October 2017 Moms
aprilsarahjune
member
Finding a pediatrician
aprilsarahjune
member
This came up in another thread and I think it would be useful to discuss as a group.
When should a FTM start looking and line up a pediatrician?
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way?
How did you find your pediatrician?
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask?
If you have been through this before, share your story!
When should a FTM start looking and line up a pediatrician?
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way?
How did you find your pediatrician?
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask?
If you have been through this before, share your story!
*Siggy warning - loss mentioned*
Preemie ID DDs; then DS; then natural M/C; now due 10/17
High risk for pre-term: weekly Makena injections
Preemie ID DDs; then DS; then natural M/C; now due 10/17
High risk for pre-term: weekly Makena injections
Re: Finding a pediatrician
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way? yes, DD2 has yearly appointment today i am telling her at the appointment.
How did you find your pediatrician? it is the same practice i went to as a kid, but different doc. my bff worked there at the time so she just told me who was the best and i went with it. she did not steer me in the wrong direction!
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask? mine was pretty simple "are you accepting new patients?" haha.
If you have been through this before, share your story! it is overwhelming being a mom let alone a FTM. you will have a lot of ZOMG SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG! moments when in reality it is a hiccup. so go with someone who makes you comfortable, for me that meant a straight shooter. i want someone to tell me "settle down this is nothing" or say "this could be xyz, so we will look into it"...but for you that might mean humoring you. also make sure you like the practice in general. i only see our doc for annuals not often for sick visits. so make sure you like the flow of everything. and if possible location! you end up at the doc a lot more than you think you will. it is a PITA to get time off work etc. so try to stay pretty local so you aren't driving all around creation to boot.
May Siggy Challenge: Parenting Fails
I haven't notified the pedi about baby #2 yet, will probably do that after the a/s.
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way? @carries2018 Good job on being on top of this one, momma! I called to make the appointment as we were leaving the hospital with DS last time. Though we were able to get in for our 5 day visit (I think that is when it is?), I think that I will try harder this time to let the pedi know. That being said, one of DDs told the ped that there was going to be a new baby during an appointment in April.
How did you find your pediatrician? Recommended by a co-worker. See story below.
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask? I just asked "are you accepting new patients? are you comfortable working with preemie twins?" They forwarded me to a nurse who took down a lot of information and went and talked to the doc who gave her a bunch more questions to ask me. It wasn't that they were going to reject us, but I was bringing him 2 semi-complicated cases that required significantly more visits, so they were getting their ducks in a row.
If you have been through this before, share your story! My twins were born at 33 weeks and I had not decided at that point. We had a month in the NICU, and I literally did not decide until they were 28(?) days old. The nurses told me that we couldn't be released without a ped lined up. I was stuck emailing a co-worker who was the only person I knew in the area who had kids and just used his ped. Turns out his ped was great and had actually been recommended to their family by a NICU nurse (which they technically were not allowed to do). While it worked out okay, don't be like me!
Preemie ID DDs; then DS; then natural M/C; now due 10/17
High risk for pre-term: weekly Makena injections
Now, now, now. Don't wait until baby is here or even close to being here. Find one (and maybe even a back up).
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way?
I'll tell them at DD's next appointment
How did you find your pediatrician?
DD's original pediatrician we found because we were being held hostage at the hospital on December 23 and told that we would not be discharged until we had an appointment set up for her at a pediatrician's office. So we had the SUPER FUN task of trying to find a pediatrician in our network who was open and willing to schedule new patients the week of Christmas (and the week after). We found one, spent about a month with them before changing to a different one.
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask?
I think it's hard to say until the baby comes. You'll have specific questions when the time comes. I didn't necessarily have questions for the pediatrician, but questions for friends/family when it came to recommendations for a pediatrician.
If you have been through this before, share your story!
I don't think it's a secret that I'm a big advocate of, if you aren't comfortable with your provider, find another one. Our initial pediatrician's office panicked on DD's birth weight which made me panic and think I was failing as a mother. We rushed to start adding formula (which worked out great and I'm kind of planning on doing the same this round) and I just felt like it was panic mode for the first month. Once we switched to a different pediatrician's office, there was a totally different vibe and much more low key. I think we still would have supplemented with formula, but I wouldn't have been panicking thinking she was going to whither away to nothing. I would be in the patient room breastfeeding before the doctor came in, trying to get as much into her as possible before they weighed her. I shouldn't have felt that kind of pressure.
I think it's hard to get a good feeling for a pediatrician until the baby actually comes. That's why I'm saying reach out to friends/family for recommendations.
BFP#3: 2/9/13 EDD 10/18/17. Team Green for Round 2!
On my first go round, I knew nothing about how or who to pick. I did see a couple in doing one of those pre-baby interviews a few years ago and they were having a tour of the office. The FTM was asking about vaccinations policies as it sounded like she was on the fence for delayed schedule; the ped did a great job of sharing his reasoning for preferring the ordinary vaccination schedule without belittling this FTM who had probably only done a little brief Dr. Google reading.
Preemie ID DDs; then DS; then natural M/C; now due 10/17
High risk for pre-term: weekly Makena injections
We asked basic questions at the first appointment, such as what their after hours policy is, and do they accept unvaccinated kids.
One piece of advice I would give is don't be afraid to speak up or even switch doctors. When ours was out we had a horrible experience with one of the other doctors in the practice. I refuse to have her see my kids. Trust your instincts and if you aren't connecting with that doctor for some reason, switch.
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way?
Well, I don't know but I assume anytime is good
How did you find your pediatrician? well our first pediatrician is different than who we have now (we moved). With her original pediatrician I looked at reviews online, and the location worked well for us. The office had several pediatricians, and we set up an interview with one after reading all their bios online probably about a month or so before my due date. The interview was probably unnecessary but it was nice to see the office beforehand.
Atter we moved I found her current pediatrician based solely on online reviews. I'm happy with him so far, but I've only seen him once.
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask? I found a list of questions online and I don't even remember what they were. Like I said, the interview, for me, proved to be unnessary. But if you think it will help you decide between pediatricians then go for it. It's important to just realize you can switch pediatricians if you end up not liking them.
*O17 June Siggy Challenge - You had 1 job!*
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way? Well, ours has to fill out a form for the birth center so...whenever I ahve to have that back by
How did you find your pediatrician? When our first ped was an epic failure, I switched quickly to another practice. The first ped there was AWESOME...and then she moved to the practice with epic fail ped. (Sad face).
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask?
The practice I started out at now interviews new patients about parenting styles/whether or not they believe in xyz form of discipline, religious beliefs about parenting, how they handle tantrums etc. If a practice asks these questions, RUN! YOU should be the one interviewing THEM.
One of the things for me is lactation support. Our current peds office has an in-office LC who is literally the main reason we stay.
I also look for someone who keeps their suggestions to MEDICAL advice rather than PARENTING advice. For example, I don't mind if a ped says "you should start encouraging him to aleep through the night" but DO mind one that says "you need to start letting him cry it out even if it takes 3 hours and he throws up dont go in the room"
If you have been through this before, share your story!
When I grew up, my family practice doctor was the one who delivered me and gave care from that point to 18, when I moved away. Is there a benefit to a pediatrician opposed to a family practice doctor?
If I were you and seriously considering going with a regular family doctor, I would just verify that the doc is up to speed on pediatric medicine and provides vaccinations at the office (as opposed to sending you elsewhere, such as a county health department, for them). Other than that, as the ladies above had said, you can try out your regular family doctor and look elsewhere if you are uncomfortable for any reason.
Preemie ID DDs; then DS; then natural M/C; now due 10/17
High risk for pre-term: weekly Makena injections
Married: 08/04/12
DD: 6 years | Born: 03/28/13
DS: 1 Year I Born 10/15/17
When should a STM contact the current ped to let them know that a new baby is on the way? Good question lol. I'm guessing DD's will find out at her 4 year check up in September, if she isn't sick before then (fingers crossed). Since we will be seen on base we can't choose until baby is born anyway.
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How did you find your pediatrician? It's who we were assigned to, but thankfully we love her. I hope we can get baby assigned to her as well.
When choosing a ped, what questions should you ask? I plan to just see how things go and ask questions along the way. Thankfully our doctor with DD was also a nursing mom, so she never tried to push formula even though DD was always (and is still) small weight wise, basically always in the 4th percentile for weight since birth. She has always stayed on her growth curve and usually met milestones ahead of time, so she was happy with that. I know some will try and push formula on you for smaller babies, that would be a big reason for me to change unless there was another cause for concern (not enough wet diapers, falling off her growth curve/not gaining or meeting milestones). Oh and I feel like I need to add, I have nothing against formula and don't judge people that use it. Breastfeeding is just important to me, so I would want a pediatrician who wants to help me meet my nursing goals instead of trying to discourage me. We haven't seen our current pediatrician during the baby stage, so hopefully all goes well.
I realize most of my answers aren't too helpful since I don't have much say so in our "choosing" process lol. Just figured I'd add what I could.