Yesterday marked two weeks since Monkey was born and it was also the first pediatrician appointment. Yesterday was also the 2nd time I had left the house in a two-week period. It is no fun to be cooped up in a house for two weeks straight. I’m so glad that that period is behind me now!
We didn’t interview pediatricians while I was pregnant. Mostly because any pediatrician that we might have picked near our house wouldn’t be able to check Monkey out at the hospital I was delivering at. My OB recommended a pediatrician in her building so she is the person that saw Monkey on his 2nd day of life. After meeting her at the hospital we liked her and decided to stick with her for the first pediatrician appointment at least.
You see, our plan is to move closer to my parents and this pediatrician is centrally located so that works. Let’s just see how soon we actually move though…
Being that we never interviewed her, yesterday was our first time to see her office. When we walked in the door the first thing I noticed was all of the bright colors on the wall. So far, so good.
Then I noticed that there was a room for sick kids and well kids. This I liked too. There weren’t too many other kids in the waiting room with us, so I didn’t worry initially about Monkey being inside. After about 5 minutes had passed about six kids were present in the waiting room. They were all older so they thought it was cool I guess to go back and forth from the sick room to the well room and this made me nervous.
(Note to self: When Monkey is older, keep him in the appropriate room so that he doesn’t scare new moms with newborns at the first pediatrician appointment.)
While I finished up filling out the paperwork, I asked Tarzan to take Monkey out in the hallway to wait. It was far less crowded and I thought it might be just a little less germy for a new baby. As soon as T. took Monkey out, the nurse told me that his room was ready. Go figure!
We made it back to room #15 and I realized just what a big practice it was. There are five other pediatricians in the same practice so that means a ton of patients. I’m not sure that I like that too much, but I also have to be realistic that I can’t shield Monkey away from every little thing, no matter how hard I try.
(Question for you: Do you think it’s a big deal to take your baby/kid to a big practice like this rather than a single doctor in an office?)
The pediatrician came right in and asked us to undress Monkey completely with the exception of his diaper. Tarzan did this while I finished filling out the paperwork (a ton!) and realized that his diaper needed to be changed. T. had no idea where he should do it and I told him to do it on the table that Monkey would be examined on. I totally forgot to lay out the diaper changing pad that was in the diaper bag.
Hey, give us a break, it was the first time to even carry a diaper bag and I was quite impressed that I remembered to put all the necessities in it!
After the diaper was changed we took him off to be weighed. His official weight was 7 lb, 15 oz and the pediatrician was pleased that he gained his birth weight (7 lb, 12 oz) back plus a few more ounces. Go little Monkey!
The little guy has also grown an inch longer. He was 20.25 inches when born and yesterday he was 21.25 inches. Again, the pedi. was happy about this too!
We all went back into the examination room and she checked his heart (”just lovely“) and looked at his penis (”doing great“) and then she asked what questions we had. Here are the questions I asked:
1. Do we still need to use vaseoline on his penis? No.
2. Do we need gas drops since he seems gassy, but doesn’t seem bothered by them? She said that she likes gas because it means that the digestive system is working. If he seems bothered by it we can give him Mylicon, which is perfectly safe.
3. How do I know if I have low milk production? She said that it is extremely rare for the mom to have milk production. If I think that because he wants to nurse a lot, it is probably just cluster feeding and not that anything is wrong with me.
4. How often should he sleep per day? Is there such a thing as too much? She said that babies sleep a lot, something like 16-18 hours a day.
5. Is it okay for him to sleep in his swing for hours at a time? She said that this was just fine, but make sure that he isn’t head down for the breathing passage in his throat to be clear for SIDS prevention.
6. When can we go out in public with him? She said that while she likes people to wait, she realizes that it’s not realistic so to just be smart about it. Don’t let people touch him or breathe on him right now. We can go for walks but just make sure that he isn’t in direct sunlight. No one wants a burnt baby!
7. What medicines can I take while breastfeeding? For headaches she said Tylenol. For allergies, Zyrtec.
8. When can we use lotion and shampoo on him? She said for right now to continue the sponge bath with just using warm water. After his umbilical cord falls off, we can use an infant bathtub for him. She said that she prefers lotions and shampoo that are free of color and fragrance.
9. Should we be doing tummy time now or is it too soon? She said that we could try while supervised, but that he probably wouldn’t like it too much.
10. Is his peeling skin normal? Totally normal. He’s like my little reptile right now shedding his skin.
11. Should we wake him up or let him feed on demand? She said that since he is gaining weight to let him sleep because it seems like he knows when to wake up and eat. If he should sleep for 6 hours at night, make sure that he eats a little more throughout the day to account for that time sleeping.
12. When can he fly in a plane? She said that right now is the easiest time. I told her that I was worried about flying because of swine flu and she agreed that once kids go back to school it will get bad. She said that she would wait and see how bad it gets before purchasing our plane ticket.
13. Are sleep positioners ok? She said that they were just fine.
14. His left eye seems to get really crusty after he has been sleeping. His right eye doesn’t. Any reason for that? She said something about his tear duct and needing to massage the corner of his left eye to help it. Completely normal though.
15. Do we still need to clean the umbilical cord with alcohol? She said that we didn’t need to do that anymore. It’s close to falling off, so we can just wait for that to happen. Once it does fall off she said to give it a day or two before getting that area wet.
All in all it was a great first pediatrician appointment! His next pediatrician appointment is at 2 months old and I can’t believe how fast time is going already. You all weren’t kidding when y’all told us that. Wow!
Disclaimer: Please remember that Tarzan and I are not doctors. All of this information that is being shared with you applies to our baby and his pediatrician. If you have questions, you should consult your own pediatrician’s advice.
You might also want to read:
- Monkey’s two month old vaccination appointment
- Monkey, a bump, a trip to the pediatrician’s office, & lots of worries
- Monkey’s 4 month doctor appointment & first attempt at rice cereal
- Our Baby Feeding Schedule: A day in the life of Tarzan, Jane, and Monkey. Welcome to no sleepville.
- Therapist appointment, torticollis, and some postpartum depression talk too
= a post from Mommy Jane 
= a post from Daddy Tarzan
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
That is wonderful that he gained weight and has grown!! Means he is getting all he needs from breastfeeding!!
I also like to stick to soap-free washes for baby too. The “soap” ingredient just makes suds, and is also drying–no true cleaning properties. I just read a review and purchased Nature’s Organics from Target. Really liked it!
We go to a large practice ped. For me the benefits are–there’s always a dr. available, even if it’s not the one I primarily see. Our practice offers walk-in sick appt’s the first hour of the day and often Sat&Sun hours. I don’t think you get those things from a single-ped office.
This is great – I’m interviewing Pedi’s now…it’s totally nerve wracking – I haven’t even thought about the things I’ll want to know once the kid is here!
Our pedi just added another doctor. They are up to 4 now and I walk the hall with my baby rather than sit in the waiting room.
Also, with our recent child (now 11 weeks old) we were told not to use alcohol on the cord that it actually prevents it from drying up and falling off. With our first two we used alcohol and had to take my oldest back in to have it snipped off. This one we just cleaned it with tap water with each diaper change.
Pediatricians are hard bunch. I am on my second one. The first one never listened to us and always thought we did everything wrong. I got tired of it. I may not be a doctor but I am not dumb either. I love our new one. He talks to the child and listens to them as well as talks to me.
All fun!
Glad the appointment went well! I have had pediatricians in a single practice and now we have Kaiser, so it’s a huge practice. I love my pediatrician, and his nurse, but I also love that when I have something that comes up at 10:30 in the morning I can still get a same day appointment with at least someone in the practice and then do a follow up with our normal doc in a few days. I also have had situations when my pediatrician has called me after seeing us saying that they had discussed one of my kids at a staff meeting & wanted to run additional tests or had other suggestions for us to try. (Not wanting to scare you, normally everything is fine with kids, but since we are cooking baby #6 right now things have come up through the years).
Wow go Monkey go!! That is awesome to hear that he is doing just fine. Just wanted to mention to you that I use a peditrician’s office that has 6 doctors in it and they are ALL wonderful (have seen them all through the years) and they also have the same day appt’s available for a sick child and one hour each on Sat & Sun. They, of course, also have a 24 hour emergency answering serive that I could call in the middle of the night if something severe happened or I just needed some advise. As far as trying to “shield” Monkey from other people….it is a hard thing to do unless you keep him at home. Now is a crucial time since he is so little and his immune system isn’t 100% up to par just yet (that is why no one should touch him) but he will get there in time. I was always a paranoid freak so to speak about other people touching my kids (as you were with the belly rubbing stranger) that I would always try to keep them away. They could say what a lovely child from afar; but please do not touch them!!!!! With so many things going around nowadays you can’t help but to be that way. Keep up the good parenting skills; I think you guys are doing a great job so far. It sure is tough and a learning experience; just think, when little Jane arrives you will be pros at this
#7 You can take Motrin, too.
#9Babywearing is actually better than tummy time. It works the same muscles & helps their balance because of the movement. Tummy time is only necessary in Western cultures because babies spend so much time laying on their backs/in devices.
#14Massage some breast milk into it, it’s great for pretty much everything, from diaper rash to pink eye.
I’ve never actually seen a ped, just GP’s & health nurses.
Glad to hear things are looking great.
As for who to see, see who you feel comfortable with. I perfer smaller clinics so that I get the same doctor each time. That way HE knows my little guy and Stetson isn’t being juggled by a bunch of different doctors.
You can also take motrin (after birth I was prescribed Norco and STRONG motrin). The eye thing is normal, my son had the same thing. Massage it with a warm wash cloth a couple times a day. If it starts turning greenish, see your doc he might have a little infection.
Don’t be too scared of germs, hun. A sick baby is a horrible thing, don’t get me wrong. But sheltering him (even this little) will only make things worse. I was taking Stetson out a week after he was born. We made a 2 hour drive to another town, went shopping. He’s not once been sick. If anything it will boost little Monkey’s immunities.
Sounds like he’s lookin’ good. Keep up the good work, momma!
Glad that your first appointment with Monkey went well. Sounds like you have a nice doctor that takes time and listens to your questions. I am always amazed at the difference in what some doctors say is and is not ok to take when nursing.