Friday, October 16, 2009

Great Relationships

Only about a month before Colin was born, Chris and I decided we should probably try to find a pediatrician. With all the things we planned ahead for, that was one thing we never really thought of until we got closer to the end. Fortunately, friends of mine at work whose opinions I really value suggested we try their pediatrician because they loved her and had been using her for years. So, I called and set up an appointment several days before my due date and went in and talked with her.

I immediately had a great first impression of her because she came into the room we were waiting in, and sat down. She asked personal information about us and then gave her feelings on breast feeding versus formula and positives and negatives of both. She wasn't forcing us into any one direction but gave us the information and left it at that. She answered our questions and then gave her philosophy on vaccinations (spreads them out). She informed us that she is the head neonatologist at our hospital (which was a MAJOR plus) and told us that she would come and check in with Colin after he was born.

When I went into labor, the first 6 hours at the hospital went by pretty smoothly. After I received the epidural around noon, Colin's heartrate kept dropping and so the midwife in my group who was on call called one of my OBGYN doctors to be there and also called his pediatrician. Things happened very quickly from about 1-2:44 when he was born because they were very concerned. It got to the point where if he hadn't come out as quickly as he did, I would have had to have a c-section (I had already signed the paperwork for it). The pediatrician was there for his birth and she was the one who told us that she was testing him to confirm her suspicions of Trisomy 21.

From that moment on, she took care of Colin AND Chris and I. She spent lots of time checking him out in the Special Care Nursery and since that day, we have seen her at LEAST once a month (sometimes more, like early on). We are NEVER rushed, and she will sit and talk to just Colin every visit. You can tell she truly cares about her patients.

We are so lucky to have her as Colin's pediatrician as we know he is receiving the best care! Chris took Colin in today after I spoke with her. Colin's school called today and for the second day in a row, informed us that he was kind of lethargic and lazy and wasn't eating as much formula. Being the worry wart that I am, I called the doctor (I just fear the ear infections and such that we know Colin is more prone to having) and she told us to bring him in. Fortunately, he just has a little bit of congestion and so she prescribed a nebulizer to clear everything out.

1 comment:

Kristin said...

I just found out that our pediatrician is going into semi-retirement. I honestly don't know what we'll do when he officially retires. He is so great - he actually got teary when he met Max for the first time. His 32 yr old daughter (who has Ds) works in his office. And my daughter loves him, too.