Top 10 things I love about my kids' pediatrician

10. He agreed to see Helen when I was nothing short of desperate for a pediatrician who would manage her jaundice at home. Really, I was a crazed woman on the phone. Looking back, I can't believe he agreed to take us into his practice, but he did, and I am still grateful.

9. He appreciates Connor's love of body art. He even has temporary tattoos in his office! When we went into the office to see if Connor had an ear infection, Dr. B. started the visit by admiring the 2 tattoos Connor had on his arms and the two tattoo band-aids he had on his skinned knees. His caring about Connor's beloved tattoos earned him major points with Connor.

8. His office is next to a playground. So, when Connor begs to go with me to one of Helen's appointments, I can send he and Ed or his au pair across the street to play. There's also a library across the street in case of inclement weather.

7. One of his partners is in a mom's group I just joined. Whoa boy is it going to be hard not to pester her for free medical advice.

6. He has an actual syndrome named after him. That's just cool.

5. He talks to me as if I am an educated adult who can read and understand information. He even seems to understand that we are partners in my children's care. He doesn't pretend to guess what I'm thinking and doesn't give a flip that my kids weren't born in a hospital. I appreciate this all...a lot.

4. He didn't give me any grief about not giving my kid a vaccine developed in the last couple of years that replaced a vaccine that was discontinued because of side effects not discovered until it was made widely available. In fact, he said "You do a good job managing your kid's care. It doesn't bother me a bit to skip this one."

3. He always tells me Helen is perfect.

2. Upon weighing Connor for the first time I pre-emtively said "he's skinny" and Dr. B. responded "fat never did anybody any good".

But, the number one reason that I love my kids' pediatrician is that dropping his name got me an appointment FIVE weeks early with a pediatric gasstroenterologist, which if nothing else, will at least make me feel as if I've left no stone unturned in my search for sleep for me and Helen. Please, gastro dude, find a magic bullet to end this nighttime pain!

Excuse me while I go simultaneously celebrate the upcoming appointment (Wednesday) and beat my head in the wall for waiting 26 months to find this nice man. If you don't like your pediatrician - run, don't walk - to a new one. My only regret is I didn't do it sooner.

Elaine

Helen's 6 month visit

Forgot to report, yesterday, Helen had her belated 6 month check-up. Her height (which was measured incorrectly since she was screaming her head off) is at the median (she's actually shorter than this, but I certainly wasn't going to point out to the nurse how much she moved and encourage a new measurement be taken) and her head size is 40th percentile. And her weight? SHE IS STILL ON THE GROWTH CHART - checking in at the 10th percentile. When he got to the number, Dr. B said "We'll take it!" and appeared to be as excited as I was that she didn't dive off the chart like Connor did.

She was asked to perform one stunt - sitting - and she somehow managed to do it long enough to get the A-OK, though this is really a skill she has picked up in the last couple of days. (Nice job, Elaine, waiting to take your kid to their 6 month appointment long enough that they'd be able to pass the skills test. I think I'll pat myself on the back and have a margarita - oh wait, I did that last night as Ed and the au pair struggled to put both kids to bed.)

Her pediatrician's overall assessment? She's perfect.

I couldn't agree more.

Of course, after the pediatrician left, she had the hearing in her right ear tested AGAIN, and AGAIN, she failed. This time, she was super still and quiet, which is a big change from the other tests. Before the test, the pediatrician and I agreed that if she failed, we'd just wait until she was 1 before trying again. I should probably consult with my friend the audiologist about this before I continue to blow off Helen's repeated failure in the right ear.

Connor enjoys the new pediatrician because there's a nearby park. He told the au pair he wanted to eat his lunch really fast so he could play more. He showed that he has fully reached the "tell Mommy everything phase". His first words to me when I met him at the park were "Mod told me to pee on the tree over there". Connor knows I do not approve of this, but Mod told me she wasn't sure where a nearby bathroom was (uh, the library across the street? the pediatrician's office across the street?). I told Connor that in limited circumstances one had to make do with the great outdoors. Later that afternoon, he announced to me that he was going to pee on our tree. Not so, I told him. Thankfully, Ed reinforced this by telling him that he could only pee on trees when there was no bathroom nearby - but in our yard, he could ALWAYS go inside. I found this shocking, as I imagined Ed would be all jazzed about Connor breaking the no peeing in Mommy's yard rule so he could break it to.

Elaine

I wasn't going to cry this time...

At Connor's first visit with his pediatrician, I left the office in tears. In fact, a little girl in the waiting room asked me why I was crying when my baby was not. I told her "because the baby is fine, and I am not". Basically, I was having a whole load of nursing troubles and my hormones were clearly out of whack. This time, though, it was going to be different.

I showered and put on lip gloss. I put on my post-maternity jeans (not the regular size, mind you, but only one size up) rather than wearing sweats. I put on my favorite nursing shirt and I thought I really looked like I had it all together. But I still walked out in tears.

You see, my pediatrician only works on Thursdays and Fridays - which is fine for routine care. But I have to see her partner if I need to bring one of my children in any other day. So on Monday, we went to see her partner. He was concerned about Helen's bilirubin levels (she's certainly on the yellow side) and sent us to the lab. But when he sent us there, he told us to be prepared for a hospital stay. He thought Helen was too yellow, she had lost too much weight since birth, and the only treatment option he offered us was hospitalizing Helen. There are no words that could possibly express how devastating putting my 3 day old daughter into the hospital would be.

Thankfully, my husband got his MD on google Monday afternoon while Connor napped and I was at that lab. Ed learned that there are blankets that can be used to treat jaundiced babies at home. When the news came in that Helen was a 17.9, the pediatrician told me we needed to hospitalize Helen. Ed had learned that while 17.9 is certainly high, it's not so dangerous that it can't be treated at home, so I told the pediatrician I wanted to talk to someone else before I agreed to hospitalize Helen. I called Ed with the news, and luckily Connor had just awakened from his nap so Ed and Connor came to pick me and Helen up. I called my midwife and she said she'd start looking for a blanket. There was apparently a run on "bili blankets" and the first one she could find would be available on Friday - which was too late for us. But...another midwife in the practice knew of another pediatrician who she thought had a blanket - but we'd have to be a client to get it. So, I called there to see if I could get a second opinion. I begged to see the doctor that afternoon, but it just wasn't possible. The best they could do would be Tuesday, late morning. But, I did get to talk to a nurse there and she knew a few more places to try and get a blanket from and she gave me their phone numbers. I passed these along to my midwife and a blanket was located. I called back to order it and learned that we'd need the pediatrician's order to get it. Crap.

The pediatrician was not in favor of any type of treatment other than the hospital, so Ed and I played hardball. And after a serious show-down, he ultimately agreed to give the order, in exchange for us promising to get Helen's bili levels tested this morning and coming back in to get her weighed again. This bought us the time we needed to get into the other office.

This morning, the numbers were worse - 19.5 - but that was to be expected because she should peak this morning. The numbers were actually better than the ped thought they would be, but he said we needed to hospitalize her. So, we told him we were getting a second opinion and the ped actually helped us get in a few hours earlier and was super nice about going over the case history with the doctor. The happy ending is that this doctor took another blood sample, the number was down to 18.3, and he's happy to manage her care at home.

So, at the end of probably the most stressful 24 hours of my life, my baby girl is at home and I have a new pediatrician.


She's eating formula for 24 hours because there is a chemical in breast milk that slows down the process of the liver breaking down excess red blood cells, so we don't want Helen to have any of that. I would've agreed to feed her just about anything to keep her out of the hospital. Connor totally loved helping feed Helen.


If we'd been in the hospital, Connor never could've tortured his sister with a bath tonight!


Helen wears this little light thing on her back which is connected to a machine about the size of a slide projector (and sounds about the same with a fan going) whenever she is not being bathed, so we won't be out and about town for a while. We are so grateful to this new pediatrician. Tomorrow, we're hoping for some lower numbers.

Elaine

Happy Three Month Birthday!

Dear Connor,

Today, you are three months old. That means you have been living outside of my body for 92 days - and I assure you I can hardly recall what it was like before you came. That's the beauty of learning how to get along with a minimum amount of sleep and having my heart find out how much it's possible to love someone. My brain functions at a minimum necessary level from the sleep deprivation and my emotional state is one that focuses on what a great person you are. The other day, I even heard myself telling a friend how childbirth was easy - at which point Ed looked at me like I had gone completely insane. I guess that's something else a mom's body does as soon as possible - forget the pain it takes to bring babies into the world. By the way - it's painful, though in my case is didn't last too long. And hey, I was at home surrounded by love.

You celebrated this 3 month milestone by abstaining from naps today, despite near heroic efforts on the part of your dad and me. Finally, I slept with you, but even then you only made it about an hour. At present, I'm attempting to nurse you to sleep which usually doesn't take that long, but who knows when you will finally drop tonight. I guess this is what everyone was talking about when they said that much of parenting was two steps forward, one step back. Hopefully tomorrow you will remember how you are a much happier baby when you sleep!

You've learned to make a new sound - it's a high pitched squeal (not associated with pleasure) that your dad told me about but I didn't actually believe until tonight. Wow - that'll get attention every time. Your dad also claims you winked at him today, but I'm not sure I believe this either. You have also started pooping on a daily basis - which is OK, but frankly your dad and I were getting used to and enjoying your 6 day cycle that you have been on since week 4 when Mims and Pappy came to visit and I couldn't believe that you didn't poop for a whole week. Both pediatricians in the practice we go to assured me this was normal, as does the Baby Handbook that Heather sent me. But still, once a week? But I guess all good things come to an end because you've pooped daily for 4 days now. Still better than the babies who poop after or during every feeding, but the 6 day pattern was great once I stopped worrying about it.

Today's photo shows those hands of yours. When you couldn't get your own fingers into your mouth earlier today, you pulled my thumb in. You seemed to enjoy sucking on it for a while. And hey, I thought it might inspire you to sleep so I didn't mind it. No such luck, but it was worth a try.

We tried the stroller out again today, but you still prefer to be carried. And, this doesn't seem too irrational to me since you're stuck looking at the sides of the stroller laying on your back until you're big enough to sit upright in it. Maybe next month...

You're drifting off to sleep now, so hopefully you'll sleep once I drop you in bed.

Love,
Mom

Ouch!

Yesterday, Connor and Ed went to the doctor for Connor's two month check-up and vaccinations. Can I just say that avoiding the appointment so I didn't have to hear Connor cry when he got the shots was nothing compared to the dose of screaming I got after the Motrin wore off. He cried inconsolably for 20 minutes, at which point he passed out. I called the pediatrician during this bout of crying because NEVER has Connor done this before. The pediatrician's office was busy, so I called the next best thing, another mom of a newborn. She read to me from the baby owner's manual (which I have but was so distracted and distressed by the crying that I never thought about looking at it), and ultimately we decided that the shots could indeed be causing this trauma. The pediatrician then called back and told me this was normal and OK'd giving Connor more Motrin (amen!), which we have continued to give him today on the advice of my sister.

On the bright side, Connor weighed in at 10 pounds, which is not exactly accurate since Ed reported that Connor had a wet diaper and clothes on - but hey, when you've fallen off the growth chart, you need every advantage your daddy can give you. He's almost two feet tall, or should I say, long (since tall seems to imply an upright position which Connor has yet to attain). This puts him in the 50th percentile for length and his head is also in the 50th percentile - woohoo!

Today Connor went to a postpartum yoga class with me and he made an adorable yogi. He started class off sleeping, woke up during the class and entertained himself by staring at one of his favorite toys (a Lamaze Cube) and then got restless at about the time the rest of the class babies got restless at which time he did yoga with me. Yoga definitely agrees with him. I wonder if I'll be able to convince Ed to take him to yoga on Fridays in November and December when I'm back at work?

The photo above was taken yesterday.

Elaine