I was lucky to get it scheduled. I had just called on Wednesday inquiring if any of the docs in the practice were taking new patients. Thankfully, the one doc had an opening. On Friday. At 11am! GREAT time. Just before lunch. So the Bear would be in a good mood.
Let me tell you that he and all the people over at his daycare were shocked to see me there at 10:30am.
"What're YOU doing here so early?"
"Doctor checkup day."
They all gave me knowing nod.
The Bear ran to me when he saw me. He did look surprised though.
"Buddy, we're going to do some errands and then get some lunch. Okay?"
"Ohh-kayyy Mommy!"
Little did he know our errand was a doctors appointment! We got in the car and we drove. Past my daughter's school.
"Sissy! Sissy skoool!"
He was pointing and waving.
"Yes buddy. That's Sissy's school. We're not going there though."
We drove about two more miles and then searched around to find the right building. We walked upstairs. Went into the office. He found the toys right away.
I just love doctor's waiting rooms that have kids' books and magazines AND those bead maze things. This waiting room had about FOUR of those bead stations. Halleluia!
There was no one in the waiting room. I knew I had a co-pay and papers to fill out since we'd never been there before. I handed over my insurance card & my debit card and held out my hand for the clipboard of papers. You know. The TON of papers they have you fill out as a new patient.
We didn't have to wait long either. Maybe 2 minutes? I had just started filling out one of the pages when I heard...
"Bear? Bear?"
They were calling us back already!
AHHH...That's when the Bear figured out where the heck we were. Da-da-da-dummmmm...The doctor's office!
I took off the Bear's thick sweatshirt and his shoes.
"Could you step up here and stand still Bear?"
The nurse said in a gentle voice. He cautiously got up on the scale. He looked at her while she moved the balance things around.
"Okay. That's great! Now how about you step right here against this wall?"
He stepped over to the wall and backed up slowly. His big brown eyes looking up at her. She slowly pushed the height thing down. He stayed calm but tried to look up at the flat piece that was approaching his head. I could see that he was not sure about the procedure but was tolerating it. She barely touched his head when she said...
"Okay, that's it."
He stepped back to me in no time flat. But he didn't cry or make a fuss. Ahhh....success! We walked back to the examination room and relaxed. I figured that we'd be there for a while. I broke out a snack and handed him his water. Not 2 minutes later there was a knock on the door.
" Hello? Is there a little boy named Bear in here?"
It was the doctor! And she was so cool! She had short blond hair in a modern bob. She had tortoise shell eyeglasses. She was wearing sandblasted jeans with double layered long sleeve t-shirts and those suede slip-on moccassins.
The Bear looked at her in a questioning way. As his mouth chewed his Nutrigrain bites. She chatted with HIM first. Not to me! TO him! It was great. She was making sure that he was comfortable with her being there.
The entire time he watched her. You could see his brain working away. Thinking as he gazed at her.
He let her touch him. Our previous pediatrician couldn't touch the Bear without having me holding the kid in a vice grip. But with this gal? The Bear sat on the exam table. She checked out his reflexes. She even was able to listen to his heart, his tummy, and his lungs with the stethescope. No crying. She even got to check both of his ears and his mouth! It was GREAT!
Last year was a fiasco. I had to have the kid wrapped in my arms and legs so that the doctor could check him out. Definitely not a good way to listen to my son's lungs or heart!
Plus...there were no pokies this visit. The Bear is all caught up with shots. But the pediatrician did warn me that the 4-year-old visit will involve a round of shots. I guess they give the kids all the shots they need for entering kindergarten at that time. I've got an entire year before THAT happens so I'm happy. By that time he'll have seen the pediatrician a few times and shouldn't be alarmed when he gets poked.
I think we're going to happy with this doctor. And this practice. It's made up of FOUR female doctors!
It'll be good for the Princess. To show her how successful these ladies are. Plus, she's getting older and I want her to be comfortable with her pediatrician. You parents of girls know where I'm going with that one, right?
Anyway, the Bear ended up receiving a sticker AND a book out of this visit. I guess in their practice they give the kids an age appropriate book with every well-child check-up!
Hopefully next year the Bear will be able to tolerate the shots. He'll be older. Maybe he'll continue to mellow as he grows up.
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*** As a sidenote, I can't wait for someone to invent a device that'll make initial DRs visits easier. I would think that someone would be able to create a small laptop that'll ask us for all our pertinent information in a basic format. I'm sick to death of having to write this stuff out. And the forms they give us can be so redundant. Then when we're finished typing the information in they can just download the information into their database and it'll update our records. Simple enought? Come on you inventors! MAKE IT!
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