what not to do

We went to the doctor.

Yesterday, at the midwives one week check in for Gus, we noticed a rash under his arms. A rash with a sort of gross white discharge and a funky smell. They weren't sure exactly what it was, said it could be a yeast infection but it could also be something else, something bacteria related. They recommended we take him into the doctor.

We had chosen a pediatrician a few weeks ago and have an appointment for a newborn check up next week, but that doctor wasn't available. Instead, we went with whatever doctor would see us.

This was the first time Gus traveled in the car, more than 2 blocks from our house. We got everything ready, packed up the diaper bag, figured out the car seat, and drove downtown to the HFA Pediatric clinic. The visit itself was okay, sort of. Dave counted the number of seconds before I was interrupted (15!) and the doctor sort of listened to us and then diagnosed a yeast infection and told us she'd prescribe some ointment. Then she asked which pharmacy we'd prefer. We thought about the one close to our home, but she recommended the HCMC pharmacy, since it was so close. We said fine, and planned to walk over there.

I'm not sure what this woman was thinking, but taking a 7 day old baby into one of the busiest pharmacies in the world right before closing time was a bad bad bad idea. It was jammed full, with tons of people waiting and tvs blaring. Crazies hanging out by the elevator, talking to themselves, security guards keeping the whole scene in check. We waited in a line for 20 minutes, only to get to the front and find out we were in the wrong line. They gave us a number and told us it would appear on the board. We waited another 10 minutes for the number to come up, and then gave up and came home. We decided to treat his armpits with a cider vinegar wash, and transfer the prescription to Walgreen's in the morning.

The rash looks much better today, but Dave and I are still reeling a little bit from the whole experience. I'm not sure if we'll go back to the clinic, since once we got to the car we saw that someone had hit the side panel while we were gone. All in all not a very rewarding experience.