"she's wet & smells like pee"

The title says it all. I've yet to have a dr. make me cry but today I came pretty darn close.

First things first, I like my pediatrician as a person. I really do. Heck, through a string of friends its possible she could someday get linked to my blog. I'm still saying what I think regardless, even if that means someday she sees my words. Not likely but hey, I'm not stupid either.

Today was E's 18 month well baby visit, despite her being technically 20 months old now. She's been sick for over 2 months and is finally well and since well baby visits include immunizations, I refuse to go when my babies are sick. No one is giving my sick baby more for their bodies to handle. We only allow 1 immunization at a time so that always seems to be a battle of wills at each visit as well. I prevail each time, mind you. I am the mama. Yes my ped. may have went to medical school and know what she does but bottom line, I know my beliefs. I know my rights. I know my children. I do for them what I believe to be best for them. period.

The dr. told me today that W won't be able to go to school in the fall until his shots are caught up, that the school will refuse to enroll him. I literally laughed at her and then asked her if all her patients believe her bull and that W is, in fact, already in school with no problem. Duh.

Did you know varicella (aka chicken pox) is going around?! Funny thing about those communicable diseases... they go around. That said, we're still not getting the damn vax.

My ped. seems to have days like I do. She's up some days, down on others and each day/visit can unfortunately be unpredictable. I know she recently lost her mom and because I can't even imagine the gamut of emotions that entails, I try to cut her some slack but man, today was a 'down' day that hinged on downright rude.

First she told me that my daughter was "wet and smells like pee", with a wrinkled nose and look of disgust when she opened her diaper to peer at her nether regions. Ok so I've been here in this room for nearly a half hour now and she was freshly changed right before I left home. My response? A look of "what the f*ck" and a "well I guess her diaper is doing its job?" reply. Bite me. I use cloth diapers. I'm obviously aware that they get wet. Think I leave her in them for hours on end? I don't. Do I catch her pee as it happens? Some do! That's called EC'ing (elimination communication) and I don't do it. See? I'm not *that* stupid after all.

She then seemed really derailed by the fact that my toddler threw a full-on embarrassing tantrum on the floor when I wouldn't allow her to play in the trash can. The dr. waited for E to finish before continuing. Hey, if that were the case in our household, we'd never speak. Whatever.

Vit. D milk was causing E to throw up cottage cheese within minutes of drinking it. Every one of our children has reacted at some point to milk this way, so it hardly surprised us when suddenly E wasn't tolerating it so well. We stopped giving it to her and now feed her a variety of soy, rice and almond milks. I guess now she's going to be neurologically deficit, according to what I learned today. You can bet I'll be investigating that further. Surely someone will agree with me that cows milk is actually meant for baby cows and that humans can survive without it. I don't like it, don't drink it and actually think its gross. I dated a dairy farmer once, if you can believe that. I respected his opinions and choice of trade but also respectively disagreed.

I digress.

We no longer have baby gates so E is also doomed for further neurological distress any day now.

We do feed her a wide variety of healthy proteins, carbs, fats, fruits & vegetables, she's growing well and exceeding all of her developmental milestones, even with her ongoing hearing/ear issues. We do keep up on her ENT appointments, lock up our cleaning supplies & medications and she's still in a car seat so I guess we got a "good parents" check mark after those requisites. Um, thanks? Just doing my job.

Today was NOT a good ped. appointment. I'm going to cool down and then scour our insurance website for participating doctors in my area in the next few days. While I don't want to do anything rash, I also refuse to be treated like a negligent mother. I am not. I'm far from perfect but I'm also far from blissfully ignorant when it comes to parenting.

The nursing staff is the glue that holds this practice together. They are 3 amazing women who truly love children and treat me with nothing but respect each time I enter the building or talk to them on the phone. They keep me coming back time and time again. I fear my adoration for them might, this time, not be enough. They did, however, win brownie points this morning by noticing I'd lost weight. That felt fab. ;)