i {heart} good doctors.

this is me.  by ellie.  i love it.
(after this picture was taken we did add some black pupils...)

{deep cleansing breath}
oh, i feel good today.
my house is clean!
my new bunk beds are assembled...
i spent an extra few minutes with my little girls last night and painted their toe nails red after bath time, even the baby.  (well, Ellie chose florescent orange.)
i love little girls with painted toe nails.
(just FYI-- i do not love painted fingernails on little girls.  in fact, i hate painted fingernails-- they always look half peeled off.  my rule- toes yes, fingers nope. at least on a school night.  hah!)
we read the chapter on Sunday, in The Little House in the Big Woods.
All of a sudden my kids thought our Sunday rules were VERY mild!
i love Laura Ingalls Wilder.
and, it's raining here.  Guess what?  i love the rain.
can you believe i'm saying that?
i really do.  Oregon rain feels so refreshing and ALIVE.
i don't think it's gloomy at all.
the trees here are bursting with blooms-- popcorn popping on the apricot tree for sure!
spring is COMING!!
there are yellow and purple bulbs popping up everywhere and the earth is just ALIVE with possibility.
even though i used my wipers on the way to the doctors this morning, a look out my window just now shows it's not raining at all.
the earth just looks sparkly and fresh and green and happily fed.
i LOVE rain.
oregon is so beautiful.

i got a new doctor-- a FAMILY practitioner.
{well, we actually have two new doctors-- a boy and a girl.  as my kids have gotten older i find i am preferring a girl doctor for my girls and a boy for my boys.  it's funny because i have never minded having boy OB's.  anyway- i love both new doctors!}
this new office is only 2 minutes from my house (in my little town) and the doctors are, i forget the real term, "naturally inclined"...
don't you hate it when you have doctors that you don't love?
here is my motherly advice for you today--
IF YOU DON'T LOVE YOUR DOCTOR-- GET A NEW ONE!!
there is great peace that comes from having a doctor that you TRUST.
and to think i was driving 20 minutes away to a doctor i didn't like when i could go 1 minute to a doctor i do like... geesh!
{you can stop reading now, honestly.  that's all i really have to say-- but of course i will tell you every detail of my ever-exciting trip to the doctor's office.  just stop now and go sew something!!}

to establish care everyone had to have an exam.
we had 9 doctor's appointments yesterday.
{smile}
there were moments of craziness when jakob (age 13) was taking leah's (age 5) duplos, or when i sent some kids to the lobby and they came back into the exam room because they wanted me.
but overall, they were great kids.
Now, every time i go back in (i've already been twice since yesterday morning for my own appointments and blood work) the nurses and office staff always tell me what well-behaved children i have.
i just smile and think i was pretty lucky!

the office lady told me to bring in the addresses of my Texas doctors and she would request our records.
my old doctors gave me a stack of forms that i needed to fill out and mail in-- we've lived here since last summer and i still haven't gotten around to it.
after just a few signatures and some addresses, my request for medical records is IN THE MAIL.
i love a great office staff.

ellie finally got a diagnosis for her stinging bottom-- we started some meds (and probiotics) and she said she didn't wake up once last night.
poor girl.
we have been to the doctor 5 times in the past three months with that child and they have never been able to give us any answers or any relief.
did i tell you i love my new doctor?

eve was burning up last week.  she got a prescription and it didn't seem to help- still 103* fevers after tylenol and ibuprofen.  they called in a different prescription over the phone for me right when i called in concerned. turns out that i didn't end up needing the other prescription because she woke up from a nap cool and happy-- BUT i loved that they listened to my concern and acted.

leah and lily have the same bronchial cough that eve had- without the high fevers.
i'm sure they're sick, but i'm pretty sure we can kick it on our own with lots of water and healthy food.
my doctor thought the same thing- even before i said my opinion.
he heard their wheezing breathing but said he didn't feel like he needed to prescribe anything yet.
he said, "Just keep an eye on them for now and call me if they get worse.  I don't mind calling something in later, if they get worse."

drew can't turn his neck.  i've noticed that he was a bit under-the-weather lately and wondered if he was coming down with bronchitis also, and then he woke up with a really stiff neck.  the doctor knew just what it was, some virus, and just what to do about it-- heat and ibuprofen and time.
oh, i feel so peaceful when i have a doctor that is smarter than i am.

lily is behind on her immunizations, she is three.  i am a mother that does immunize my children.  BUT, i just didn't feel good about immunizing Lily.  I didn't.  When she was one they convinced me to giver her the first dose of shots- that night she got two big, circular open wounds on her arm that didn't heal for over a month. My doctor (who i didn't love) insisted the wounds were not related to the immunizations.  I didn't care what she thought.  I know that Lily has something different about her when it comes to immunizations- call it mothers intuition.  i hate taking her to the doctors, because i don't want to deal with their condemning questioning.  both the doctor and the nurse were very concerned when i explained my thoughts about lily.  even thought i said we could try doing one shot and see what happens they both discouraged me from doing it now.  they want to be sure before they give her anything else, they don't think it's worth the risk.
{sigh} i felt so validated!

anna has a bump on her leg that bothers her.  I told the doctor i thought it was just a wart or an infected hair, or something like that.  the doctor told me what it was a molluscum and then pointed out to me the small dimple in the middle that helps you know it's not a wart or infected hair.
just a small thing-- but the extra explanation will help me self-diagnosis many more little bumps that will show up over the course of my lifetime.

my doctor is doing lots of blood work on me just to be sure all my levels are good and high.
i can't remember the last time i had this done when i was not pregnant.
there is just something reassuring in knowing i'm being checked out.

and, todd got a good talking to about cholesterol and the importance of exercise.

we are not at our healthiest these days-- but spring is coming.
it is BEAUTIFUL here.  and i have a feeling we are going to be outside A LOT!
there is good health in our future.
oh, i just feel better already knowing that i finally have a doctor that i trust.

seriously.
find a doctor you love.
it just takes 10 pounds off your shoulders.
especially if you have lots of kids and lots of little concerns.
ahhh... off to clean my bathrooms!
i love tuesdays!