We were discharged from Sibley on Friday of Labor Day weekend. They made us come back to Sibley for checks over the weekend since our pediatrician's office wasn't open until Tuesday. |
You still have to go to the ped's office within a few days of leaving the hospital, even if the ped comes to the hospital to visit the baby. And yes, it's horrible if the mom is having a hard recovery. |
I think people in general but especially pregnant women spend a ton of time and energy worrying about which provider is going to be where and when, for very little return.
They go off the chart and the patient in front of them, and if you’re in the hospital and the shit hits the fan, you’re going to see the appropriate specialist. I think it makes some sense to pick a hospital based on the NICU, especially if you have reason for concern, but it doesn’t make any sense to me to pick a pediatrician who will come to the hospital for a routine appointment. Why would that even be a good use of their time and schedule, to do that on demand? I don’t get it. |
Nowadays they just ask you who the baby's pediatrician will be. Sometimes they want you to have the appointment scheduled before discharge and sometimes they just tell you when to make it for. |
After 12+ years of parenthood, the things that matter most when choosing a pediatrician are:
Location, location, location (cumbersome is an understatement for the first year of even a healthy child’s life) Insurance coverage Size (I prefer a small practice with 3-4 doctors. Big enough for Saturday and same day sick visits but small enough that they know my kids.) Separate newborn waiting room (bonus points for separate sick/healthy waiting rooms) Nurse line/email for questions Things that I thought would matter but ended up not: Hospital privileges (my kids have made their way through many ERs and Urgent Cares over the years. Who their pediatricians were didn’t factor into their care) |
Taking a newborn to the pediatrician is not that bad. Most are sleepy and will just sleep in the carseat. If you have an infant carrier, you just pop them in the carseat, and pop it in and out of the car. The stressful thing about having a newborn is feeding it. The main purpose of newborn visits, assuming no other complications, is to monitor whether it is eating enough. If you are breastfeeding, the only way to tell if the baby is eating enough is measuring its weight. Good luck! |
NP I read every word. So sorry this happened to you. That was a terrible experience, and not the way to treat a new mother fresh from giving birth. I hope that healing is happening no matter how long ago this was. Wishing you ease. |
This is great advice. |