So yesterday we tried a new pediatrician. Yes, another one. Yes, I pretended the last time didn’t happen. Yes, I regretted it almost immediately. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
We tried this practice because my therapist recommended them. I figured I could trust her since she’s pretty amazing. She also said they have weekend appointments. Big plus since we have one car these days. We make the appointment…which is not on a weekend, but whatever.
So, we go in, and I’m a little non-plussed from the get-go. Teeeeeny, tiny waiting room. Err. Okay. And no “well baby” area. Um. Whafuh? How do you not have an area where I can sequester my infant from the little germ factories who are there ’cause they have chickenflumonia or whatever their little runny-nosed, hacking-up-lungs selves are there for?
(Okay, but there was a really gorgeous family in there, and while I was taking pictures of Tricia, the mom let me take some of her and her kids for a slideshow I’m going to do on Flickr. As soon as she e-mails me permission to use ‘em online, I’ll post it.)
Then we go back to the exam room. Erm. Mmkay. I can point y’all to a good place to rent a baby scale, if you can’t afford to, yanno, buy something better than an adult scale with some contraption jerry-rigged to it to weigh infants. I mean, seriously? WTF?
The nurse comes in, and I’m feeling a little better. She was a rock. star. She totally “got” our sense of humor. She was fun. She was nice to the baby without talking to Tricia like Tricia was maybe none-too-bright and hard of hearing to boot. I loved that nurse. It was a setup for the supersized disappointment that was about to come.
The doctor comes in. She was a soft-spoken, middle-aged lady. She seemed very nice and very polite. So, we’re off to a better start this time, at least, crappy reception area & waiting room notwithstanding.
She starts asking all the standard questions, and upon hearing that I breastfeed, she promptly informs me that I need to supplement my milk with infant vitamins. She must have seen the “What in the…” look on my face because she then says, “We recommend that to all our breastfeeding moms because babies just don’t get all the vitamins they need from breastmilk.” Again, what the…?
Side rant — I breastfed Lenna for 19 months, y’all. At no point during that time was I ever told that I should give the girl vitamins of any kind. When she stopped nursing exclusively, I had to give her iron drops, but that was it. Further, Tricia is now 11 lbs. and 22.5 inches — a full two pounds heavier and an inch and a half longer than at birth. I’m guessing the girl’s doing okay nutritionally.
EDIT: Found this article on BF’ing and vitamins at kellymom.com. HA! I knew it!
ANYway, I’m already 3/4 convinced we won’t be back. But I decide that I’ll see how the rest of the visit goes before I make a final decision. After all, it was faster to get there, and she was really quite polite, if totally effed in the head. Plus, she wasn’t the doctor my therapist told me to get. (That doctor wasn’t available until mid-June, and Tricia needed her two month well baby check & shots.)
So, a few more questions, and she learns that we co-sleep. Y’all. She looked at me like I was on crack. She asks me if I put Tricia in her crib for naps. Um, no. I nap with her, or she’s boxed in on the bed with TriciaCam going so I can see her at all times. (And I can get to our room in five seconds. Bill clocked it.)
She then tells me I need to get Tricia in her crib because I don’t want her to still be in my bed a year from now. EXCUSE ME?!? Mmkay. First, yes, I will want her in our bed a year from now. As long as she’s nursing, we’re co-sleeping. Second, I co-slept with two other kids. I know a little sum-sum’in about getting kids into their own beds with minimal trauma to everyone involved.
I thought about bringing up Dr. Sears and what he says about all this, but I figured it would be pointless since we’d never be back. We’re leaving, and they want me to schedule another appointment for her four month well baby. Err. Yeah. I’ll call you back about that. Except it’ll be when Hell freezes over. kthxbye.
Y’all, for reals, we’ll just stick with our old clinic. And if I mention I’m even thinking “new ped,” smack me. Repeatedly.
Tags: breastfeeding · parenting · pediatrician · TriciaComments
