Wednesday, May 18, 2011

First Visit to the US Pediatrician

Today my mom and I took Crosby to visit my old pediatrician for a "well child" visit. Since we know we will eventually be moving back to the US and due to the lack of regular "well child" visits at pediatrician's offices in the UK (actually there are no specific pediatricians for children through the NHS in England, unless there are problems and then a pediatrician would be considered a "specialist"), I decided it would be a good idea to start a medical history for Crosby here in the US and also just wanted to have piece of mind with a doctor I've known to review her here.

I was pleased to have taken Crosby to the doctor's office today to confirm the fact that she is a healthy growing little girl! She is at the 99th percentile for her height and weight and is at the 90th percentile for her head size. Crosby is just over 17 lbs already and is 26 1/2 inches tall at only 3 months of age! I sure do have an arm workout on my hands....

The not-so-fun part of the visit for Crosby was the start of her Hep B shot series. The UK does not immunize for Hep B but they do here in the US, so I wanted to make sure she started the series. It will work out well that she will be able to get the second round of this shot in the fall when Crosby & I come home for another visit. I also found out that she missed the roto-virus shot in the UK, and they do immunize for that here in the US. Unfortunately the shot has to be given before a baby is 2 months old, so we have missed the window for Crosby. Luckily it's not a serious shot but it just means we may have a bought of a virus on our hands before Crosby turns 2.
Sitting on the exam table with mom - just where I used to sit!
Getting those ears checked out....all was well. We are so lucky to have a healthy, growing, and happy little baby girl!

2 comments:

andrea said...

We did the same thing with our son, he was born in London and we came back to the US to visit when he was around 4 months and brought him to our pedi and had the Hep B shot done. I wouldn't worry about the rotavirus, it is usually more of a problem for kids in day care, so she should be fine!

Enjoy your visit!

Iota said...

What about chicken pox? Or do they do that when the baby is older? We don't immunize for that in the UK either.

On the other hand, British babies are immunized against meningitis C, and American babies aren't (or not round here, anyway).

I think it's when you are dealing with children's health issues, that you realise how emotional you can feel about cultural difference. I'm still convinced - deep down - that Calpol is better than Tylenol, though they have the same ingredient. I can't manage without Savlon (Neosporin won't do), and I don't think things are properly disinfected unless they smell of Dettol.