... The Naturopath

I had decided that I was done taking Emmy to the family practice doctor we had been seeing after our last visit in July. She wasn't a bad or mean lady; we just didn't see eye to eye on a couple issues, and it would create the biggest ball of dread in my stomach before I would take Emmy to an appointment, knowing that I'd have to be on my A-game to defend my decisions.

Issue #1: Vaccinations
I'm not against them. It was just important for me to read the literature out there (my favorite being The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears), and make my own decisions about what was right for my child in regards to quantity and timing. I wanted someone less biased towards vaccinations to help me with the decision-making process. This was not that doctor.

Issue #2: Long and Lean Emmy
I needed someone to look at Emmy, not the chart in their hands to decide if she was a healthy little girl. Emmy eats. Emmy eats good things. (Emmy couldn't get enough brussel sprouts last night.) But her body directs her calories towards her height, not her weight. We don't really know why, except that maybe she did receive the best possible combination of Ryan and I's genes. Good for her!

So, finally ending the long mom slackage in this department, I took healthy Emmy to a naturopath on Tuesday, to see if this kind of doctor would be a better fit for my sensibilities. I really didn't know where a naturopath stood on vaccination issues, child development, etc. And so I found out!

Turns out that Dr. White doesn't typically see children for "well-child visits" since "childhood is not a disease, just like pregnancy's not a disease." Word! If your kid's sick or you have questions, you can give her a call. She said she didn't even know where her growth charts were and pointed towards the top of her bookshelves. She doesn't even weigh or measure children unless you want her to. Emmy is regularly weighed and measured at WIC visits, so it's never been necessary to double-up on the height/weight checks. We talked about vaccinations, multi-vitamins, fluoride, and ear infections all while she observed Emmy talking, reading to herself, playing with toys, and doing what I asked her to do (mostly). She filled me in on some common myths, like: there is vitamin D in breastmilk! Most women are just deficient in it, and are therefore not passing it on to their babies. So now I'm taking Vitamin D which perhaps has something to do with my happier mood the last couple days.

Dr. White checked Emmy for signs of food allergies and digestion issues, and came to the conclusion "Emmy's tall and thin." Amazing! For me, Dr. White put the common sense back in medicine. As she said, "Medicine's not rocket science." I'm sure that her approach might not work for many parents who would prefer more guidance and frequent reassurance that their child is doing okay. But "Responsibility" has always been my middle name, and it's the good part of my neuroses. I appreciate a doctor who trusts me to handle being a parent, and supports my decisions. I grew up in a Montessori world, where if you give folks the opportunity to take charge of their own learning and decision-making, it usually works out.