back. He sat there like that without saying anything until I had my blood pressure taken and then whispered reassuringly into my ear, “Don’t worry mommy. Just take a deep breath…”

I would like to say that it was ALSO a special moment when Toby heard, for the first time, his little sibling’s heart beat…but to be honest, he was WAAY too captivated by the cold jelly that had been squirted onto my belly to even notice. (I did hear later that he had spent the rest of the day making offhanded comments to his babysitter about how he had “gotten to talk to the baby”.)

All in all, we had a great trip to the doctor’s. Toby doesn’t need antibiotics, the baby is growing well with a good strong heartbeat, and I now know that if I’m ever nervous about anything, my little boy will be there for me in a heartbeat. Three simple things that made me feel I was on cloud 9 for the rest of the day. Sometimes life is so simple…