On Friday 13 at 13:00 hours we had a doctor's appointment for Mia's follow up vaccine.
Yes, I know, it would have looked so much more dramatic if it would have been next year, and the date would have been Friday 13, 2013 at 13:00 hours. But we will do with whatever drama we can get our hands on. And believe me, we have got plenty.
Strangely enough, the roads were fluid, and we reached the hospital half an hour before our appointment.
Just to be clear, if we owned a helicopter, the time needed from our home to Clemenceau Medical Center would be in all honesty, half a minute. But it usually takes us half an hour to get there. That is part of the perks of living in the middle of Hamra.
That is also probably because our appointments are usually around 14:30 and 15:00 which means the schools closing time, exactly. Hence the congested tiny streets and brutal traffic jams. Not to mention, the bonus offensive and crude behavior of exasperated uncivil drivers.
That is also probably because our appointments are usually around 14:30 and 15:00 which means the schools closing time, exactly. Hence the congested tiny streets and brutal traffic jams. Not to mention, the bonus offensive and crude behavior of exasperated uncivil drivers.
In any case, 13 seemed to be a good number so far.
Mia was happy and playing in the car, babbling and babbling and describing in her own personal language, every little detail her hungry eyes could catch.
And within minutes, we had reached CMC.
Usually (especially when it is raining like these days) we leave the car with the valet because it is simply easier and quicker to get to the appointment (especially when we are generally just on time, and by just on time, I mean dangerously borderline late).
But today, they stopped us. Apparently, the hospital was so much over capacity that, not only the five underground floors were full, but the passages to these parkings were also filled with cars, stuck one after the next until they reached the main road at the hospital entrance!
Somehow, the man just ahead of us left his car in front of the valet desk and entered the building. So we thought, fine, let us do the same. Well we thought wrong. The valet came and asked us to move the car; in other words, go back into the traffic jam that had piled up in front of the hospital and drive to the nearest public parking.
Of course, we were in shock. Why would the man right in front of us be allowed to park and not us? While we were not causing any more harm than he was since there was still a large way for cars to drive by us, and even room for a couple more to park behind us! (which they did)
So we simply got out of the car, told the valet that we would only be treated like the man right before us and walked to the clinic.
Somehow, the man just ahead of us left his car in front of the valet desk and entered the building. So we thought, fine, let us do the same. Well we thought wrong. The valet came and asked us to move the car; in other words, go back into the traffic jam that had piled up in front of the hospital and drive to the nearest public parking.
Of course, we were in shock. Why would the man right in front of us be allowed to park and not us? While we were not causing any more harm than he was since there was still a large way for cars to drive by us, and even room for a couple more to park behind us! (which they did)
So we simply got out of the car, told the valet that we would only be treated like the man right before us and walked to the clinic.
Apparently, with a little bit of determination, 13 was still working fine.
The second we got in, Mia turned silent. It was as if someone had pushed the mute button! And the more all of us got comfy in the waiting room, the more Mia got worried.
And the dreaded moment arrived: the nurse called us to weigh and measure our little bundle of stress. Every time she enters that exam room, she goes insane, although it is not where she gets her shots. But still, she knows that following that scale, a syringe is coming!
Somehow, I got her occupied with a window and we managed to get everything done with just a teeny bit of fussing. A miracle!
13 was really working for us.
But less than a minute later, we were invited to the doctor's office. Mia immediately recognized her pediatrician and just grabbed on me like a little crab in panic. She would turn her head towards Dr. J, throw a glance, and quickly look away. Getting her tiny claws deeper and deeper in my skin!
Well, we all knew we would enter the hazardous twilight zone of Friday 13, eventually.
As usual, Dr. J was awesome. She tried to comfort Mia and even placed her on my lap to complete the exam. That didn't stop the little screaming crab from crying her heart out, but somehow, not as fiercely as the previous times. And it even appears the shot was not really painful. She was in tears... Because she was afraid.
THE FEAR FACTOR.
Somehow, that is all that we got that day. Fear.
I cannot remember who on my timeline tweeted that there are three Friday 13 this year, and they are 13 weeks apart... Oooh... Spooky, right? Actually, all things considered and reviewing how that last doctor's appointment went, I might very well schedule all of Mia's visits to the pediatrician's on those days!
Well isn't it what Friday 13 is all about?
I cannot remember who on my timeline tweeted that there are three Friday 13 this year, and they are 13 weeks apart... Oooh... Spooky, right? Actually, all things considered and reviewing how that last doctor's appointment went, I might very well schedule all of Mia's visits to the pediatrician's on those days!
Mamma Mia
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