Pregnancy guide books had me totally sweating the whole pediatrician selection thing. I didn't want to interview anyone, make a thousand phone calls, check references, etc. Maybe that means I suck as a force of protection in my kid's life, but that all seemed too high maintenance. I just asked my midwife who she would recommend and then called him. He was pretty cool on the phone (told me I could skip the HepB vaccination in the hospital unless I was planning on exposing my kid to the whole sex, drug and rock & roll lifestyle in the first month), and so we went with him and didn't think much about it. When he showed up at the hospital he seemed kind of geeky--who still wears a fanny pack???--but was super supportive and easygoing.
Add this to the ever-growing if-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now file: having the right pediatrician actually makes a huge difference. I can totally imagine the wrong one making me feel all self-conscious about my parenting style and decisions, especially since so many doctors I've dealt with operate on this whole "I know best no matter what" philosophy. I could easily be convinced I was doing something way wrong and turn into a neurotic mess. Instead, I LOVE going to see the pediatrician (and in fact I just learned he is family practice, so he may be my new doctor too). When Clementine was having trouble with her latch and losing weight rapidly, I had to take her in to get weighed. We had the whole doctor-patient talk about feeding strategy, but then he talked to me as a real human, asked how I was doing as a new mom and then listened to me prattle on and on and on about all that I had been experiencing. He didn't rush me, didn't look at his watch, nothing.
On the medicinal front, he tries to avoid unnecessary medications (especially antibiotics), is very open to slowing down the rate of vaccination and is very well-read on the pros and cons surrounding each and every shot. He encouraged us to slow down the pace a bit and get only two shots at a time, which we are in favor of, and he follows up on all darling C's reactions. We went to start her second round last night, and he said we needed to wait a week because it looked like she was fighting an ear infection and he wanted to keep reactions and symptoms separate. I don't know, maybe all doctors are this great, but I haven't ever had such positive experiences.
On top of all that, he thinks Clementine is adorable. What mother wouldn't love a doctor who said her kid is beautiful, alert, smart and developing perfectly? Even when she cried every time he looked directly at her (smart girl, my daughter--always wary of authority), he laughed and told us how darling she was. As if we didn't know.
And so the stats (drum roll, please!): Clementine has exactly doubled her birth weight: she is 14 lbs., 8 oz. She is also 26 inches long. How did this happen so fast?
No comments:
Post a Comment