OB still up in the air

This week has just been terrible. The OB awfulness continues. I showed up for my new OB appointment yesterday morning and found out that she doesn't have privileges at my hospital (even though she is listed as being affiliated with them on my insurance's website). Cue the tears! So we went over to my original OBs office and demanded that they honor the in-network rate. Nope, won't do it. How much are we looking at out of network? Can't tell you that either. They were totally unapologetic and are telling the crying pregnant woman how they are the wronged party - it's not their fault the doctor left the practice. So, it's my fault? Spoke with the doctor and she was also playing the "wronged party" card. So furious.

I am working with my insurance co. to get them to consider her in network for my delivery due to the circumstances, and still calling other OBs hoping someone will take pity on me. I'd love to get away from my current OB. I'm having a problem thinking about someone with so little empathy cutting me open and delivering my child. It's so upsetting.

hiccups

Baby continues his trend of proving Mama wrong when I'm wondering about his development. On Friday, I mentioned to DW that I've never felt him hiccup. Well, guess what he did on Sunday (and again last night)? You got it - hiccups! Cutie. He continues to move a lot and he is such a big boy that you can see the movements pretty easily from the outside. The top of my stomach still kills. I can't imagine what it'll feel like in 5 more weeks. Ugh... I also think my belly button is about to pop out. I didn't think it would happen as I have a very deep innie, but I'm pretty sure it's going to happen, and soon.

On the home front, we are still trying to find places to store all of the great baby stuff we got at our shower. So. Much. Stuff! Of course, some of it is short term, so it won't all be here for too long. Anyone in small spaces have good tips for smart storage? I'm figuring we'll just have to live with less space, more baby stuff for a while.

Next up: Appt. with new OB tomorrow at 8:45AM.

OB shenanigans at 34 weeks

Remember how I was considering changing OBs a few weeks ago? I so should have! At Friday's appt. they told me that my insurance was contracted through the doctor that left (several months ago) and the remaining doctor is now out of network. They tell me this 5 WEEKS BEFORE MY SCHEDULED C-SECTION! So we were left scrambling trying to figure out what the hell to do. A surgery and several nights hospital stay could break us if we did this out of network. Oh, and I saw that they haven't billed anything since 6/15, meaning that all of my appointments since then are going to be paid at 70%, not 90% as I thought. How is this even legal? How can they not inform patients of this news? Had I known, I would have switched OBs immediately to someone in network.

I called the office this morning and they told me to find out if the hospital is considered in network. They don't know this information? I called DW in tears and she took over. I am just so angry. My parents just bought their plane tickets based on a 12/21 delivery date. Who the hell knows what it will be now.

DW also spoke with our current OB's office and the asshole there wasn't even apologetic, even when DW told her how upset we both are. I can't even believe the incompetence. DW also told her that we are not paying at 70% as they never informed us of this change. Office woman claimed Dr. would "probably" make an adjustment so we'd pay at 90%. Dr. is getting an angry letter - one of many, I'd assume.

So then DW called our pediatrician, who we loved, and he gave her a rec for an OB who is affiliated with our hospital and set up an appt. with her for Wednesday morning. I called my insurance co. to ensure that new OB is in network and they tell me, no, she is not. OB's office insists they are. Sorry, not taking any chances after what I just got out of. So I had to call my high-risk OB for references and now have an appt. with yet another OB on Thursday morning. I am so stressed out. This is so ridiculous. Worst. Monday. Ever.

I just can't believe our "luck." It seems like this kind of shit happens all the time with us. Here's hoping the new OB is good.

baby's name and OB visit

First, let me go ahead and reveal the baby's name for those of you who didn't see the shower photos. We are naming him Shane. His middle name will be my last name and his last name will be DW's. So, yay for little Shanie! And thanks for all of the nice comments on the shower photos. It turned out way nicer than we expected on all fronts. We went in a little stressed and wanting to get it over with, but ended up having a really great time.

We had our follow-up appointment with the high-risk OB on Wednesday. Baby Shane had moved out of the frank breech position, but had his back to my stomach so was still a little difficult to scan. They were able to finally get a decent look at his heart and also at his cute face! Check him out at 33 weeks:



OB was in a much better mood this time around. They checked my blood sugar and it was fine and he said I looked good for where I am in the pregnancy. That was our last appointment with him and I was a little sad about it. I liked him a lot and he is a lot more thorough than my regular OB. Oh well, only a little over 5 weeks left until the little guy is out in the world. Hard to imagine.

He has also been moving around a lot more. Yay! I can see him moving from the outside, which is pretty crazy but fun, too. I'm having a lot of pain where my belly meets my breasts. It feels like the skin is going to bust open - ow! Other than that, I'm doing pretty well.

Next up: Regular OB appointment today at 2:45.

shower

We had our baby shower today and OMG did we ever get a lot of stuff! I am so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends - I never expected such a generous turnout. We got tons of stuff off our registry, including ALL of the high-ticket items, even the expensive breast pump I only put on there so we'd get 10% off when purchasing it ourselves later. Just wow. I think everyone had a good time, too.

If you want to see pix of our cowboy-themed shower (and learn baby's name to boot!), feel free to email me and I'll hook you up :)

ultrasound and gay parenting

We went in to the high-risk OB for what was supposed to be our last visit/ultrasound with him. Unfortunately, baby was in a difficult position so 1.) we didn't get pictures and 2.) I have to go back in next week to see if he's moved so that they can check a few things more closely. The little guy is in the frank breech position, meaning he is head up with his legs up over the body:

It's not really a problem as it's still early (32 weeks) and he's coming via c-section no matter what, but it was a bit alarming to see his head and feet so close together! Silly dude! What they could see checked out fine, but they want one more look at him.

OB was a bit alarmed at the size of the baby. He estimates that he is 5 lbs, called him a "big boy," and said I have an "8 or 9 month sized belly." He wants me to do the damned hour glucose test again (argh) to make sure all is well, and advised me to watch what I'm eating. Kind of frustrating as I'm not going crazy with the food. I have a lot of 6' and taller men in my family and both my brother and I were big babies (I was 9 lbs and my bro was 9 lbs, 2 oz). This OB and the other one in his practice are big into childhood obesity research and the connection between it and how the mother eats during pregnancy. I think they are a bit alarmist about it, but I will try to watch what I'm eating more closely. I'm also a little annoyed that I had my regular OB visit last Friday, where she measured my belly and said nothing was out of the ordinary and where they told me I had actually lost 2 lbs since my last appt. Which is it, doctor people?

ION, we are meeting with a lawyer at the Gay and Lesbian Center to find out if DW has to adopt our baby or not. We were thinking that since we are legally married, all we'd have to do is put her name on the birth certificate and we're all good. Our lawyer advised us to do a 2nd parent adoption, but she doesn't specialize in family law and is certainly not specialized in LGBT legal issues, so here we go. It is so offensive to me that we'd have to go through a home study and spend several thousand dollars for my wife to legally parent a child we conceived during our marriage. If she were a man and we went the same route to get pregnant (sperm donor), I could just put "his" name as the father and no one would question it. How is that any different than our situation? I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it has both of us so furious.

busy mama

Last weekend was the last hurrah in terms of going out prior to giving birth. We saw Echo and the Bunnymen with DW's cousins and their wives on Saturday night, and we saw Tegan and Sara (LOVE) on Sunday and Monday nights. We had fun, but I was asleep last night by 7:30 I was so worn out. The young-uns at T&S were hysterical staring at my belly. They just couldn't believe a preggo lady was there! We didn't plan on having all these shows in a row. We agreed to go to Echo a few months ago and then the T&S tix came around. We love them and they have a new record out so we had to go. Fortunately the venues were seated as that's a necessity for me at this point. We are missing the Pixies Doolittle reunion tour because they are playing a standing-only venue. I can't tell you how disappointed we both are as we really wanted to go.

We are big music fans and see lots of shows and actually were in a band together for about 5 years when we first met (I sang and she played bass). So music is a pretty huge part of our lives. It was cool feeling the baby kicking during certain moments. Hopefully it wasn't too loud for the little guy. I know musicians who've toured pregnant and their babies were fine so I'm sure it's okay.

In other news, a co-worker of mine dropped that his daughter has H1N1. I freaked out a bit (internally) but a call to my OB put my mind at ease. She said you can only get it through direct contact with someone with symptoms, so it's fine.

Next up: OB visit Friday 10/30 and high-risk OB visit (including 3D ultrasound!) Monday 11/2.