I Love My Pediatrician

When choosing our pediatrician, I mostly based it on two things: A recommendation from a friend I really trust and their office hours.

I watch children during the day and for most of Jayden's first year, Adam and I shared only one working car. It was important to have an office with evening and weekend hours. All of Jayden's well visits have been at 5:30 on Thursdays, a day Adam gets out of work early. Adam has never missed an appointment, which has been so nice for both of us.

Jayden has only ever had one sick visit, but they got us in right away that morning (Adam used personal time and came with us) and we even had a follow up the next morning, which was a Saturday.

One time Jayden scratched his eye ball with his nail during a nap and someone called me back fairly quickly to talk about it and reassure me he was okay. (Which I needed because I was consulting Dr. Google and was convinced he was going blind with every second we waited.) I think it was a Saturday evening and our pediatrician called first thing Monday morning to check on us. I was so impressed by that. (By the way, by Monday it was completely gone! It healed so quick.)

She is a mother, which I feel like makes a big difference. Her son is actually only about two so she just went through all this stuff with her own child. And her son is also small for his age, which has helped tremendously with my worries about Jayden's size. She is very reassuring and shares stories about her son's weight and let's me know some kids are just small and it's okay. Someone has to be at the small end of the chart. She shares tips with me about how to get extra calories in him, but doesn't make a big deal out of it. She said as long as he is growing at a steady rate and not slipping down in percentile from where he used to be, he's okay. Plus, she always makes a big deal about how well he's doing with all his milestones and that it's a great sign for his overall health.

She is always honest and upfront with us about everything. If she sees anything she wants to keep an eye on, she always tells us about it. And she completely understands that I am the kind of person who wants to hear about all the worst case scenarios. For example- if the thing she is watching turns out to be something, what could be the cause and what's the worst thing that could happen. She always goes through it all with me.

She is especially patient and understanding about all my extra concerns that come from Jayden never having prenatal care and having some exposures/risks to worry about.

The biggest reason I love our pediatrician is that I never have to lie to her. I know so many people who lie to their pediatrician. Whether it be about how they feed their baby, sleep issues, whatever. I told myself early on that if I ever found myself feeling like I have to lie to her, I would switch doctors. There are way too many doctors out there to have one that's not a perfect fit for us. She "gets us" and our parenting choices. It's essential to me.

She is leaving to go on maternity leave really soon and I was so thankful that she gave us the date she would be back so we could schedule Jayden's 15 month well visit after she comes back!