Blood draw

Yesterday morning, we went to Gymboree. Oh how Rebecca enjoyed her class! She had the most wonderful time playing on a teeter-totter made out the giant log over a ball with a little girl named Cristene (don't get me started on weird name spellings). She still didn't want to roll the log, but she totally enjoyed the parachute activities. They are going to monthly billing next month, and monthly billing is a lot more expensive than their old 3, 6, and 12-month options. So while I had the chance, I signed Rebecca up for a whole year of Gymboree classes. Her gift for that was one of their tunnels which she loves so much. The nice thing about it is that it compacts down to nothing, so it isn't hard to store. She will be loving that thing (it's still in my trunk right now).

Unfortunately, after Gymboree we had to go to Loma Linda to get Rebecca's blood drawn for her allergy testing (the updated version of the RAST). It was a harrowing experience, that's for sure. The terror began when the phlebotomist walked in the room. Rebecca knew something was up. Out came the sheet (let's don't kid ourselves, it's a toddler straight-jacket) and then they wrapped her up like a mummy and had me hold that side of her body. Blood-curdling isn't quite the word for the scream that escaped from my child. She definitely has no difficulties with lung capacity, because I think her scream when they first stuck her was something that could easily rival the length of time in which Charlotte Church or Sarah Brightman could hold a note. And I'm almost certain that they can't reach the notes that she did. To make matters worse, the first stick yielded nothing, so they stuck her again. By this time, she was wailing, "Da-da!" in the most pitiful cry you can imagine. They got four vials of blood (sobbing and screaming all the while) and then it gave out. After first wiggling the needle to try to get it working again, they decided to stick her the third time (I was about to near my limit by this point). As they started the SIXTH vial of blood, Rebecca went silent, limp, and her head rolled to the side. They quickly stuck some glucose gel in her mouth, thinking that her blood sugar had dropped. By that time, they had all the blood they needed, and she was snuffling as we unwrapped her. They had us sit there for a few minutes to be sure she was okay and she drank some apple juice and all was okay again. After that hair-raising experience, I could have had a stiff drink, but I settled for a doughnut. (Rebecca got her very own doughnut hole for the experience).

By the time we got home, it was all forgotten. Unfortunately, she didn't take a nap for me at all that afternoon. Then Ramy came home and went to the pool to swim. (Sure, he gets to come home in time for swimming but wasn't there for the grisly blood draw!). We've been roasting in a sweltering heat wave this week (the time & temp sign atop my building said 109 when we left Loma Linda), so the pool has been really nice. Even at night, it is still really hot outside, so we decided to head out to Santa Anita to spend some time in the cool mall.