KBtotheBB

We have to have our pediatrician selected by my 28wk appt. on Feb. 1! And really, I have to pick one by next Friday since I will be in the field Jan. 21-Jan. 31, thus nowhere near my desk or a phone.

HELP ME!

Can I do my "interview" over the phone or is it best to do in person? How many peds did you interview? We have next Friday off, so DH and I can blitz all the peds offices if necessary.

Should I try to find a same sex ped for BB?

The only "off" thing we're looking for is a ped who understands and allows a delayed vaccination schedule. (I had a severe buffer reaction, so while we want to vax, we want to spread them out.) Is this common? Is it a particular question I need to be sure to ask?

What else do I need to look for in/at the office?

baseballmama

Why do you have to have your ped picked by 28 wks? You won't be needing him/her until the baby is born.

We interviewed in person. I had a list of questions. I like to see their body language. A person can verbally say what they think I want to hear, but their body language will give it away if they're not sincere.

Someone advised us to find a same-sex ped with Spencer, but then we had Anna so what do we do there? We ended up with just going with the one we liked best.

MissPitchy

I think peds now are very accustomed to the vax issues that you mention.

My big things - is the office clean? When I call and say my kid is sick, and I want them checked, when will they be seen? Our current office sees them that day, next morning at the latest, and we have never had to wait more than 15 minutes past our appt time.

Other things you might want to know are how many peds in the group and do they encourage you to stick with one, or don't they care if you see them all? What happens when you call after hours?

You can always pick a ped for now and then change it as it gets closer or once the baby is here. I loved my first ped office until I had an issue and they pushed it aside, pushed it aside, and then I followed my gut and was right! I switched at that point.

lynnfw1

I would suggest starting with offices close to your home. You don't want to take a sick kid (or even a well kid) on an extended journey to see the dr.

Our ped. doesn't do hospital visits, so it didn't matter when they were "declared". The in-house on-call ped. took care of both babies in the hospital.

I would go and speak with one in person. Unless you have bad vibes or they aren't flexible to your needs (Think your OB!!), go with them for now. It is VERY easy to change peds, and won't matter a great deal if you decide you want to look elsewhere later on. I don't think you will have to interview more than one or two.

KBtotheBB

My hospital/OB rules. I guess they just want to be sure you have one in place? I don't know, all I know is I have to have one by Feb. 1!!

sarasuzy

We only interviewed one because we loved the first guy we went to. We actually asked my OB for recommendations (but I loved my OB). Can you ask either your OB or another doctor for recommendations? Or, you could call the Mother/Baby unit at the hospital and talk to a nurse there to see who they work with most and who they would recommend (not sure if they would do that, but it's worth a try!)

I would only have a few questions prepared (like your vax one...that would be an important one) and mainly just judge on how you feel about the doctor's personality and the office atmosphere/policies.

And seriously...why do you have to choose by 28 weeks? That's dumb. We found ours about a month before Sam was born!

baseballmama

Tell your OB to blow it out his wazoo! You'll get around to it when you get around to it.

sarasuzy

Oh, one addition...definitely check office hours and after-hours policies. I LOVE our office because they have hours until 9:00 p.m. every night and on the weekends there is a nurse staffed for questions.

BigNutbrownHare

Two things that were important for me for selecting an office were (1) a 24-hr nurse advice line w/ a doctor on call, and (2) separate waiting areas for sick and well visits. After we narrowed it down to two offices in particular based on that, we had friends who had just finished medical school and had done pediatric rounds at those office give us advice. They overwhelmingly suggested one ped and she was fabulous. We didn't even interview her because it was that clear from talking to the student-doctors that had worked with her. But if it helps, they said they liked her because she was flexible/open-minded, stayed very current on issues, and was amazing in dealing with both kids and parents. They were right on all counts. So I guess my point is that when asking for recommendations, don't just ask friends/coworkers about who they use but also ask other doctors.

lynnfw1

I agree this is important. I just ran into this with Sadie's stomach virus last week. There wasn't anyone I could call at 6:00 pm

However, I'm not sure if I want to switch doctors at this point, because they are less than a mile from my house, and usually aren't very busy. I can easily get appointments. I'll just ask them what I need to do next time I have an after-hours issue.

Seriously, you have the most regimented boot-camp for a hospital/OB! No wonder you are having trouble relaxing about things.