Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I Heart Our Pediatrician - Part 1

I absolutely adore our pediatrician!
Yes, I will shout it from the rooftops!


We're lucky, I know. I hear so many stories from friends about not completely liking their pediatricians, and family doctors. The problem is, at least around here that many doctors are maxed out on patients and cannot take anymore, making it that much harder to find a good one.  Now, I suppose I should be clearer in saying a "good" doctor.  It's not that we actually have a lack of competent doctors around here, in fact quite the opposite - we are fortunate enough to live in a medical hub so to speak.  What I mean by "Good" is simply a doctor that agrees with your parenting style and doesn't make you feel like a failure of a parent (we have enough of those moments as it is!). And most of all, someone who you feel comfortable allowing them to make decisions about your child's health.

I am not a doctor. Even though I come from a science based family, the closest I get to science is planting flowers in the backyard! (And yes, it is probably best to keep it that way.) It's for this reason that I needed to have a good pediatrician.

When I was 7 months pregnant, I was finally reading the paperwork from the hospital that stated "If your pediatrician cannot examen  your baby at the hospital, we will provide one during your stay."

My Pediatrician? Oh CRAP! I didn't even think of that! (Cut me some slack here, I had violent morning-noon-and-night sickness for almost my entire pregnancy. I could hardly manage getting myself across a room let alone anything else- but that's another blog post for another day.)

I frantically called my- not my pending baby's-but MY pediatrician's office from when I was a child.  He was really the only pediatrician I knew of.

" Hi, I'm having a baby in a few months and guess I need to find a pediatrician?"
" I'm sorry, Dr. Awesome is not taking any new patients at this time"
"Oh, um, ah, er" at this point I burst into a flood of babbling and tears (thanks preggo hormones!)

"Do you know anyone else I can call? Because Dr. Awesome was MY pediatrician and I absolutely loved him, and I don't know anyone else and I was hoping my daughter would have the same doctor I did and my sister was also his patient, and now brings her kids to him, so I can't ask her who she goes to because it's him and if he's not taking patients I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!" ( I think there may have been more but at this point I can't remember - you get the idea though.)

The poor girl who answered the phone must have thought I was nuts.
"Hold on please. She said calmly.
"Ok, so I just talked to Dr. Awesome, and he said of course we can take your daughter since you were his patient too. We're just not taking new patients, just former patients children and siblings."

Thank goodness too, because at the time I really knew NO ONE except for Mommy L and one other mommy who also brought her kid to Dr. Awesome. Apparently Dr. Awsome still remembered me even though it had been years since I'd seen him!

So I made an appointment for Honeybee's first check up sighed a huge sigh of relief. Crisis averted!

(Stay tuned for part 2!)

8 comments:

Small Kucing said...

Didn't know it's so hard to get a good pead over there. Guess, am lucky here as we can walk in into and Pead's Clinic and no problem on them rejecting new patients.

Mommy J said...

It's not that it is necessarily hard to find a pediatrician, or even a good one but finding one that is completely in-tune with you is. I think the "not taking new patients" issue stems from insurance policies, but I'm not sure.

Shelly said...

It is so hard to find "good" DR's now a days! I found one too that I JUST love! It makes life easier for sure! I am your newest follower from the finding new friends blog hop over the weekend. I am one of the hosts! Stopping by to say hi. Sorry for the delay in following I was out with the flu all weekend!! Hope to see ya on all my blogs :)

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Unknown said...

You know having a great doctor is a blessing! It is like your family member! I can testify that my kids' doc has been very good to us and our needs! Following you from the Blog Hop! Come and say hi at my blog!

http://www.productjunkiemama.blogspot.com

Amie said...

I've been lucky too finding a good doctor. Not all doctors are personable. But on another note, I've really enjoyed reading your blog and I'm awarding you the Versatile Blogger Award. For more info check out my blog http://andweareoffto.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-first-award.html

Unknown said...

Dr. Awesome… I like it! I suddenly wonder if it is his real name or not. The thought of having a good pediatrician like him is what’s important here. You’re lucky to know him. It’s not every day that you’ll meet someone whom you can really rely on with certain things like this. How’s your child now? Do you still see Dr. Awesome for some advice?
Oskar Aarden

Chalice Lindgren said...

Wow! You’re so lucky to have found Dr. Awesome! Making our kids like doctors is quite an impossible task since they are usually scared of them. I think it’s important for your baby to get used to Dr. Awesome’s presence from now on so that when she grows up, she would be very comfortable around him. =)

Chalice Lindgren

Focus On Kids Pediatrics said...

It’s pretty cool that your baby’s pediatrician was also your doctor when you were a child! Well, looks like he’s really good, seeing as how even your sister’s kids are his patients. Having a family pediatrician is an advantage because he/she is likely to prioritize over casual patients. What’s even better about that is the family pediatrician knows the medical history of the family, making it easy for him/her to diagnose the health of a child.

*Logan Rojas

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