More Lovin' For Tar - jay!!!

It is no shocker that being Pregnant comes with need for specific prescriptions. Like most pregnant women, I take my pre-natal vitamins like all compliant OB patients should do. In addition to this, I specifically take prescription Iron pills, as my baby likes to suck the life out of me, one red blood cell at a time causing me some anemia. (Kids start to suck the life out of us, earlier and earlier these days.) And of course, there is "Prevacid" for the heart burn, because downing an entire bottle of Tums a day was still not cutting it.

Oh my, I am just sharing so much personal information today. No biggie, it's not like I take medication for any embarrassing ailments. Unless you consider pregnancy embarrassing, like one, anti-social, sack dress wearing friend of mine does.

Anyway, this brings me to my recent Target Pharmacy experience...

On Wednesday, I picked up a total of four prescriptions from Target. When I arrived, my bag of meds, stocked under "F." came with a note attached to it, that the technician read to me. Apparently, the company that makes my specific pre-natal vitamins has changed the formulation.

What does that mean?

They changed the ratio of one vitamin to another, blah, blah, blah... It is still a multi-vitamin.

But, I felt like I needed to know more specifically, what the new formulation is. Because I also take iron pills, I did not want to find out the "HARD" way, that I was now taking an overabundance of iron and maybe even o.d. on iron. That is just not the way I wanna go.

So they called over the pharmacist who came with a list of the changes and the original box of vitamins for reference, and she gladly went over it with me.

This was already a huge A+ for Target, in my book of pharmacy experience.

If I was still at OSCO (yeah, I am calling them out) the scenario would have been more like this...

1. They do not tell me that the formulation has been changed in the first place.

2. I call them when I realize the pill is now a different color and does in no way resemble what I have been taking thus far. And they respond by saying, oh, they probably just changed the color - it is the same company.

3. I call them back a day later with terrible stomach pains, tell them I think I am dying and ask them to find out what kind of pills they erroneously gave me. They put me on hold, and I am forced to listen to "Enya" for five minutes as I lay dying. They come back and ask me what I am waiting for. I tell them again. They tell me the pharmacist has stepped out can I call back in ten minutes. I tell them I may be dead in ten minutes and no one will ever no why. They put me back on hold for more "Enya". I accidentally get transferred to the supermarket Deli. I am transferred back as I cough up blood. They answer and still, no apologies and tell me - the new formulation has a crap load more of iron in it and I should not take iron in addition to the pre-natal vitamins. I say, too late and then drop dead. They say, can we help you with anything else, and when there is no answer, they say, alright - have a good day.

That scenario has unfolded in nightmares over and over again.

I get home with my bag of drugs and dump it on the kitchen table, because I am THAT responsible. Three hours later, I am sitting on the couch (probably blogging or Facebooking, or just.....sitting) no more than 30 feet from aforementioned table, when I hear my 2 year old Ate say,
"Ooh, whats this? Meadow sins?

Meadow sins?

Oh crap - it takes me five minutes to get my huge pregnant a#$ off the plush couch I have sunk into. I get to the table, just as he is popping a Prevacid into his mouth, with ten others now on the floor. He soon realizes, this does not taste like chewable Tylenol, and it gets stuck in the back of his throat - which I gather from the gagging and retching noises he is making. I flip him over and out pops the little pink and black pill.

And then....get ready for it.... I slapped him twice on his cute, chubby little wrist and say,
We don't EVER, EVER, EVER put medicines in our mouth.
And the poor kid cried and ran away from me to the basement for some sympathy from his two older sisters.

I think I may have mentioned this in one of my previous posts, but I do not remember. I do not hit my kids for discipline. The only times I EVER hit my kids, is when they are doing (or about to do) something that is seriously dangerous to them or someone else. If they were running in the street or playing with the stove or walking around with a knife...

However, in this situation, I felt tremendous guilt. Because I was the irresponsible mother who left Medicine (without child proof caps, no less) in an extremely attainable place. He was just being a normal curious two year old boy. (And I do not even want to imagine what could have happened if I was not there as it was happening.)

But I still felt that I had to give him the slaps on the wrist - because it would be a message for any future negligence on my part, or over-curiosity on his part - that popping pills = slaps on wrist and, Ate does not want slaps on wrist.

He came back up from the basement about ten minutes later, totally fine, showing me a toy. And I asked him,
"Why did Mommy give you a potch on your hand"?

"Because I ate the meadow sins"?!?!

"Are you allowed to eat medicine"?

"No, I isn't".

And then I gave him the biggest hug and kiss and we moved on.

However, my Target Pharmacy experience, is not over...

Today I went to get my refilled prescriptions, after finishing the last two days of the old bottle, when I noticed that the Pharmacist included a surprise.

SURPRISE!!!!

In addition to my four prescriptions, I have the original box of vitamins that the Pharmacist was showing me for reference. It has some other poor, pre-natal vitamenLESS pregnant woman's name on it, and I immediately put it in my purse to return the box to Target.

When I arrived at the Target Pharmacy counter today, displaying the box to the pharmacist I recognized, she immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"You are my life saver. Don't go anywhere, I have something for you."

I had no idea what I was waiting for. What other surprises can possibly be in store for me.

They were looking for another bag under "F.", but could not find it, and then the technician opened a drawer and handed me something and said,

"Well we prepared it for you ahead of time, hoping you would come back, but this is what we were giving you..."

Ooooooh, five dollar off coupon. And the coupon had a message that read,
"Our apologies for the delay or inconvenience...."

This pharmacy has pre-made apologies including five dollars towards a future purchase???? How friggin' awesome.

That other pharmacy - OSCO - would not give me an apology if I begged for one, and Target has them prepared in a drawer (or a bag with your name on it).

So they get the bottle of vitamins back. Pharmacist can keep her job (hopefully). I get five free dollars. Everyone is happy, happy.

I love Target!!!

And I will love 'em even more when they become a 24 hour Pharmacy, which I am sure will happen when the economy improves and they take over an entire 3 miles of land and change their name to "Target City".

But right now, I just love 'em.