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| Elise and one of her birthday balloons. "Boon!" she calls them. She thinks it's really cool that she can walk with them. |
Although not exactly looking forward to our appointment, I was, nevertheless, relieved when the day arrived. I had a million questions, including whether the baby had an ear infection (she's been sick and having trouble sleeping), what to do about Kalina's cough, what several red spots that had appeared on Kalina's arm were, and a couple other things.
Not to mention the unspoken questions of, "Will we like this doctor and her staff?" "Will this be a place I'll want to/be able to rush my kids to next time they're a little sicker than I'm comfortable with?" and "Would I rather stick with her for the next who-knows-how-many years or drag the kids around the city for someone we might like slightly better?"
I packed half a dozen snacks, water, Elise's best toys, Kalina's cloth book, the paperwork the office had sent me, a couple social security cards (just in case) and our temporary insurance card in preparation. I researched the route using several different route planners. And to prepare Kalina, I told her that this was Elise's checkup, but that the doctor might look at her, too. Fortunately Kalina didn't ask the "Will I get a shot?" question, because I couldn't honestly say she wouldn't: it is almost flu season, after all. And off we went!
Upon arrival, I immediately missed our old office, slightly crazy receptionist and all. Instead of entering a bright, sunny, spacious, well-stocked waiting room, we were walking into a dingy old building with lots of offices, and a tiny, windowless waiting room. There were a few books and a mural. Not even a fish tank, even. Blech. I hoped the wait wouldn't be long.
We had arrived early because I was confident there would be paperwork to fill out, or insurance hassles, or both. Fortunately, there were few of either. Kalina sat patiently and waited, and Elise munched her snack. Both enjoyed watching the antics of several other kids. The waiting room filled up, but we passed the time with a book. So far, so good.
Our wait was probably about 20 minutes; it may have been less if we'd had an appointment earlier in the day. We were ushered back through a narrow hallway and crammed into an exam room proportional to the waiting room. Blech. Our stroller, and its bag of toys, waited outside, and I was left to wrangle a very squirmy baby with nothing but my own two arms.
The nurse asked us a few questions about Elise's development, and I was able to answer "yes" to pretty much all of them. Yes, the baby is walking, talking, trying to stack blocks, putting things in buckets, "helping" me dress her and more. No, I haven't yet allowed her to try eating with a spoon and fork so I don't know whether she's able to wield them. Who would at this point? Enough of her meal ends up in her lap/on the floor/all over her high chair at this point.
And then the nurse left. Elise was happy in my arms for about two seconds, after which she wanted to explore her new surroundings. She and Kalina took reluctant turns spinning on the doctor's stool (if you leave me with nothing more than a computer and a trash can to entertain my kids in a tiny then yes, I will let them spin on your stool), and Elise played a bit with the crinkly paper on the exam table, but soon demanded more. A small room and a squirmy baby don't mix, as I've learned many times over. "Come on, Mommy, I'm hardly a baby anymore! I need more interesting things to do." So I pulled in the toy bag from the stroller in the hallway and started digging through it. Meanwhile, Elise caught sight of her snack cup and starting eating the contents/strewing them all over the floor. I had just finished picking up the last couple pieces, with Kalina's gracious help, when the doctor arrived.
The first thing the doctor did when she walked in the door was enthusiastically comment on Kalina's armful of friends. For this reason, I liked her immediately. Since she seemed interested, I explained that the littlest one's name is Little Gray, and she's Whitey's baby. Whitey had to stay home to work, however, so Pounce, Book, Car and a random little lamb are taking care of Little Gray. The doctor just laughed, as did Kalina and I. She then turned her attention to Elise, who smiled and hid her face in reply.
We began the exam: the doctor evaluating Elise, and me monitoring the doctor's style. Everything checked out, as the baby is healthy (except for her cold and an ear infection that yes, she does have) and the doctor seemed sensible.
We found that Elise weighs 19 pounds even (with her diaper on! How lax compared to the old practice!), which puts her in the 15th percentile. Her head is in the 25th, and her height is in the 50th, at 29 inches. We also learned that while she does not cry when put on a scale at the doctor's office, she does cry when handed over to the doctor to be laid down on the exam table. I guess there's only so much she can take. The doctor worked lightning-fast, and the baby immediately calmed down when I scooped her back up.
Kalina got to decide whether the doctor should listen to Elise's tummy first or her heart, and chose tummy. I miraculously kept Elise relatively still for both, and was dubbed by the doctor a "champion baby wrangler," due to the baby's persistent squirms. No sign of the heart murmur, even after a good listen!
The doctor mentioned sleep (she brought it up, not me!) and seemed sympathetic to hear we'd been getting up in the 4:00 our for the past few days, probably thanks to Elise's congestion. She said most babies drop their second nap around 15-18 months of age. Elise is getting a head start on that (in addition to many other things, so I can't complain), as she's utterly refused to take two some days. That's kind of okay--I'm glad she can survive on just one.
The doctor also gave me a wealth of suggestions about sneaking protein into Elise, which the baby generally resists about as vehemently as sitting still in a tiny exam room. The doctor went through the usual gambit of options, most of which I'd tried several times with no success, before we settled on French toast with cream cheese, and tofu. Both were avidly refuted at the next two mealtimes and sent immediately to their rightful location: the floor. Did I insult her tastebuds?
I was relieved at the doctor's suggestion that we save the shots for next time, as we'll be returning in a couple weeks to make sure Elise's ear infection has cleared up. I was not so relieved to hear that we'd have to find our way to a different location for the anemia and lead test. And even less relived to hear later that this will be a blood draw and not a finger prick. Are you kidding me??? I think it's required by the city, but I will be doing anything I can to wriggle out of this one, as we don't honestly believe we need to worry about lead, and they can test for anemia with just a prick.
And then I sneaked in a few questions about Kalina. The doctor seemed utterly unconcerned about her cough, as well as the little red spots, and Kalina seemed unconcerned about the doctor taking a look at the spots.
With the visit over, we headed out with several printouts with our prescription and other information. The baby is every bit as healthy and happy (well, except the ear infection) as we'd all assumed, and was made even happier by her arrival home, where she could squirm to her heart's content.
So, do we like the doctor? Although she seemed loony enough to relate well to kids, she also came across as reasonably sensible to me. I appreciated that she worked really hard to establish a good rapport with my kids, as then maybe they won't dread their visits quite so much. Best of all, if you ask Kalina's opinion she'll tell you that yes, she does like the doctor. I think we'll be back.
P.S.
Have I mentioned, by the way, that Elise has been sleeping through the night for several weeks now? We tried, yet again, sending Matt in to comfort Elise in the middle of the night. She did little more than fuss a bit, and got the picture after a couple nights. We had, by the way, tried this many times before. I guess at 11 months, it was finally time.
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