Saturday, May 22, 2010

If only it were the final straw.....

So the one good thing about Kaiser insurance was my pediatrician. (Did you catch the italics?). Sigh.

Anna-Kate and Jack had their 4 year and 2 month well-baby appointments on Thursday. He's 11.8 lbs (55%) and 35% in height. Anna-Kate is 37 lbs (55%) and 39 inches tall (35%). Ironic, no? (especially considering Ryan is also 55% in weight and 30% in height). Anyway. The doctor told me that all 3 of my kids are "husky" (has anyone ever heard a 7 week old termed "husky"??) and he isn't really sure why since their screen time is low, they eat breakfast, have a well-rounded diet, don't drink cokes (seriously? who let's their toddler's have coke??) and rarely drink juice. His exact words, "not sure what the problem is (for above stated reasons) but you need to be careful since they are husky, we don't want them turning obese." Jaw drop (and, Anna-Kate was in the room.). First of all, none of my kids are fat. Second, even if they were, no doctor should ever label a 4 year old girl as "husky" in her presence. Is he trying to give her a complex?? I was fit to be tied.

It continued into the realm of sleep. I asked what the average 4 year old required for sleep and he said 10-12 hours. Then, he proceeded to tell me that I had unreal expectations for her to sleep from 8-8 (even though she's dropped her nap) and that I should make her take a nap and then put her down at 10 or 11 at night so she would sleep until 8 am. IS HE SMOKING CRACK??? I politely told him I wasn't interested in that in the slightest. Then, he began asking about Jack and his eyes about popped out when I told him I was giving him a dream feed at midnight. "You are waking him up to feed him? he asked, incredulously. I said that I was as I don't do 3 am, which is when he would wake if I fed him at 8 and left him alone. He said, "well, I can only offer you the best advice out there on the subject, I have parents who take it or leave it. Clearly, you are the latter. It's OK, I can work around that." Oh, thanks. I became even angrier when my friend told me that he doesn't have children of his own. Maybe if he had some personal experience he could jump off that high horse and mingle with us common folks called (un-medically educated) parents.

If only we could leave this God forsaken socialized medical provider now. Only 223 days until we can change insurance company's (and yes, I just spent the 2 minutes to figure out how many days were left in this calendar year. Though, on a lighter note, Christmas is in 217 days. Pathetic.).

4 comments:

Sara said...

Oh. my. goodness! This pediatrician would not like me either. I would leave his advice too. I do a dream feed as well. Grant goes to bed at 8:30 then I feed just before I go to bed around 11 and then he will sleep until morning. Great routine and my pedi agrees. That's frustrating. Sorry! Hope the next trip to see him is better!

Dance411 said...

WHAT!! First the husky comment, then the bedtime comments. Did he not tell you that you'd been doing well! I mean this is your 3rd, clearly you must have been doing something right!! I dont like this DR :)

Dance411 said...

WHAT!! First the husky comment, then the bedtime comments. Did he not tell you that you'd been doing well! I mean this is your 3rd, clearly you must have been doing something right!! I dont like this DR :)

Holbie said...

Also - Jonas sleeps 12 hours at night. He's down around 8:30 and he wakes around 8:30 as well. Now...if I can only get his sister to do that! I am NOT a morning person and I need my sleep.