Pediatrician phone calls, how soon and for what issue?

[flagger]

How soon after you left the hospital did you have to place that first call to the pediatrician (not for an appointment)? For what reason did you call? I am interested in hearing both the serious and silly issues.

(Yes I know they are all serious at the time, but some have privately admitted later that "ok that was a little silly first/third time parent type of worry.)

[Karenn]

Well, my first after hours phone call was this weekend, and it does indeed sound very silly: I called because Colin got stung by a caterpillar.

I know, they're soft cute and furry, right? Not when you sit on one. The "fur" was like nettles. They got embedded in his skin and caused a fairly intense rash on the back of his thigh. I called because I wanted to make sure I was treating it properly since it wasn't in any of the books. Two days later he still has the rash, but it's gotten a little better each day. Fortunately he didn't have a more serious reaction. It's just that now it's hard for me to watch Baby Einstein and think that the little caterpillar that inches forward at the beginning is very cute. ;)

[Marisa6826]

I called at about four weeks. It turned out that Sophie had nothing more than baby acne, but it all appeared in literally twenty minutes. I suspected that's what it was, just wanted to be sure.

Called again a couple weeks ago only to be told that she can't have any Little Colds stuff because she's not old enough...Was also told that the stuff doesn't really work and that it's really only to make the parents feel "as though they did something for their sick kid". Not too sure about that, but I didn't give it to her...

The only other time I called was after we were out shopping a few weeks ago. I went to change her dipe before we got back in the car and was kissing her belly. I noticed a speck in her belly button (she is an "inny"), I picked at it and her whole belly button came out! I thought I broke her! I kind of pushed it back in (completely horrified in the changing area of Needless Markup), called the doc and was told it was completely normal. It seems that most babies have a certain degree of an umbilical hernia and that it would heal on its own.

It was pretty interesting explaining this to DH on the phone on the way home from the mall!

-m

[JMarie]

Two days after we brought him home from the hospital (he was almost two weeks old), I called because I was fairly certain DS had thrush, which he did. Other than that instance, we've been relatively lucky - no illnesses or other issues to report. Just waiting for that first bout with a cold or the flu...

Jennifer
Mom to Aidan Christopher 01/28/03

[twins r fun]

8 HOURS after bringing him home!!!

They told us the day before we left the NICU that Caleb might have an inguinal hernia, but they weren't sure-we should follow up with the pediatrician. Well we got him home at 6PM and at 2AM he was up screaming and we noticed discoloration and a bulge in his scrotum. We called the NICU ("hey you gave us a defective baby"), the pediatrician (who tried to explain to DH how to push the intestinal loop back where it was supposed to go-not an easy thing to ask a nervous first time parent) and then DH had to take him to the ER. It was half silly, half serious. Since it was the first time we had seen it and looked awful, we didn't feel too silly. Plus technically it could have been a dangerous situation. However the hernia was a nearly constant presence over the next three months so we got used to it and learned that the first panic was a little silly.

[Rhonda36]

Let's see... we got home on a Saturday (Spence was 2 weeks old then), we saw our peditrician on Tuesday (everything looked great), and I called on Thursday because he was really congested and having a little trouble nursing. Doc said it's quite common for babies to get congested, and to use some saline drops in his nose to help clear it out.

So far, so good.

Rhonda and Spencer

[August Mom]

23 days. DS woke up and his eyes were matted shut. I cleaned them out, and then an hour later they were matted shut again. This pattern continued. I probably would have given it a few more days, but my mom was visiting and she convinced me to call. It turned out to be blocked tear ducts. We started massaging the tear ducts and it cleared up in a matter of weeks.

[jd11365]

This past week (5 weeks) with the whole reflux thing...though she didn't call me back. Wondering if it was the answering service's fault or hers. I was trying to decide which ped to go to, I guess this answers my question since this one didn't call back on my call...

[josephsmom]

Good question. I called with a nursing question a day or two after we got home. About a week after that, I called with a question about how DS' circumcision was healing. The ped's office was very responsive, and had the attitude that no question was silly. This was a mixed blessing. With young babies, the nurses who staff the phones were very hesitant to definitively answer our questions. They usually suggested we bring him in to have the doc look at him. Although I really appreciated this, I also sometimes felt silly for "bothering" the doctor with small problems. I once apologetically told the doc, "I never dreamed I'd be here so often, but the nurses always tell me to come in when I have a question." The doc was very reassuring, and said that the practice generally prefers to have new parents come in frequently while they're still learning to judge situations themselves. As we've learned to trust our intuition, we've definitely been calling far less often!

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[smomom]

My first call was the second day home from the hospital. My mom and I became convinced that my DS was dehydrated. Although he was nursing ok, he just didn't seem to be doing as well as we thought he should be. Our imaginations got the best of us and we both swore his head looked as though it were caving in. (DH wasn't home for all of this. He had to go to the office to tie up some things since DS arrived earlier than we expected.)

Anyway, the ped wanted us to bring him in right away. By the time we got there my mom and I swore that DS also looked yellow (with our imaginations still running wild, it didn't cross our minds that his yellow hue could have been caused by the glow of his yellow blanket). DH arrived before the ped entered the room and assured us that DS neither appeared to have a sunken head or a yellow hue.

All humor aside, we did discover that DS was not re-gaining the weight lost following delivery. He had dropped to 6 lbs 2 oz, from his 7 lb birth weight. We did have to supplement and bring him in for a couple of follow-up visits, but everything quickly worked itself out.

We did the right thing by calling the ped and were very glad that the ped insisted on seeing him - but after a bit, we did get a good chuckle about all of the illnesses Dr. Mom and Dr. Grandmother had diagnosed our healthy baby as having.

I tend to hold to the theory that if in doubt - call the pediatrician!

[Andrea S]

I just looked at your pictures. Justin is too cute. I love the slashing one. Are you having a first b-day party? I have started to think about it. Our summer is so busy I want to plan ahead. Can you believe our little guys are almost 1?!?

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

[C99]

I think Nate was about 2-weeks-old. I actually didn't call when I should have and it was somewhat serious. He had reflux that was making him choke.

I didn't call again until about 3 months when he had diarrhea and just seemed miserable. Had to take him to Urgent Care, where they diagnosed a virus and gave him some Tylenol. Cleared it right up.

My only "silly" call in the past 4.5 months was when I called to ask if there was anything special I should do for taking him on the plane.

[mharling]

We called the day after we brought him home because he hadn't had a wet diaper. They told us to come in right away. He wasn't eating enough and had jaundice. 3 bilirubin's and 2 dr's visits later he was fine. At the last dr's visit, I thanked the dr for all the attention we received (I can't even remember how many times the dr and/or a nurse called to check in on us). She said no problem and she knows that it was a stressful time.

We went on a 7-week hiatus from calling. Called 1 1/2 weeks a go for a rash that was spreading. Wasn't bothering ds, so they said just to wait until his 8-week wellness visit (5 days later). Turned out to be a yeast rash.

Called this morning because he still had a touch of a fever from the shots he got last week. They told us not to worry about anything between 99 and 100.

I have been very impressed with our ped's office. I have always been able to talk to a nurse right away. The exception was this morning because they weren't open yet, but we still got a call back within 45 minutes. I was very impressed for it being a Monday morning!!

Mary
Mommy to Lane Michael 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b33928e40550

[Melanie]

Hmm...Ds was in EVERY day for a week or so b/c of jaundice & then b/c he turned absolutely white a couple of times (I guess that was a call) so we saved up our questions. I do recall calling quite often in the first month about 1. color & consistency of poop & 2. him throwing up once.

[beckyr88]

Oh my gosh, that is so funny--knowing that Sophie is fine, of course, but your phrasing has me really chuckling!! "her whole belly button came out!"

Whew.

[Marisa6826]

Glad I'm able to entertain!

I was kind of half grossed out, half freaked out when it happened.

I was just really glad there wasn't a line to use the changing table!!

-m