The "I HAVE KIDS, SO NOW WHAT?" thread

[Luke]

I don't have kids, but a lot of our regulars do. Think of this thread as a comprehensive discussion on all things kids. Questions, advice, pictures, videos, suggestions, problems...air it out.

Two Questions to kick this off:

1) What is the general process in selecting a pediatrician?

2) My niece has RSV and is on an albuterol regimen. One puff, every four hours. Anyone here have a kid that was diagnosed with RSV?

[BoneSnapDeez]

My daughter, Iris, was automatically placed with the pediatrician's office that's affiliated with the hospital she was born in. Nice and easy. The doctor first visited Iris a few hours after she was born to giver her the first check-up.

[Frag Mortuus]

1. We went with a Pediatrician that came highly recommended from several friends and nurses. However, the pediatrician eventually started quadruple booking and it would take us around 4 hours of waiting each visit. Then when we did get our time with the doctor we would get interrupted several times by nurses or phone calls etc.We eventually moved to a pediatrician who was also highly recommended but the wait time was less. It was actually for the better because the new doc is way better with kids.

2. My daughter had Bronchialitus which is the precursor to RSV. We had to give her albuteral through a respirator that looked like Winnie the Pooh. Luckily we caught it before it turned to straight up RSV. I hope your niece gets better soon.

We are having an issue with my daughter biting her thumb. She doesn't suck her thumb and she hasn't used a pacifier in about a year, so its not really a substitute for that. The problem is that she is wearing a sore spot on her thumb from it. We really aren't sure what to do to get her to stop.

My kids names are:

Daughter: London
Son: Jonah

I thought it would be cool so hear kids names (if people are comfortable sharing). I like seeing what parents come up with

[Luke]

I hope your niece gets better soon.

Thanks. I know my Sister is super stressed out as her newborn son recently had one nasty ear infection, and now this.

Holidays spread the germs.

[mjmjr25]

Leave it to Luke to start a thread that will be a mainstay for years to come.

Pediatrician: We've been blessed and our kids have been relatively healthy. We use a practice at my work with multiple pediatricians, we book with whomever has the fewest appointments that day. I don't think we've ever waited more than 10 minutes. For serious emergent issues, you are going to go to the ER or else get the pediatrician on call anyways, so it really doesn't matter which pediatrician you choose. I imagine this is different if you have a child with a permanent illness or condition, but for general stuff, I don't think a ton of thought is needed in picking a pediatrician.

RSV: No experience. I can speak to mishapen heads (seriously), greenbreaks, misaligned bone structure (legs), and general cold / flu / fever.

Children:
Emlynn (10) - She is a 10yo w/a 30yo brain. Smarter and more mature than me, without exaggeration. She is pragmatic, thoughtful, considerate, and contemplative. She reads at an 11th grade level and enjoys building things, chemistry, puzzles, board games and nature. Fun Fact: She won the 2013 Minnesota 3rd-6th Inventors Fair.

Aidric (8) - He is exactly like I was as a boy. Reckless, spontaneous, goofy, daredevil but also full of love and kindness. He gives hugs all day long and is always smiling. Very sensitive. A beautiful child. Fun Fact: He is an Orange Belt in Karate and can 1CC more shmups than half the folks on this board

Tagan (6) - Tagan is more like Emlynn and his mother. Wicked smart and clever, very polite and oozes cool. He is the coolest person in the room at 6yo - it isn't close, he has "it". He likes to build as well and outside play. He is our natural athlete, and is also the biggest and strongest of our kids. Loves teatherball, basketball, archery and football. Fun Fact: He believes everything, when he went to his Grandmas for a week this summer, we convinced him he was replaced by a Korean boy named On-Yong. He also believes I had a pet Grizzly Bear named Rusty as a young adult that I went to bars with - I told him I have pics, but can't find them.

Aislynn (3) - An absolute beast. She is the youngest and refuses to be left behind, put to bed earlier, or given any scraps. Her personality is tenacious and unrelenting. She is hilarious and is our first child to naturally gravitate toward "stereotypical" behavior. She loves to play princess and take care of her babies. She is just a bundle of fun, loves to wrestle, laugh, play outside, cook, she's sort of a mix of all the others in this small can. Fun Fact: She's had more ER visits (3) than the rest of the others combined (1).

[noiseredux]

Smarter and more mature than me,

a 10 year old? Really?

[TSTR]

@mjmjr25 - Your kids have some seriously cool names.

[Frag Mortuus]

Tagan (6) - Fun Fact: He believes everything, when he went to his Grandmas for a week this summer, we convinced him he was replaced by a Korean boy named On-Yong. He also believes I had a pet Grizzly Bear named Rusty as a young adult that I went to bars with - I told him I have pics, but can't find them.

OH MY GOD!!!!! I Laughed so freaking hard at this!!!!!! I literally had tears in my eyes

[Hobie-wan]

Smarter and more mature than me,

a 10 year old? Really?

Obviously the maturity comes from Mrs. Majormajor.

[the King]

My youngest(Drew) had RSV and was in the hospital for about a week. He's been through quite a bit in his not quite 3 years on this planet. His first year was filled with ear infections and eventually got tubes in his ears. The liquid backup in one of his was so bad they think he couldn't really hear, so now his speech has been delayed. After tubes it was like a different kid. Back to the RSV, he was on the albuterol routine just again last week. He's pretty much been diagnosed with asthma, so he does a breathing treatment every evening for that, but any sign of him getting sick it's back to the albuterol every four hours. Amazingly, he's an incredibly happy kid.