Vacunes

We got Joslins first set of shots, and as to be expected it was a whooper of a day. My husbands boss agreed to let him have a long lunch for one day so we could go get them done. By the time he had gotten lunch my 2 year old was taking a nap. We discussed it and he decided he would be the one to bring Joslin to get her shots. Oh boy I thought, God be with him (I was truly praying). You see my husband goes into almost fits of rage when I or my daughters get the slightest bit hurt. He seriously has to leave the room and calm himself down. I find this slightly amusing, maybe its my insensitivity to catastrophe. I tend to always stay calm analyze and find out what I need to do. He on the other hand is of no use when pain is happening to one he loves. Well in a way, and as usual not the way I wanted God answered my prayers. They told Issac they were not doing vaccines that day and he would have to bring her back tomorrow. Well there was no way for him to get an extra lunch break two days in a row. So now the wheels were turning. The one person we knew would watch Alana was out of town. My husbands mom stays at his grandmas (which is about 20min from us) for three months at a time and helps to run a shop (long story).
My husband says, "Ill ask my mom to come help you." I cringe but say, "Sounds great." I mean I have no other choice right? I know this post is about my experience with the health system but because his mom was a major (MAJOR) part of the day I need to explain a little first.
Mother in laws are suppose to be these great horrors right? Well mine isn't. She is a wonderful Christian women who is extremely thankful that I left the states to live with her son (and of course her granddaughters also). But.... Oh yes the big BUT....
Every since I have moved her she has treated me like I know nothing of Mexico. Seriously we will have conversations where I will say something. She will repeat to be sure she understands what IM saying, meanwhile Im nodding my head in approval. And she says, "No" Flat out refusing that I could possibly be right. Ok enough ranting sorry.
So there are two places in which you can go to get these vaccines. At the time my husband and I thought that only one of these places were for vaccines and the other was for doctor appointments. Some misguided person told my husband this. After running a couple errands down town I decided we could walk to get the vaccines because it was only a couple blocks from down town. His mom asked someone which street we should take to get there. Well after walking 7-8 blocks and me saying over and over we were going the wrong way and to the wrong clinic, I finally broke down and called my husband. I hated to do it I felt like I was a kid again and tattling on an older sibling. But he was as upset as I that his mom would not listen to me. She then told him that they do the vaccines at both places, why she couldn't tell me this I still do not know. So we finally get there and she goes in first to be sure they would do the vaccines.
They said they did and we went in to the desk we were lead to. We were third in line, after one went in we were only second in line. Then a nurse came out and asked if we were there for vaccines. We said yes and she told us we needed to giver our vaccination card to some nurses that were at another desk. I did and she told me they would call us when they were ready. Then I watched her put our card under like 3 other cards. Crap now were 4th in line. The one girl who was in the first line ahead of us must have known something we didn't because she didn't move. And was taken in to get her babies shots. Then someone else came and stood their and went in and got her shots. So had we stayed there we would be done now. Were we done, nope still needed to wait for 2 more people to go before us. His mom rolled her eyes obviously upset. I asked her why that nurse told us to go to the other line. She said it was because she didn't want to work. That nurse is lucky I don't know enough Spanish to tell her what I thought of what she did.
Finally we were called to the desk and I was told to sit down with the baby. One of the nurses took my baby to the other side of the room and weighed and measured her. They then looked at her vaccination card and said that since it was her first time getting vaccinations she should really be at the other desk. I looked at them like, "Im not moving and you will give her her shots, or I will do it myself." Then they looked at Issacs mom and she explained what had happened up till now. They went to the other desk and asked if they could do the shots and apparently the answer was yes. While writing the measurements on her card they informed me that she was within a high percentage for her age. Wow some teaching being done, I was excited to see this. I was dying to talk to them about being a nurse here in Mexico but I was waiting also to see how much teaching they would do. She went on to explain each vaccine my baby would get, why she would get it, and the possible side affects and how to treat those side affects. Whooo hoooo. Great job I was thinking. Because most medical terms are similar in Spanish and English I was keeping up quite well. I then explained to them the reason I understood so well was that I was a nurse.
Now here is an interesting tid bit and I now understand why we got sent to their desk by the "working nurse" I asked them how they liked working here and they shook their heads and said oh no not working but doing our "servicio gratis"...
"WHAT..." I said and looked astonished, "Gratis"
They went on to explain that every nurse in Mexico has to do one year of service for free at a gov facility after graduating. Wow I though I cant imagine if that were to happen in the states. We would really have a nursing shortage then.
We got there at 11am and left around 1pm. Not to bad its about how long I had to wait at the dr. office in the states with my first baby.
The next appointment my husband and I have decided to leave our 2yr old with a friend and IM going by myself with the baby. That should be exciting.