Open Houses for Pediatricians???

(Photo from AmericanPregnancy.org - Had to use it. The look on the kid's face is priceless).

I am pretty sure that a handful of people advised me to check out pediatricians before Gypsy is born. I heard them - I just didn't really listen. I figured that our options are probably somewhat limited anyway, seeing as how we don't have a car, shouldn't really take a newborn on a subway - and will probably need to see a pediatrician in the local vicinity that we are within walking distance of.

That said, I knew I had to find someone - but didn't really start exploring this until a few weeks ago. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?

Little did I know, you are technically supposed to have a pediatrician assigned to your child even prior to that child being born. Why? Because the hospital won't discharge you without one, your insurance provider needs to be informed accordingly and apparently, you have to see your pediatrician with your infant in tow a mere two days after being discharged from the hospital. (Still trying to wrap my head around how we're going to make that happen post-C-section, but whatevs).

Anyway, I got a referral for a pediatrician from an intelligent, trustworthy friend who just had a baby about 7 months ago herself. I ran with it. I figured that she's bound to know if this practice is any good or not - given that she used them for the first 1/2 year of her child's life prior to relocating to Michigan and because she, like me, is pretty damn down-to-earth.

Nevertheless, when I phoned the practice to inquire about new patients, they convinced me to attend a monthly Open House they offer for new parents. At first blush, I was like - OH NO. Here we go. Park Slope parent nonsense. Ugh. Then I thought about it more. I need to be a good mommy. I need to know whose hands I'm putting my brand new baby girl into - and if they're sane or not. Plus, I do have a few questions about a few things I'm not entirely sure I'm on board with. Okay, okay, I'll go.

I also conned John into accompanying me.

We got there at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. I had to be home for an 8 p.m. work call, so I was hoping it wouldn't be formatted in such a way that would prevent me from making a nearly undetectable escape. We showed up a few minutes early - and a relatively large seating area was already occupied by a handful of other couples. One of the first things I noticed was that a few of the other women, like me, were clearly already almost ready to pop. Whew I thought. I'm not the only one who waited until the absolute last minute to deal with this. Then I noticed a few who weren't even really showing or barely. Ha! I thought to myself. I'm glad I didn't subject us to this nonsense months and months before it was absolutely necessary.

Mind you, I was sort-of creating my own little justifications for stuff to a) eliminate guilt and b) cushion the blow if this wound up being the most pointless exercise ever and John demanded to know why on earth we had to waste our time in the first place. I could then retort by stating that at least we only had to experience it once - and better safe than sorry, right? John had asked me what they were going to do at this thing before we showed up  - and the truth was - I had no fucking clue.

Anyway - much to my surprise - most of the couples there were very nice and had decent senses of humor - and we all exchanged niceties - due dates, complaints about being in the final stages of pregnancy, Kirk or Picard, etc. Then the last couple walked in - and the vibe of the room changed significantly. For lack of a better term - they were prissy. Because seating was now limited, every guy in the room offered their seat to her - despite the fact that a few were still available but she clearly wanted to sit right next to hubby   and asked staff to bring out additional chairs, which they readily did. When she sat, I had to do everything in my power to stifle my laughter because this woman who looked every bit the Stepford Wife, was seated in just such a way that I got quite the upskirt view. It was hard NOT to notice.

Anyway, the pediatrician hosting the session started in - and I was pleasantly relieved. She was a cut-to-the-chase type, had a very prepared presentation of about 3 or 4 brief points she felt were of the utmost importance when choosing a pediatric practice for your child - and namely for first-time parents to consider - and breezed through the info within mere minutes. At the outset, I didn't know if we were going to be subjected to videos, powerpoint slides, condescending do's and don'ts and who knew what other types of fresh hell I had braced myself for just in case?

Again - relieved. It was actually quite informative.

Then the Q&A started.

Prissy had countless questions - many of which pertained to vaccines, which the pediatrician had specifically stated she wouldn't be addressing at the outset in group format due to the political and sensitive nature of the subject, but Prissy pushed her - and wound up getting her to present what I felt was a very level-headed and down-to-earth perspective. They recommend them and work with parents on a schedule they're comfortable with. Cool. I was more concerned about what to do with your child before they're vaccinated however - and that was my one pressing question.

Do we really need to be shut-ins until our little girl has been fully vaccinated?

And the answer was, "No" - which was what I was hoping for. In fact, they discourage it and think it's pointless. The doctor said something along the lines of, "Unless you're Beyoncé or Jay-Z, you're going grocery shopping and bringing all of that stuff back with you anyhow."

As anyone reading this blog already knows, I am a big believer in exposure to germs. I think it's a GOOD thing and this idea of over-sanitizing everything really irks me. I am convinced it's doing more harm than good. I want our baby girl to build up immunity to things. I'm not going to take her on a crowded subway or to Times Square just yet - but can we take her out and about to local family friendly restaurants and what-not?

Yes, yes we can.

And speaking of overly-sanitized, these docs don't over-prescribe antibiotics either.

Yay. Turns out my friend was right. These guys are perfect. Done and done, however last minute we were.

Oh - and in case anyone is wondering, we will have a baby girl in ONE MORE WEEK!!!