This week's topic is.....
PEDIATRICIAN
It's time for Matt and I to start thinking about who we want our little guy's doctor to be. It's so crazy to think that we need a doctor for someone who isn't even here yet, but he'll be here sooner than later!! Nine and a half weeks to be exact if all goes according to planned!!
So......
How did you pick your pediatrician?
What type of things were you looking for?
What questions did you ask them?
Did you meet with them before the birth?
Did you choose someone close to home?
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10 comments:
We chose our doc based on a few recommendations from friends. She actually goes to our church, though I hadn't met her. She has a baby just a few months older than S, so its comforting knowing all the newborn details are so fresh for her both medically and personally. Our office offered a once a month meet and greet for families to meet the staff and ask any questions you have about their practice. I would definitely ask about their after hours policy. Some have hefty charges if you need to call the nurse and/or doctor on call at night or over the weekend. Also, make sure they have priveledges at the hospital where you deliver so they can be the one checking on Pearson those first couple days.
We actually just looked at who was close, and accepted our insurance. Being close was REALLY important to us. Just incase we needed to get a REALLY sick kiddo seen quickly. I have some firends that drive over an hour to the pedi. But you know what? You go so much during that first year, it wasn't worth that for me. We ended up just picking someone, took Dylan, and we liked him. He is VERY traditional. But the way I look at it is, he is just a Dr. You don't EVER have to do something just becuase a dr. says so. They are just people. So if he suggests something that I don't like, I just don't listen. Having the internet is really helpful, as well as having a healthy kid. I've only taken him in once outside of the "well baby" visits. The biggest question I would think would need to be asked would be about the vaccine schedule. A lot of Dr. Won't delay or even forgo them, so if that is something you are interested in, that's the most important thing you would need to ask! Good luck! There are a lot to choose from!
My OB recommended the one we use, plus she is SUPER close to the house...meaning she is super close to your house too :) It is Pediatrics of Wylie. You can google it to find the address and read about their office/drs. We use Dr. Richardson. I think she is the only one accepting new patients (I have no idea if she still is since this was over 1.5 years ago). We went in when I was about as far along as you and met with her just to discuss her background and how she handles certain things, etc. It was important to me to have a doctor that is more hands off as far as minor things...I don't really like antibiotics, etc. unless really needed. She mentioned that to me in our pre-meeting so I like that she agreed. Luckily Charlie has not had anything worse than a cold a couple times. She is very to thorough. She caught Charlie's head/neck issues at his 3 month check up before I even noticed anything (and I was with him 24/7!) I really like her. She does not have privileges at our hospital we delivered at (Med. Center of Plano) so we just used the on staff Pedi at the hospital...it's no big deal. We saw her literally a couple days after we got home from the hospital for weight check and such since we were BFing. Plus she said if anything comes up we could call her to get her advice, etc. while in the hospital. I liked her enough that it was worth the trade off. So I would def. call and set up a meeting if she is still accepting patients. Their office is really fast and they are all very nice, never had a problem...plus it's like 8 mins from my house :) Good luck!
Since I'm going through this same thing, I have been asking around. I have learned that many Dr's offices are starting to hold office hrs on Sat. mornings. This is great and definitely will be one of my questions.
I spoke with a friend who is like-minded in the way she parents her children & asked who she uses. We go to a family practice doctor, which works for us. When we were dealing with thrush, I was able to see her as well as Elliot & she wrote me a prescription, which made things a lot easier. Like the Fenner's, vaccinations are an issue for us, so we made sure to find a doctor who allowed us to go outside of the CDC schedule. I also need a doctor that is not going to freak me out (like I need help worrying) - she is pretty chill, & isn't quick to use meds if they really aren't necessary. She's pretty close (15 mins). So she works great for us! I would meet with your doctor before you have Pearson so you know you really like them. Also, our doctor doesn't do hospital visits so we used the hospital doctor, which was fine.
We asked around and got several recommendations on our doctor. We met with her last week for about 30 minutes and asked her these questions...
How often do you visit the baby in the hospital?
When will the baby's first check up be?
When are the scheduled well baby appointments?
What is yoru view on treatment for sick kids? Medicate right away or let nature take its course.
This was a hard decision for us!
I highly recommend interviewing before Pearson comes. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do an alternative vaccine schedule or stick with the regular schedule. When I asked questions ( I had a list of 20 or so!!)regarding things like vaccines and breastfeeding support I got some interesting and varied responses.
It really helped me to weed out the Dr.'s who clearly HATED being asked questions b/c they were too busy for them. I also have realized after having a baby for 6 months that the after hours policy is really important.
I chose my Dr b/c he was a christian, really listened to my questions and concerns, and would not over-prescribe for things. HOWEVER the office has a TERRIBLE after hours policy and now I think I need to find a better practice!
Good Luck!
Finding someone we trusted was most important. Our pediatrician taught one of our baby care classes so we got to know her fairly well that way. A close second was finding a practice that has extended office hours. Our office is open until 7:30 most weekdays and has Saturday and Sunday sick child appointments for 3 hours on both of those days. Those hours have saved us 2 times now from having to go to an after hours clinic or minor emergency place.
We picked Dr. Guetersloh at Centennial. He is the pediatrician for our friends babies and is part of Babywise which is what we're doing, so it was a natural fit. Make sure you like them because you'll be seeing them a lot.
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