Crafty Lil Devil

Let me tell you about my experiences w/crappy Dr. S. Well, he may not be crappy for adults, but he obviously does not have much practice w/newborns, that is for sure! He is my family practice doctor and I thought it would make things easy if we all saw the same doctor. There is a very long waiting list at the Pediatric Associates of Winchester (one of the two options I had on my insurance plan for pediatricians). So, I decided to just try out Dr. S.

Jason and I both took Easton to his one week check up, asked a lot of questions and generally were pleased with the service and care we received. Aside from the fact that his nurse was new and couldn't seem to figure out how to use the scale properly, everything seemed fine. 3 weeks later, we took him back for his one month checkup. Again, the nurse had difficulty with the scale. She finally got a reading on the scale and she said it looked like he had not gained any weight since his last appointment. WHAT?! That is NOT good! So, Dr. S came in and asked me a dozen or so questions about how often was I feeding him, was I breastfeeding or formula feeding, how many wet/dirty diapers a day was Easton having, etc. I answered all of these questions and at the end of the appointment, he said that it seemed like I was doing everything I right and that we would need to watch Easton closely and make sure he started gaining weight. He said for me to "keep doing what you're doing and we'll see you in 2 weeks for a weight check." OK, no problem.

I continued doing things as I was but was concerned about him not gaining weight so that's when I made an appointment with the lactation consultant just to make sure things were going OK there. As I posted before, we had the appt with "Laurie the lactation lady" and she said he seemed to be getting enough from me but that I did the right thing by supplementing him with formula when he wasn't gaining weight. She also said that it's a good thing I listened to my instincts and supplemented when I was worried about him not gaining weight. It gives me chills and makes me slightly sick to write about this but she also said that "it's a good thing you did (supplement with formula) because if you'd just continued that way, you might not have had a baby in 2 weeks." Oh my Lord, you cannot be serious! I can't believe Dr. S did not suggest I supplement w/formula when he didn't gain weight. I don't know if what Laurie said was actually true, because it sounds like she was saying Easton was starving and he certainly was eating VERY often. Like every one and a half to 2 hours, sometimes more than that, so he certainly was NOT starving. So I’m pretty sure the nurse didn't read the scale right, and I don’t know if Dr. S should have told me to start supplementing him w/formula at that 3 week appt when he hadn’t gained any weight, or if Laurie was overreacting about his lack of weight gain. Maybe a combination of all three things, but whatever the case, I'm VERY glad I started giving Easton formula. When I did, we definitely saw his weight increase, although by exactly how much is a good question.

When I took Easton back 2 weeks later, AGAIN the nurse had a hard time weighing him. She fumbled around with the scale for quite a while and then she said "Well, it looks like about ten pounds, don't you think?" Um...lady? YOU are the nurse, not me. I DO know how to work that scale, but shouldn't you know more about it than me? This doctor's appointment was 5 days after the appt w/the lactation consultant. When we were there, she weighed him on a digital scale and he weighed 7lbs 14 oz. At Dr S's office 5 days later, she was saying he weighed 10 lbs. Somehow I don't think he gained that much in only 5 days. When Dr. S came in, he said "Good, he's gaining weight nicely." I said "Yes, and I'm glad. I was very worried." Know what he said? He said "Yeah, I know. I was too. He was looking a little scrawny." EXCUSE ME?!! Did you just call my baby SCRAWNY?! I don't care what you think about him, that is EXTREMELY unprofessional and RUDE! I left the office so angry I could barely speak.

When Easton came down with a bad cold over the weekend, we took him back to Dr. S. as soon as his office could get him in on Monday. Maybe I should have taken him to another doctor but he was sick and it would have taken quite a while to get him in to another doctor and I didn't want to wait and take the chance of him getting even sicker. The nurse STILL had trouble with the scale and she said "Oh, this is the baby that is hard to weigh." No, lady. My baby is NOT hard to weigh. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. YOU have the problem because you cannot seem to read the scale.

I don't know if it's because they don't see too many newborns or what, but I definitely decided that after the cold was taken care of I was going to find Easton a new doctor. A pediatrician. Someone who sees babies Easton's age every day and knows what the heck they are doing. I didn't care at that point about waiting lists, out of network costs or whatever. I was determined to get better care for him than we had been receiving with Dr. S.

So today I started calling pediatricians. I started with the 2 that were listed on our plan because it would be nice if we could find someone on our plan that we like. The first place was the Pediatric Associates of Winchester. Still a very long waiting list. Easton is due for his 2 month checkup and has an appt with Dr. S on Jan 10th. I was hoping to find a new doctor before Jan 10th so I could cancel the appt w/Dr. S and switch to someone who knew what they were doing. So then I tried Dr. B. His receptionist said they have a cancellation tomorrow. YES! We'll take it! I called Dr. S's office to request his medical records and I'm going to pick them up at 10 tomorrow morning. Then we have an appt w/Dr. B tomorrow at 11:15. Man, I hope we like Dr. B and feel comfortable with him. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Still haven’t posted my resolutions yet either. Maybe this weekend. Or maybe tomorrow after the dr’s appt.