The Adventures of Baby Arthur

by Lincoln

The name GuessYourBaby may have been motivated by hosting baby pools, but it also has a double meaning. Can you guess it? (badum-ching!) As first time parents, me and Liz are basically guessing at everything! (badum-ching!) We obviously rely very much on the advice of our doctors. Even if we question that advice, we lean on it and hang on their words. Even the advice of other parent's doctors comes into play. ("My doctor said...")

We quickly realized that it's not just about the doctor and his or her personal qualifications. It's also the entire staff, office and overall operation. It's a business and we are the consumers. We originally brought Arthur to a neighborhood Chinatown doctor, who shall hereafter be referred to as "stinkin-Chinatown-doctor". While stinkin-Chinatown-doctor himself was a nice, courteous and intelligent man, his staff left a lot to be desired and it reflected poorly on him. With a baby at home and as first time parents, we need a doctor that's accessible. We need a doctor that is willing to field questions over the phone and maybe even email. Whenever we called this office, all we ever got was a "maybe the doctor will call you back if he has time". Appointments were pointless. You go in, sign your name on an extremely long list and wait for 2 hours. Why did we bother making an appointment? Add on the general rudeness and poor attitude of the reception and it was quite clear we needed a new pediatrician.

We decided to go with rock star pediatrician and author of The New Basics, Dr. Michel Cohen, M.D; who shall hereafter be referred to as "Dr. Frenchy". I am introducing Dr. Frenchy by name because I'm assuming that a published author wouldn't mind that I'm mentioning his work, plus I only really have positive things to say about him! His practice was as different from stinkin-Chinatown-doctor as night is to day. The entire operation is professionally run from top to bottom. We've never had to wait more than 20 minutes. There is a 24-hour hot-line that we can call if we have any problems (and we have!). They have a website where parents turn to and look at test results. He came highly recommended by Dr. Anna, whom we trust. He apparently has client roster that includes celebrities like Jennifer Connelly (We've heard as much anyway!). Most importantly, his practice accepts our insurance just the same as stinkin-Chinatown-doctor! Easy decision!!

You could say I've always been blah-zee when it came to my own health and I've never gone through such a process of picking a doctor. I guess this is why I found this entire process to be worth a post!

With Arthur comes great responsibility.

Labels: parenting