I love this man! No, he isn't my husband (who I actually love 10 times more. Love you Derek!). He is the girls' pediatrician. His name is Dr. Garron Miller and he works out of the Utah Valley Pediatrics office in Payson. He never makes me feel like I'm nuts or that I'm overreacting, which other doctors have. He always listens to me and my concerns. He was the one who put DaKoda in the hospital twice this year. We are so thankful for him taking the time to make sure she was okay. When DaKoda got released from the hospital back in July (click here to read about her stay) his office called the next day and asked me if I could bring DaKoda in so the doctor could check her to see how she was doing. Seriously??? I have never had a doctor call me to come in. I loved it. I am surprised with how many patients doctors usually have that he would have the time to remember that DaKoda had been released the day before from the hospital. Then to be caring and show concern about her enough to take the time to ask someone to call me to bring her in. I have liked him since I met him when DaKoda was born and we were still in the hospital. He did her check up and he was so nice, he sat and talked to me for half an hour that early morning. At DaKoda's two week check up, when they do that yucky heel stick test, the nurse could not get DaKoda's foot to bleed. So I was standing there with her in my arms and the nurse kept squeezing DaKoda's foot and trying to get it to bleed more. DaKoda was crying and squirming. I was trying to console her while holding her still. I was also trying to not watch what the nurse was doing. But lo and behold, I looked down and immediately got sick. I told the nurse I was going to have to sit down, so we sat and she finally finished the test. She turned around to look at my completely white face and asked if she wanted me to hold DaKoda for me because I was also shaking really bad. She walked out of the room, out into the hall and called the doctor in. He looked at me and went off and brought me back an entire bottle of juice. Sweet, huh? I came around and felt really embarrassed. I was worried that every time I came into the office they would remember me and look differently at me. But they never did. How did I find this awesome doctor? An advertisement that was mailed to my house! Literally. I was annoyed with the pediatrician we were seeing at the time and was looking to find a new one when this mailer showed up in my mail box. That same week that I was looking and couldn't find one. I thought great, this guy is right behind my OBGYN and it's only a 7 minute drive. The doctor we were going to was a 15 minute drive. So I knew we had to give it a try. He is definitely my favorite doctor, ever. (Sorry Ashley, as much as I like Dr. Whiting, he just didn't listen to me when I was worried about Brooke's ear infections. Plus, the drive! I was driving a half an hour to see him. Well, I think I was actually staying with him to see you! You always made me feel good about being a mom, that I was doing a good job.) I also like that Dr. Miller shares little things about him and his wife as parents. He told me once that their kids have often shared their bed. Most doctors swear you should never share your bed. He often tells me stories about his kids that makes me feel like he is a normal, average Dad just the same kind of parent as you and I. That even doctors aren't perfect super parents.


So, on to the reason for this tribute. I went to a party in Syracuse at my best friend, Cara's house on Friday night. After the party I stopped off at my parents and visited for a few and then made the long journey home. (About an hour and 15 minutes or so.) I got home around 1:30 in the morning to find Derek trying desperately to get DaKoda back to sleep. She had been up for the last hour crying. I took over for the next few hours. She would toss every 10 minutes and start crying again. We tried giving her teething drops, orajel, gas drops, tylenol, and eventually even benedryl. I finally had Derek take over after 3, and he finally got her to sleep around 5 am. But she only slept until 10 am. Then the crying started all over again. She started doing this hysterical crying. The kind when she usually has fallen and gotten really hurt. She would just randomly start crying this way at least once every half hour or so. Around 1pm, I tried rocking with her to get her to relax and possibly take a nap. Well, she kept crying and I knew something had to be really wrong. So I called the doctor's office at 1:30 pm(this was Saturday). They are usually open until 2 pm on Saturdays. I asked the nurse what to do and she asked if I could bring her in right now. I said, well it might be closer to 2 when we get there, and she said ok, just come in. So I hurried and threw shoes on myself and the girls and ran out the door. The doctor came in the room wearing shorts and sandals and immediately apologizes for his appearance. The other doctor in the office (Dr. Peterson, who we love as well) had called him last minute and asked him to cover the end of the shift so he could go to a football game. Dr. Miller is so generous, he dropped everything and came in. He is such a character when he explains all this to me, I just laughed. Then he says that he really didn't mind because his wife was making him do chores, so he would rather work! So funny! So he looks in DaKoda's ears and says they look fine. Then looks down her throat and freaks out. He asked me to look, (which is something he does a lot; another thing I have never had a doctor do) and her throat is blister red and polka dotted with white infection. Poor girl, I would be crying too! He ran a strep test which came back negative. (While we waited for the test, he brought two Gatorade's for the girls! He is just so thoughtful.) He said he was glad it wasn't strep, but the bad thing is that it means it's viral. Viral Tonsillitis. Which means there's nothing we can do. (I even came home and googled it and the only other suggestion I found was gargling salt water. Yeah, how do you get a baby to gargle? Not happening. So bottom line, there's nothing we can do.) He did give her a prescription for a swish that she swallows and it numbs out her throat. That and keeping her on main meds has helped a fair amount. Dr. Miller was concerned about her possibly getting dehydrated again, (like in July) and told me to try really hard to push liquids and watch her diapers. She hasn't been crying today, but you can still tell she doesn't feel her best. She sure lets us know she's sick when she is trying to eat or go to sleep. The rest of the day, you almost couldn't tell she was really that sick. She is the most smiley baby even when she is sick. I remember the first time she was hospitalized for bronchiolitis, and she also cut her first tooth that day, the nurses kept laughing about how happy DaKoda was. They kept joking with me, 'Are you sure she's sick?'

I am glad my poor baby is starting to feel better. Dr. Miller said it would be about 5 days, hopefully. He said to call if she wasn't better after 7 days. Here's to you, Dr. Miller! Thanks for all your sincerity, dedication, and just plain friendliness.