My name is Christine. I am a Board Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. And, I am a mom. For the first few months of my son's life, I was a working mom. Now, because of a move to Chicago (for my husband's career) that had taken longer than expected, I unexpectedly became a stay at home mom. First and foremost, I have to give sincere credit to you stay at home moms. This job is tough. My husband, Tom, travels very frequently for his job and that leaves me as the sole caregiver for our baby (and dogs and home) a lot of the time. To his credit, he is an amazing father and provider for our family and he spends as much time with Ben as possible when he is in town. We have now finally made it to Chicago and once my state licensure comes through I know that I will return to the workforce, ideally remaining in the primary care setting and working two to four days per week. I would love the opportunity to split time between career and family and I know it will take work to perfect that balance.
Many of our friends are in the same stage of life - married for a few years and starting families. These past two years in particular has been full of babies, and Ben is going to be fortunate to grow up with kids his age when we all get together. As our kiddos grow older, I've noticed that I'm asked for advice more often than when the babies were newborns. While everyone overall seems to be happy with their primary healthcare providers, their seems to be a trend of lack of communication between families and their pediatric office staff. Perhaps this is because the well child check up visits are spaced with greater frequency after the 6 month old mark, or perhaps they observe how crazy busy the providers are in the office and take note of the packed waiting room and don't want to "bother" the providers. Whatever the reason, I've found people asking my advice with greater frequency lately. I miss work, so I don't mind this at all (with a friendly reminder that I can't actually diagnose or treat their kids, so they do need to go to their provider too!). I really enjoy educating others and I like to explain the "why", that often gets left out during a rushed appointment.
So that's where this blog idea came about. I'd like the opportunity to share a bit of knowledge about the "why's", as well as some of the basics about common well and illness care for little ones. If you've been told not to give your child cough medicine until they are school age, did anyone take the time to explain why? If not, I don't feel like it's completely fair to wag a finger at a parent when they're desperate to soothe a miserable child at 3am and give them a dose anyways. I'm open to questions and comments, and am always interested in learning something new myself. I plan to tie the content of these posts to my own experiences as a mom as well. Having a child has certainly opened my eyes and changed my perspective on how to utilize my education and healthcare practice. We are fortunate to have a healthy son, but our journey hasn't been without a few bumps and concerns.
So please, feel free to ask for advice, clarification, or resources to help you on your parenting journey. I will do my best to provide these tools from a combined professional and personal perspective. But remember, this information is not to replace your relationship with your own healthcare provider. My hope is that it will lead you to feel comfortable to pick up the phone and call your child's provider and ask more questions. We really do welcome phone calls and appointments, no matter how busy the office might seem.
