First Doctor Visit!

We went to use our OHP for the first time today. By some miraculous luck, there was a doctor available that was both covered AND taking new patients AND I had heard good things about her.

First, let's get the important stuff out of the way. :) My "little" sweetie was 14 pounds, 12 ounces today, and 25 inches long! The nurse seemed really surprised at how much length she had gained. The visit went pretty well considering they handed me a sheet to look at while waiting for the doctor that had "your child will be getting these vaccines today:" on it. Nice presumptive language, huh?

I had heard this doctor was very pro breastfeeding and pro cosleeping but sometimes gives a hard time about vaccines, so the visit went pretty much exactly as I expected! Better in some ways. She was clearly a great breastfeeding supporter and even mentioned how she was one of the doctors who made a response to the AAP when they came out with their anti cosleeping statement! When she heard I was a homebirther, she actually asked me if we were planning to vaccinate! That was the thing that really surprised me. I guess she knows the type LOL.

The "mistake" I made was saying that we might consider some selective vaxxing later, so that was like a conversation starter. She wanted to know which ones and when. It was good in a way because I realized I need to be more knowledgable! And it was clear she was really up on the research. She said nothing had ever been proved about mercury except in very high amounts. I mentioned the recent case where a connection had been made, and she talked about how the child had a known genetic disorder yet the parents still gave her a 7 vaccines in one day. So I finally just said I want to get Dr. Sears book and would make a decision later. :) She ended by saying something like she just wants to make sure people are making informed decisions but it is totally up to me. I really didn't feel like she was hassling me but was more just responding to what I said with the knowledge she had available.

Oh yeah, and she even mentioned that she refers clients to Dr. Anita (our chiropractor!) I thought that was a pretty good sign!

Then we had an interesting exchange on the way out. It was the first time I felt I intervened on behalf of a child in a really successful way. There was a mom holding an older baby yelling at a little girl, who looked about 3, to pick up her cell phone. The little girl was just standing there crying, and as we were walking out, I heard the mom saying, "You're really asking for it!" Sheesh. So I started to ask Orion if he would pick it up for her but realized I should check with the mom first. I asked her if she didn't want to bend over or if it was important to her that the little girl picked up the cell phone herself. She didn't seem to understand at first and told me her daughter was crying because somebody had not given her some crayons she wanted. So I rephrased the question and she said, "Yeah, the baby is heavy, so I don't want to bend over!" Ah, easy then! I asked Orion if he would pick it up, and he was happy to oblige. Then she again started talking about why she was crying, like she needed an explanation or something, kindof rolling her eyes. I just turned to the little girl and said something about how that sounded really hard, then we went on our way. At least we got the phone picked up and she knew somebody sympathized with her.

And somehow a new game popped up right after that. I asked if Orion remembered where we parked, and he told me to close my eyes while he looked. It popped into my head I could let him lead me there by the hand, like a trust game. He really loved it! OK, I admit I peeked just a little considering I was carrying the baby! In fact, when we got close to the car, he didn't tell me to stop, so I walked right into it on purpose, softly of course. Then I opened my eyes all surprised and said, "You didn't tell me to stop!" I meant it to be funny, but he actually looked really concerned. What a sweetie. I foresee this being a great way to make going to the car a more fun and positive thing in the future!