Seeking New Pediatrician

When we first moved back to town in June, Josiah turned 1 yr old so we got him an appointment with a pediatrician so we could keep him up to date with his immunizations. I wasn't crazy about the practice's waiting room setup, the wait time we had with a scheduled visit, the nurse's lack of assistance, or the doctor herself. I could tell from the get-go that she would simply not be a pediatrician I'd recommend to friends. Why not? She didn't want to answer my questions. Simple questions. I mean, who weighs and measures a kid, and then won't tell the parent how tall or how heavy the kid is??? Her response was something like, "Are you concerned your child is not growing well or lacking in nutrition?" NO! I just want to know how stinkin' tall my child is...why is it a secret???

We have not changed doctors, so with Kyleigh's 3rd bday approaching and Josiah reaching the 18 mo mark (that's actually today, in fact!!!), I took the kids back to the doctor for their well-child exams earlier this week. I told myself it should be fine, that maybe I wasn't giving the place a fair chance before due to the stress of moving and planning my son's 1st bday party. Ummmm....no, I was right the first time! haha We had scheduled appointments for both children, yet we still weren't seen until 75 min past our first appointment time. So during that hour and 15 min, we sat in the waiting area, which consisted of tons of distractions and fun, right? Wrong. It consisted of chairs. Oh, and a small tv mounted in the corner whose volume was on a super low setting, practically muted. Uh huh. Yup. That's what we had. Of course, being the super mom I am, I brought some things for the kids, but obviously the excitement of their toys would eventually wear off.

Once we were finally seen, I partially undressed my kids to be weighed and measured, and once again nobody cared to tell me the results. Since when is this info top secret??? The three of us were then placed in a 10'x10' exam room. Bored with the toys and snacks I'd brought along, the kids were only given the additional option of looking at a couple of broken/torn books. Oh, or wheeling the doc's little chair around the room. They opted for the latter! Finally a nurse came in and asked a million questions about both my kids and entered this information into the computer. This bothered me because this info was on forms I'd already filled out at the front desk upon arrival. Then, to top it off, once the doctor finally showed up, she asked the SAME questions and entered them into the computer. SERIOUSLY?! By then the kids were ready to bolt. I mean, the room started feeling like it was 4'x4', they were bored, I was frustrated, and they still had to wait for immunizations/blood draws. I had questions for my doctor about signs of asthma Kyleigh's shown in recent months, but the doc simply told me that day, "Oh, she's not having an asthma attack right now, I didn't hear anything like that when I listened to her breathing". HELLO??? ANYBODY HOME??? This doctor isn't 25 and still in med school, and she's not 95 and senile. She just doesn't seem to be on planet Earth. Oh, and before we left I finally did hear about my kids' measurements. I was told they were short and overweight. First of all...I'm barely 5'5", and many women in my family are shorter than that. Chris is nowhere near 6' tall, which is considered "average" for a man. So no, their chances of being giants are slim-to-none. Also, their growth has been consistent, so it's nothing to criticize. And overweight??? Really? Have you seen my kids? No, they're not skinny, I can't count their ribs through their shirts from across a crowded room. But their NOT "overweight". Seriously, my children aren't the plump, round, rollie pollie kids that some people have! Kyleigh's turning 3 and recently wears size 3T clothing--how is that "overweight"?. Josiah's 18 mo and wears size 18 mo clothing--really, that's "overweight"? Sounds pretty much on track to me!

Then, something that had nothing at all to do with my kids' appointments disturbed me the most. The doc randomly brought up something about the Supernanny tv show (I have no idea where that came from!). She then proceeded to tell me how she believed children in the age range of my kids should not have consequences for their actions. WHAT??? Ok, I understand everyone has different philosophies on raising kids. But Chris and I would prefer to have a medical caregiver who's on the same page...or at least the same book! I wholeheartedly disagree with such a statement. ALL people have consequences for their actions. For children, sometimes that's parent-induced and sometimes it's self-induced. I mean, if my kid climbs on something they shouldn't and they fall, well, that is a self-induced consequence--a bruise or broken arm. And if my kid disobeys or disrespects their parents, we enforce a consequence for that behavior to help guide their hearts to making more honoring decisions. Life is not without consequences, and I won't wait until my kids are teenagers to start teaching them that!

I know the whole Supernanny/consequence thing was really not at all related to my children's health exam, but when I told Chris about it he said we should find a new doc. When I told a friend over the phone, she said we should find a new doc. A particular doc has been recommended to me, but I refuse to see her. She's the ped. that was assigned to us in the hospital when KyKy was born and whom we saw for our daughter's needs when she was a small baby. This Dr couldn't remember my girl's name while holding our chart on her lap, wanted to give immunizations when we were there for eczema, and the list goes on. She's just not "all there". I miss our pediatrician in BG. He and his dad were in a shared practice, they are the first people who helped us get Kyleigh tested at Vandy to eliminate questions of her size/stature, to get her tested for allergies, and when our son was born they BOTH visited us at the hospital (even though only one was our doc!), and prayed over Josiah. I realize that's not gonna happen everywhere w/ everyone, and we were so blessed to have such wonderful docs for our family. But surely there must be a sane doc in this town, too, right? I'm determined to find one.