Mama Bear pushes back!
Last week I had H to the doctor for a weigh-in. If you recall, E had some weight gain issues between two and four months, so I think as a precaution, our family doctor asked us to bring H in to be weighed at the 3 month mark. I happily obliged as this was something I wanted to keep an eye on too.
We went to the appointment with the nurse practitioner and he had gained just shy of one pound between two and three months. He was 5.15 kg or 11.3 lbs at the appointment. The nurse practitioner charted his weight gain on the holy graph, and it showed that he had fallen of his line just a bit, but he was keeping a pattern in my mind, as every month he has gained a pound since birth.
H was low on the graph to begin with (at 10th percentile), but so was E, and E is now around the 45th percentile, so I am not going to do all of the stressing with H liked I did the last time around with E, because I'm a more experienced mother, and its not. worth. it.
However, that was last Tuesday, and now yesterday, the doctor's office called and wants to see H before we leave for our vacation. PC took the message and accepted the appointment, but when I learned about this, I thought about it, and I'm upset... because I was just there last week and they let me go without so much as a mention of any concern. The nurse even said 'he's fallen off his line a bit, but your weaning him, and you seem like a really confident Mom, so nothing to be concerned about'. I took that as a compliment, and the fact that we are scheduled for his 4 month shots right when we get back from vacation tells me this appointment is not necessary.
I'm guessing that the doctor just wants to be sure he isn't missing anything and I understand that to an extent. But if that was the case, instead of having me see the nurse practitioner last Tuesday, he should have scheduled the appointment with him instead of asking me to make a second trek back to his office (not to mention clogging up our already overburdened health system for no good reason). The other thing that bothers me is that they aren't taking our family history into account. Specifically, the history with of E's slow weight-gain. I just don't think my kids are big gainers, and so what if they aren't average or above average on the holy graph... H is on the graph, which is more than we could say for E at that milestone.
Either way, its got me bothered just a bit... and I think to myself 'okay, if something is of a major concern, we can't do anything about it until we get back anyways'. With E, they referred us to a pediatrician, and we then spent the next period checking in with her every week for a month until he started packing on the ounces (which he did). In H's case, I've already recognized my breast milk isn't supper fatty, I committed to breastfeeding for three months, and now that we're there, we're switching it up to formula. My stance is now that we've done that... give him a chance to gain, and he will gain. He's reaching all of his other milestones, smiling, laughing, rolling, sleeping... so in my heart of hearts I know he is perfectly healthy.
All this rambling to say that... this morning I picked up the phone and pushed back with the doctor's office. I asked why was the appointment needed when we would be there in another 10 days, and we were just there a week ago? The receptionist didn't have the answers, and our doctor wasn't there today. I explained my thoughts and why the appointment isn't necessary, and her response was 'well, we can't force you to come' and she's right she can't ... so we left it at her leaving the doctor a message that we would see him after our vacation unless it was an emergency of another sort... not involving weight.
I don't expect to hear from them again... until we go for H's 4 month appointment, and trust me, if he questions my decision at. all. I'll have my Mama Bear argument ready.
H is my baby boy, I'm his Mom, and I know best.
We went to the appointment with the nurse practitioner and he had gained just shy of one pound between two and three months. He was 5.15 kg or 11.3 lbs at the appointment. The nurse practitioner charted his weight gain on the holy graph, and it showed that he had fallen of his line just a bit, but he was keeping a pattern in my mind, as every month he has gained a pound since birth.
H was low on the graph to begin with (at 10th percentile), but so was E, and E is now around the 45th percentile, so I am not going to do all of the stressing with H liked I did the last time around with E, because I'm a more experienced mother, and its not. worth. it.
However, that was last Tuesday, and now yesterday, the doctor's office called and wants to see H before we leave for our vacation. PC took the message and accepted the appointment, but when I learned about this, I thought about it, and I'm upset... because I was just there last week and they let me go without so much as a mention of any concern. The nurse even said 'he's fallen off his line a bit, but your weaning him, and you seem like a really confident Mom, so nothing to be concerned about'. I took that as a compliment, and the fact that we are scheduled for his 4 month shots right when we get back from vacation tells me this appointment is not necessary.
I'm guessing that the doctor just wants to be sure he isn't missing anything and I understand that to an extent. But if that was the case, instead of having me see the nurse practitioner last Tuesday, he should have scheduled the appointment with him instead of asking me to make a second trek back to his office (not to mention clogging up our already overburdened health system for no good reason). The other thing that bothers me is that they aren't taking our family history into account. Specifically, the history with of E's slow weight-gain. I just don't think my kids are big gainers, and so what if they aren't average or above average on the holy graph... H is on the graph, which is more than we could say for E at that milestone.
Either way, its got me bothered just a bit... and I think to myself 'okay, if something is of a major concern, we can't do anything about it until we get back anyways'. With E, they referred us to a pediatrician, and we then spent the next period checking in with her every week for a month until he started packing on the ounces (which he did). In H's case, I've already recognized my breast milk isn't supper fatty, I committed to breastfeeding for three months, and now that we're there, we're switching it up to formula. My stance is now that we've done that... give him a chance to gain, and he will gain. He's reaching all of his other milestones, smiling, laughing, rolling, sleeping... so in my heart of hearts I know he is perfectly healthy.
All this rambling to say that... this morning I picked up the phone and pushed back with the doctor's office. I asked why was the appointment needed when we would be there in another 10 days, and we were just there a week ago? The receptionist didn't have the answers, and our doctor wasn't there today. I explained my thoughts and why the appointment isn't necessary, and her response was 'well, we can't force you to come' and she's right she can't ... so we left it at her leaving the doctor a message that we would see him after our vacation unless it was an emergency of another sort... not involving weight.
I don't expect to hear from them again... until we go for H's 4 month appointment, and trust me, if he questions my decision at. all. I'll have my Mama Bear argument ready.
H is my baby boy, I'm his Mom, and I know best.
posted by SC at 2:26 PM
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