Doctors Visit

Claire had her first visit to her new doctor in Oakland today. It was definitely a big change going from a tiny little pediatricians office at the Napa Kaiser, to a family practice doctor and the mega complex that is Kaiser in Oakland. We ended up having to find street parking and then wander around trying to find the right building. Luckily I left plenty of time (after receiving multiple warnings from Kaiser employees about the parking situation) and still arrived 15 minutes early.

Outside of the size and location, going to a family practice was a big change as well. One thing I hadn't considered when picking a family doctor over a pediatrician, is that the waiting room would be full of sick people. This sounds silly when you say it out loud, but at a pediatrician office, the majority of kids aren't actually sick. They are there for regular wellness check ups, to get shots or physicals for sports. At the family doctor, however, there are also lots of grown ups waiting to be seen, many of whom are noticeably sick. It's a bit unrealistic to expect a 20 month old to not want to run around and touch everything when you are waiting in a room for 25 minutes for the nurse to call your name. I really like the doctor we met today, but I'm still debating if I should switch to the pediatricians office for this reason.

I was never wild about Claire's old doctor, but I had gotten very used to the routine of her previous well check visits. This visit was the first time that everything switched from baby to big girl. To weigh her they had her stand on the grown up scale instead of sitting her on a device reminiscent of a veggie scale at the grocery store. For her height they had her stand against the wall just like a big girl instead of stretching her out on the doctor's table. It was really weird for me, but Claire took it all in stride. My baby isn't a baby anymore. Oh, and finally, I didn't have to pick up our bags, clip board and Claire when they called our name and waddle my way back to the doctor's office. I simply grabbed my bags and told Claire to follow me and she did. She walked herself all the way back to the doctor's office with only a brief stop at reception to get a sticker one of the nurses was offering her.

Well the point of this post was to do a general update on Claire's milestones and growth, but I guess I had more to say about her doctor's visit than I realized! Guess I should change the title and save the update for tomorrow!