im the worst almost mommy

I completely forgot to call and meet with any pediatricians! So I just looked on the GHI website to find one in my area (I live in Long Beach) and I called one that I found that is covered under my insurance and also affiliated with LIJ (where im delivering) and the receptionist probably thought I was the biggest iddiot lol She asked if I wanted to make an appointment to come in for a consultation and I told her that unless I can make it for today, that I wouldn't be able to come in because Im getting induced tomorrow. She gave me all of the general information and answered the questions that I had and said that I didn't NEED to have a consultation that it was more of piece of mind for myself to see everything and meet with the doctors, and that when I deliver I can just give the hospital their information and one of the doctors will come. So I thanked her and hung up.

Now that im off the phone with her, im thinking don't I need to be on file or whatever with the pediatrician? I didn't give them any of my information or anything. Ugh im terrible at this stuff!

Does anyone know if I need to be on file with them? Or if I literally just give the hospital there information and its fine?

Re: im the worst almost mommy

You are fine, and you are not the worst almost mommy.

You do not need to be on file with the ped, just give the info to the hospital when they ask for it. They'll have the ped check DC out after birth on their rounds.

Re: im the worst almost mommy

you are NOT a bad mommy you can go and if you dont like them after the first appt. you can always change. Its just like going to a new doctor for yourself, you will fill out the paperwork when you are there with

dont stress it you have bigger and better to look forward to ... TOMORROW

Re: im the worst almost mommy

You aren't the worst mommy! I chose not to interview pediatricians, since I went with a local practice that a lot of my friends use. I didn't even call them before, since I had heard that I didn't need to. They asked in L&D who my ped was, I told them, and I guess that they called them or told them when they came in for rounds and saw her. You can always switch if you aren't happy with your choice! Good luck!

Re: im the worst almost mommy

you'll be fine and how exciting about tomorrow!!

Side q on ped- do they have to be affiliated with the hospital you deliver at? If they are not, do you need to call to check if the doctor will come to that hospital to check the baby?

Re: im the worst almost mommy

I didn't meet with peds either before I had DD. I just got their name off the insurance website (found out they took my ins which DD was on for 30 days, and took Child Health Plus which we got her on after birth). All we did was give the hospital their info and they let them know I had given birth. The first day the hospital pediatrician saw DD and then the next day a ped from the practice we chose came to see her.

Re: im the worst almost mommy

Re: im the worst almost mommy

thanks so much girls!!! I feel so much better now! I can't believe that I completely forgot about this!

Re: im the worst almost mommy

Aww, like others said your not a bad mommy. I didn't even know I was supposed to find a pediatrician until I started reading posts here.

When exactly do you start doing this anyway?

Re: im the worst almost mommy

Don't worry!

There will be a ped in the hospital that checks him out... you can choose to follow up with their practice as well!

Re: im the worst almost mommy

You are so not a bad mommy.

When I was pg with DS I had no idea that I should have picked a ped before giving birth or that I should have met with them.

After I gave birth to DS then hospital ped came and checked him out. Since that ped had his own practice we decided to continue with him. When DS was 8 months or so we switched to our current ped who is amazing.

Re: im the worst almost mommy

I didn't make it to my consult appt, bc ds was 2 weeks early. many people don't do consults just go by word of mouth

Re: im the worst almost mommy

I didn't meet with any peds either. I chose one that saw DC at the hospital and she was great. I would still go to her if we hadn't moved away. She's at LIJ and her group office is right next door to LIJ if you are interested.

Re: im the worst almost mommy

You are fine - as long as they're accepting new patients you'll be able to stay with them.

My pediatrician isn't even affiliated with my hospital!

One thing I will mention - I don't know your opinions on vaccines but if you have any thoughts of straying from the recommended schedule, at your first appointment after your DC is born make sure you ask about their vaccine policy (are they strict about the recommended schedule, will they delay them at your request). Their policies should line up with your own beliefs and if they don't, it is better to know sooner rather than later so you can find a new ped.

Re: im the worst almost mommy

You are not a bad mommy at all! I waited til the last minute to look for pediatricians. I only visited 1, which I did not like. The one I went with (which I decided to go with only a few days before going into labor) I got from a referral from a friend and I never visited the office. It worked out though.Don't feel bad. If for any reason you want to change peds in the future, you can.

Just give the hospital the doctor's name and you will be fine.

Re: im the worst almost mommy

Jenise, please don't worry. I didn't have a pediatrician that I loved with my DD. I actually fell in love with the peds that were in Winthrop and when I found out that they took my insurance, I went with them.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Re: im the worst almost mommy

nottttttttttttttttttttttttt a bad mommy dont worry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!