Painful foot

So Amanda and I took little Nathaniel for a short walk today. I put him in our Baby Bjorn, so he was snug against my chest and kept warm under my jacket. We just walked around the block, and he was asleep for most of it. It was nice to get out of the house for a little to go somewhere other than a doctor's office.

Then we came back home and checked the mail. We got something from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. After congratulating us on the birth of our son, it noted the state has not received the standard metabolic tests every baby must have. It said to take the note to our doctor for a quick heal prick and blood collection.
Sounds easy enough. So, despite my being certain he's had this blood test done already (he lived in a hospital for two weeks during which time they drew plenty of blood for numerous tests ... it seems unlikely they'd miss this very important and easy test), we went to the pediatrician office.

There we discovered this easy blood collection is really a round of torture for the youngster. He was stabbed four or five times in the heal and blood was forcefully squeezed from his foot by a doctor who kept referring to him as "her." Amanda was shushing Nathaniel and holding his arms ... I was pacing and getting more and more anxious.
You parents out there know the feeling of having to stand around while your baby is crying and in pain, but it's very fresh and disturbing to me. I'm not used to this kind of thing, and it left me exhausted. Now let's hope the incorrect information on the form (I told the doctor it had Amanda's name and then listed my Social Security number, but he insisted it wouldn't matter) doesn't result in Nathaniel having to be prodded yet again.

He's had more than his share, and so have I.