The good news is I LOVE my new pediatrician. The bad news is that The Girl is sick.
When we moved here, I got a recommendation for a pediatrician for The Girl’s 12-month check up. We went there and I was unimpressed. The first question they asked me was “is she on formula or cow’s milk?” She seriously seemed surprised when I said that she was nursing.
She asked me if we had turned The Girl’s car seat around yet. I told her we hadn’t because rear-facing car seats are much safer (even after a year and 20 lbs). She had no reply other than “well, you can turn it around any time.” When I told her we co-slept, she told me I needed to get The Girl into her own bed so she could learn to self-sooth!!! (There is absolutely NO medical evidence that this is true, BTW.)
She asked whether my c-section was planned, and I explained that it had been an emergency when The Girl was in distress. She asked for the 1st APGAR score and I told her it was a 4. She told me not to worry about that number too much because it is just a number “lawyers use” – clearly she did not know I was a lawyer, even though she had me fill out approximately 14 million forms.
When it came time for the shots, the nurse wanted me to HOLD THE GIRL DOWN ON THE EXAM TABLE! Maybe this is normal, I don’t know. But, at her doc in ND, The Girl sat on my lap while I gave her a bear hug to hold her arms out of the way, and the nurse gave the shot in the leg. Pinning a baby down to an exam table seems, well, crazy.
Anyway … short story long, we found a new pediatrician who is WONDERFUL! They only accept 4 new patients a month, so I had to call at 8 a.m. on the 1st to get in. Luckily, I made it! The practice is small, just two doctors, but they are affiliated with a major medical facility and are both board certified. They are totally pro-breastfeeding, extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping types who support granola people like me. While I am also very pro-vaccinating kids, if you are not cool with that, they are fine with it too.
I hadn’t planned on going in there until The Girl’s 15 month check, but when she wasn’t shaking this cold, and it sounded like she was wheezing, I decided we should go in. They were amazing. The docs do everything. They come and get your child from the waiting room, and are with them the whole time. They are kind, compassionate, great with kids and just so supportive. I heart them both.
Turned out the girls lungs were fine, but she had a minor ear infection.
EAR INFECTION? But wait, I breastfeed! Breastfed babies don’t get ear infections!!
Of course, that isn’t true. They get fewer, and the doc says that because she had her first one after a year of age, she will probably have very few in her life. Yay!
Now the part that I really love, they did NOT push antibiotics! YAY! He said that most ear infection clear on their own without any medication so we should try that first. If she did not seem better in 24-48 hours, then we’d try antibiotics. This is EXACTLY how I feel about antibiotics. If they are needed, by all means use them; but, if they are not (and they often are not) then let nature take its course.
Anyway … dispite the constant runny nose and horrible cough, The Girl is playing as usual, so I think she is feeling OK.
And even though it rips my heart out anytime I hear her cough, I am doing better too.
