One Month Check Up

Yesterday we had our one month well baby visit. It was a great experience for us. As I've said before I've had cold feet when it comes to switching providers and when I seriously tried it blew up in my face. I am certain as of yesterday that we made the right decision in health care.

I really didn't have time to be excited or nervous when we went in, and of course knowing the receptionist helps to ease anxiety. The entire time we were in the waiting room I had to wrangle Arabella. Because I was unfamiliar with the office I wasn't sure if I could put her in a stroller, and I didn't think to ask either. But for next time I now know, we can strap in her in a stroller and there's plenty of room to maneuver around the office. It will also keep her from trying to sneak into the reception desk, pull every magazine from the magazine racks scattered around the waiting room and prevent her from pulling another tantrum (I'll post on that later). As for Evan, he was snug as can be and sound asleep in his sling.

After our short check in and even shorter wait time we were called back by the nurse. We followed her back and I had Arabella on my hip. When we rounded the corner by the nurses station one of the nurses commented "now that's multi-tasking." It was rather funny. The staff seems very nice and so understanding to an absent-minded Mommy of two under two.

We got to the room and proceeded with the basics, checking his temperature, head measurement (16", I don't recall his birth measurement so I'm not sure how big it got) and height (22.5"). I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have this cool mat they lay on the exam table where you put the baby's head at one end against a stopper, and then they slide foot stopper up to get an accurate measurement. In our old office they half-assed it by laying the baby on the paper that covered the table and "stretching" the baby out while attempting to mark where the head and feet are, then using a tape measure to get the length. The new method is much quicker and efficient if you ask me. HUGE PLUS in my Mommy book. After that we stripped him down to his diaper then walked him out in the hall to the baby weighing station. Our lil man put on a whole pound in one month (9lb 9oz). Not too shabby. During this time the nurse let Arabella carry around the tape measure to keep her quiet. Of course once in the hall she wanted to explore so I had to take the tape measure away from her in order to lure her back to the exam room. She almost through a second tantrum, but we made it through.

Once back in the room we waited a short bit to meet Dr. W. He's a very nice man and very thorough in his question asking. He made sure that any questions I had were answered before letting us go. He asked me so many questions that our previous doctor never did, not even with Arabella. In the end it reassured me that we made the right decision and will be moving Arabella and myself into his care as well.

We discussed things such as breastfeeding and the frequency. He was rather surprised by the length of time Evan spends at the breast, but once I told him about my reduction he said it made more sense. Never once did he mention needing to supplement, whereas our other doctor thought we needed to give him two bottles of formula per day because "he wasn't gaining enough weight." Which reminds me that our LC said that half an ounce to one ounce per day is normal weight gain. So if he gains seven ounces in one week, he's doing just fine. However the other doctor said he should be gaining a minimum of one ounce per day, so seven ounces was just "squeaking by." Thank God Dr. W is in line with our LC. As for his other milestones at this age he's right on target and Dr. W said he's looking great. My only concern was the little bit of yellow still left in the white of his eyes, but he said that they look great. It amazes me the difference in two doctors and how one can seem so cold, yet the other so warm and friendly. Again I am grateful to our friend who pointed us to him and we'll be seeing him again in March when Arabella & I go in for our visits. Then we'll schedule Evan for his two month well baby visit, which unfortunately will include his first set of vaccines. Looks like I forgot to mention another of my favorite things about the new doctor's office...it's 5 minutes from the house and we don't have to cross the interstate to get there!