When you’re pregnant, you go through several doctor’s visits. Most, if not all of these visits are to your OBGyne and they’re all prenatal checkups. These prenatal checkups are not only to ensure that you’re healthy and your pregnancy goes well, but they’re also to ensure the baby you’re carrying is too.
Once you reach term and you deliver your baby, the trips to the doctor don’t stop. However, you don’t only go to your OBGyne for checkups. You now have to go to a pediatrician. This is because your baby requires special care to ensure that the days following their birth and the years after see them as healthy as they can be.
However, before you can look forward to the years to come, your baby has to go to their first doctor visit. But, what usually happens during their first visit? Well, this article will tell you what to expect! What’s more, we’ll also help you prepare as much as possible for this so you can make the most out of their first visit to their pediatrician. So, if you’re nervous about their first visit, read on and help yourself prepare for it!
The Importance of That First Visit
All visits to the doctor are important. However, your baby’s first visit to their pedia is extra important as this will help set the tone for their following visits. This is because this first visit is what helps give the doctor a picture of where your child is at in terms of their overall health. As such, it gives them an idea on where to go from there.
So, it makes perfect sense that you have to make the most out of this first visit. As this will help influence their growth and development in the days, weeks, and years to follow, getting everything right is crucial. With that in mind, what should you expect during their first visit to their pediatrician?
What Usually Happens
Doctor’s visits can vary and how they go usually depends on the pediatrician your child is seeing. All doctors are different after all. However, despite this, there are a few key things that most, if not all, first visits have in common. Below are some of those things.
Measurements
One of the most common things that takes place during your child’s first pedia visit would be a string of measurement taking. Your child’s pediatrician will take note of their length, weight, head circumference, chest circumference, and abdominal circumference.
The reason why the doctor takes note of this is to help give them an idea on their nutrition status. You see, when they get these measurements, they’ll cross reference this to a standardized guide that can tell whether your child is healthy or malnourished or stunted for their age. This will also help give the pedia a baseline to refer to for the following visits.
Vaccines
Another thing that may take place during your child’s first doctor visit would be to take track of the vaccines they have and give any that they may need during that visit. You see, vaccines help build the immunity of your baby and also help prevent diseases they would otherwise get if they don’t get a particular shot.
With that in mind, during their first visit, your doctor may give your child a vaccine that they may not have received after they were delivered. They may also schedule them for their next shot. Whatever the case, your doctor will take note of what vaccines they have and what they’ll need in the coming weeks and months.
General Advice and Pointers for Care
Towards the end of the visit, the pediatrician will advise you on a number of things. One of those things will be when your child’s next visit will be. Depending on what they see during the first visit, the next visit may be to help check on things like their weight, any conditions or illnesses they may have come across, or a well-baby checkup and vaccine administration.
Aside from this, they will also give you instructions on how to go about their care in light of their first visit. For example, if your child is underweight, they may advise you to breastfeed more. They will also advise you on how to go about any sicknesses they may have during the time of the visit. However, whatever happens, this part is especially important as this is how you can ensure that your child will be healthy or get nursed back to health as soon as possible.
Preparing for the Visit
Knowing all this, how can a mama prepare for their baby’s first doctor’s visit? Well, it honestly doesn’t take much. Aside from bringing your baby, all you have to do is bring their baby book, and take note of any questions you may have in mind. As their baby book is where you’ll record things like their height and weight, and vaccines received, among other things, it’s important to always have this on you.
As for the questions, taking note of any you have between visits can at least give you the answers you need if there’s something you’re curious about. It’s better to ask than to go guessing around, after all. So, be sure to ask, even if you think it’s silly!
These visits are important to help ensure that your child is on the right track in terms of their health and development. So, it’s also important to do what you can to maximize this first visit. Now that you know what could possibly happen and what you can do to prepare, you’re one step closer to at least making the most out of it!
