Talon had his 12 month well baby check up on June 10.  The doctor measured him, weighed him and then the nurse gave him his shots.  Talon measured 31.5 inches and weighed 22 lbs. - the doctor considered him "tall & skinny."  Talon was to get 6 shots - 2 in each of his thighs and 1 in the back of each of his arms!  He's had the shots before and this many, so I didn't think it would be a big deal.  Though, I think if I had 6 shots in one day, I wouldn't be very happy.  The first shot given in his thigh was fine, then the second was like "ouch, what was that?"  Then the next 4 were terrible -- Talon screamed and cried.  After the nurse was finished, we got Talon dressed again and he seemed to forgot about it.  Until the doctor said he ordered lab work to test for anemia and lead poisoning.  We didn't have to do the lab work but Eric and I thought it was only one more shot.  (Ya, easy for us to say, right?!)  The lady at the lab said it's easier to get blood from babies in the crease of the arm.  Before she placed the needle in, Talon started screaming.  As she placed the needle in, Talon jerked and it fell out.  I thought "oh great, now we have to prick him again!"  So the lady said she would have to get the blood from his finger.  The lady slowly filled the 2 vials with his blood, drip by drip as Talon cried.  By the time we got to the car, Talon was fine again.  As a matter of fact, he was playing with his new band-aid on his finger.

Sofia watched Talon for the remainder of the day, with minimal activity.

That night when I put Talon down to bed, I noticed his head was hot.  He quickly closed his eyes and went to sleep.  I thought "that was too easy, something's up."  About 2 hours later, Talon woke up crying.  I went in and his head was really hot.  I took his temperature and it read 101 degrees!  Eric and I took him out of his PJs to only leave him in his diaper and shirt and tried cooling him down with a damp cloth.  I rocked him to sleep once again.  But then about 2 hours later he woke up.  This time I took his temperature it was 102!  I didn't want to panic yet, but I was getting worried.  Again, I rocked him and we fell asleep together in the chair.  

The next morning, we let him sleep in until 9am to get a little more rest since he didn't have much that night.  We took his temperature which read 101.  Before returning home that afternoon from a meeting I had, Eric texted me Talon's temperature wasn't going down and he wasn't eating or drinking.  I called the doctor on my way home, in which the nurse told me it's normal for this to occur and would take 48-72 hours for him to get better.  She told me to keep giving him Tylenol every 4 hours and liquids.  Apparently Talon rested on Sofia throughout the day trying to get comfortable and rest.  

That night (one day after his shots) Eric had left for a fight with the boys so my mom came over to help.  Talon was now to the point he was whimpering, squirming around to get comfortable, crying and just miserable!  I felt terrible!  Finally by 7pm, Talon fell asleep on my chest for the next hour.  By about 8:30pm when Talon woke up, I believe his fever broke.  My mom tried feeding him and giving him some water -- finally, Talon ate and drank!  My mom then held Talon as I tried to eat my dinner and clean up around the house.  By 9:30pm we put Talon in his crib.  It was another long night as Talon got up several times.  We were still giving him Tylenol every 4 hours to subside the fever.  At that point, it was going down, now to about 99-100 degrees.

Finally by Friday, 2 days later, Talon was back to himself again!  As a matter of fact, Talon and Sofia went to the park that afternoon to get out for fresh air.  Whew, I don't think I'll ever do that again -- next time we'll spread out the amount of shots!  Good thing is, Talon does not have anemia nor lead poisoning and he will hopefully remain healthy from all those shots.

(You might ask why test for lead poisoning?  Lead poisoning occurs when too much lead is absorbed by breathing or swallowing a substance with lead.  Too much lead in the body can cause irreversible problems in growth and development in children.  Lead is toxic in which can damage the brain and other parts of the body.)