Thursday, May 10, 2012

Early thoughts on our Pediatrician

So I've taken Baby O to the pediatrician's office twice now.  We went just the two of us on day of life 5... it was quite the outting, getting us both ready, into the car, to the hospital, out of the car, into the office, managing during the appointment, nursing afterwards, and successfully getting back home.  But I liked the office over all.  The front desk staff was courteous.  The salt water fish tank was pretty in the waiting room.  The nursing assistant didn't mind when Baby O peed on the scale the second I took her diaper off. And the NP who saw us was sweet.  She even allowed me to stay in the exam room for 20 minutes after the appointment and nurse before we got back in the car to go home!

Second visit was for the two week appointment, also with the NP.  This time I brought my mom with me. I really like the NP, almost sad that I won't see her at the 5 week visit (which will be with the pediatrician herself).  But the front desk staff was a little more irritating this time around, asking me multiple times about which pharmacy I use (I don't understand why they need to have the exact name and location now if I don't need any prescriptions!) and being stunned that I couldn't even tell them what street it's on.  I don't know the name of the street!  I always walk there!  Clearly suburbanites. :-)

At our next visit, we'll hear more about the immunization schedule.  They took it in stride when we showed up at the 5 day appointment without our first Hep B shot.  But I agreed to getting it that day, so I didn't raise too much of a red flag.  I still need to learn more about immunizations - both from the pedi and from independent sources.  I believe strongly in immunizing my child, but I'm not sure I agree with the "typical" schedule.  I don't know enough yet to ask for anything different though.  And, to be really honest, I was surprised how good I felt after Baby O got her first Hep B shot.  I felt like I was protecting her.  It actually made me happy, not worried about whether it was safe or frustrated by the system.  So maybe I'll go with a more typical schedule than I'd imagined!

2 comments:

  1. You've probably seen this one, but it's a good resource.
    http://www.amazon.com/The-Vaccine-Book-Decision-Parenting/dp/0316017507
    Helped us make the right decisions.
    We never got more than two at a time, which meant we were making extra trips that first year, but I was ok with that and our peds office was on board too...glad that I was informed when we talked about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I’m with you on this one. Immunizing your kid through vaccination is one way to protect her from harmful diseases. In essence, these things help keep babies healthy and strong. But it is still advisable to keep track of your baby’s behavior before and after the shots. They might display adverse reactions to the vaccine. Consult your doctor immediately if you notice any negative reaction.

    -Oskar Aarden

    ReplyDelete