Day at the Pediatrician

6:47 am and my body alarm wakes me up out of a much needed cat nap. I jumped up realizing that the girls doctors appointment was in less than an hour. Since this was our very first visit (thanks to my sorority sister for giving us the referral) I did not have a chance to write down the directions. Looking at the time, I knew that I did not have time to feed them but merely 10 minutes to get both of my girls dressed, diaper bag ready, wake up my fiance, get myself ready and head out the door by 7:15 am (I Google the location earlier and knew that it would take 20 minutes). Yet life never works out like you plan. After getting everything ready, the time was 7:30 am and we hadn't put the car seats in the car. By the time we hit the road it was 7:50 am. Immediately I called the doctor's office to inform them that I would be a couple minutes late, which we all know that means 30 to 40 minutes late. Because I chose not to keep Milani's appointment at the hospital's clinic in Brooklyn, I had to make this pediatrician visit. Of course life was full of surprises yet again. The way the directions told us to go yield to mention that it was full of bumper to bumper traffic.

Detouring, arguing with my fiance more than necessary (lack of sleep would do that) and car on E, we finally managed to make it to the doctor an hour later, not until we passed the office first and had to do a u-turn realizing that the office was not a building but a house office. Surprisingly, with only a sprinkle of babies and young children waiting, the doctors office was almost empty. A complete opposite of the hospital's clinic where I took Mya for her follow up, which was filled to capacity of snot nose children running around. Although freezing from the AC, the doctors office was calm.

You and the nurse
Before we saw the doctor, we met with the nurse who asked my fiance and I our medical history and the babies history thus far. Some of the questions were:
About us
1. Does anyone in your family smoke?
2. Does anyone in your family have diabetes?
3. Did you have any complications with your pregnancy?

About the babies
1. How many weeks were you when you delivered?
2. What was their weight at birth?
3. When were they born?
4. How long did they stay in the NICU?
4. What are their names?

After the questions, the nurse asked us for the girls discharge papers, which gives detail information on about their stay and if any procedures were done, their immunization records and their pass hearing test information. Once she collected their paperwork, she first measured the circumference of Mya's head. Placing her on table, the nurse measured her length. Next, Mya (who had to be naked and hated it!)  was taken to another room where she was weighed. The same was done to Milani. The nurse left to make copies of the information and then five minutes later the doctor came in. He did a full examination of both the girls in which he examined:

• Eyes 
• Legs 
• Private area 
• Belly button
• Chest 
• Ears 
• Any birth marks, dimples, etc. Mya and Milani both have dimples on the top of their ears like their father. Mya is on the right and Milani is on the left. 
• Heart 

The doctor told us that the babies looked wonderful for preemies. They were gaining weight and they were extremely healthy. Even though this was my second time at the pediatrician, I still was not sure what to ask. I did have a couple of questions already prepared but other than that I did not have much to say. Some of my questions were:

• Can I increase their feeding? 
• Are their belly buttons forming correctly? 
• Is it okay to open a window in their room? 

I thought because my daughters were born premature, that they needed to go to a specialize doctor. The hospital, for example, gave me several appointments for their eyes, development and heart. However, I was not sure if they still need to see a high risk doctor. After doing much research, a regular pediatrician will be fine for most preemies. Because the doctor did not see anything wrong with the girls, I do not see it necessary to proceed with a specialist. However, I did receive a referral just in case.

The day started off full of stress and frustration, but the day ended with a doctor who I feel comfortable with and a great visit.

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