The Shot

It seems every other day I could have a blog post titled "Poor Nate." Today's installment involves a flu shot gone horribly wrong. The details are graphic, so let me warn the squeamish.
I took Lucas in for his 9 month check up today and the doctor talked me into a flu shot for Nate. I believe in an honest approach so I explained to Nate that he would feel a quick ouch, then it would be over. He was almost crying before the shot even began because he was afraid. Then things went downhill fast. The nurse stuck the needle in his leg quickly but when she started to push the syringe down, the top plastic part that has the medicine inside popped off of the base which has the needle. She left the needle in his leg while she screwed the top part back on to the base and tried to continue pushing the medicine in. Then she realized the medicine had spilled all over and withdrew the needle. She seemed flustered and apologized and said he had to get the shot again because no medicine went into his body. By this time Nate was screaming. She gave him the second shot. He was so upset I could barely calm him down. I felt terrible because it was nothing like I had told him it would be. I was so irritated that it had happened like that, although it was a freak accident that no one could have prevented. Well, it might have been prevented if the nurse had checked the syringes first to make sure they were firmly attached, but I doubt that is something they usually have to do. Anyway, he got to choose a prize from the bucket and was having a hard time deciding between two things. I said "Just get them both honey- you got 2 shots, so you deserve 2 prizes."