The Third Prayer

Yesterday we met with Mary Rene’s new doctor, Doctor Richard Knight and I must say, I am very impressed and so very, very happy that we switched.  I felt right at home the moment I walked in the waiting room.  (Although there was only one waiting room which all kids, sick and not sick, go too.  The other doctor’s office had two separate rooms.)  When we got to the waiting room, Mary Rene ran right to the table and chairs and wanted to play with the toys.  I always bring her own toys so she doesn’t play with the waiting room toys (they have lots and lots of germs and well, if a sick kid was playing with them before Mary Rene…..) but Mary Rene would have nothing to do with her toys.  She loves table and chairs and feels like a big girl when she sits at them.  But then she saw the fish tank and jumped off that chair so quick she nearly fell.  She went right up to the tank and pointed at the lonely fish and “ooh” and “OOH!” over and over again.  The receptionist was getting a real hoot at watching Mary Rene.

But that’s not what we are here to talk about.  The nurse led us back to the room and got Mary Rene’s weight and height.  Mary Rene is still 23 pounds (45 percentile) and has been this weight since she turned one.  They said not to be concerned because she is walking and running so much that she is burning a lot of calories.  And trust me, she seldom sits down-she is always on the move!  It is just funny to watch your baby grow out of clothes so quick that first year and then all of a sudden-stop.  Mary Rene is 31 inches (36 percentile) tall which is an increase since her 15 month visit.

We went in the room and the nurse told me that Mary Rene was due for her Hep. A shot.  I instantly froze and my heart stopped.  I was going to be put to the test, right here and right now.  The nurse was really nice and said the doctor would be back in.  My head was racing, “is this vaccine okay to get?”  I couldn’t remember what four vaccines had the tissues from the aborted babies and I knew 100% that I did not want to allow that to happen.  I panicked, wanted to call Frank for moral support, but then the doctor walked in.

His warm smile put me at ease right away and then Mary Rene quickly waved at him and said, “bye bye.”  Dr. Knight and I both started laughing because it was pretty clear that Mary Rene did not want him in there.  Every time he came near her with the stethoscope she would look him dead in the eyes and say, “bye bye.”  It was too terribly cute.

He quickly mentioned that Mary Rene was not due for her Hep. A shot and he apologized for the nurse bringing in the fact sheet on it.  I breathed.  But then he said she was due for it at her two year appointment. 

When I came home I did look back and see that the Hep. A shot is one of the four that contains the tissues from the aborted babies.  So I decided that a month before Mary Rene’s appointment I will call the office to confirm if the vaccine they carry contains these tissues.  If they say yes, then I will ask where I can get an alternative vaccine.  If they can’t get it then I will have them put down in her chart that she will not be getting the vaccine at her appointment. I figured if I do it ahead of time they, and myself, will be prepared when this comes up at her appointment.

So no shots and I instantly felt better.  But I realized this was my opportunity to let him know where I stand.  I told him the story about why we switched pediatricians and how Mary Rene got three and four shots at her last two appointments.  I told him I wasn’t happy about it and I felt like the doctor really pushed me around.  He told me that he has small children and doesn’t want them getting more than two shots at a time.  Therefore, he doesn’t want his patients either.  Awesome!  I was so glad to hear that.  So I know that Mary Rene will not get more than two shots a visit so that solves part of the problem.  The other part will be my job to fix.

So overall, it was a great visit.  Mary Rene is healthy, thriving and doing amazingly great.  And even better, she has a doctor that I can really trust.  He didn’t intimate me like other doctors and I felt completely at ease with him.  Such a good feeling.

We left the room and went to schedule Mary Rene’s two year appointment.  We have it scheduled so Sweet Pea might be able to get his/her one month appointment done the same day.  As we left, the nurse asked if Mary Rene could have a cookie and I felt so good I said yes.  Mary Rene’s eyes lit up and she slowly ate the cookie the entire way home.

The new pediatrician gets an A plus so far.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Mary Rene, Vaccines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.