and away we go

I hope everyone had a wonderful and romantic Valentine's day! Chris started getting a cold on Friday and spent the entire weekend in the guest room, trying to stay away from Jack and I, so Jack was my Valentine. Not a bad substitute if you ask me, but luckily Chris is starting to feel a little better today and so far Jack and I are still healthy and will hopefully stay that way, knockonwood.

Chris was sweet enough to still go out in his sickness and get me the prettiest flowers (seen above) and a sweet card so I have to say (once again) that I have the sweetest husband ever.
In other news, I went to the doctor yesterday and got a clean bill of health and we took a picture with Jack and the other doctor in the practice.



I actually liked this doctor so much more than the other during my whole pregnancy, going so far as calling him "the nice one", not that the other isn't nice, this one is just so extraordinarily nice that nobody else could seem as nice in comparison. Something happened though, when the "less nice one" delivered Jack and I actually started liking him more. Weird.
Anyway, I'm glad I got to see them both yesterday since I am not going back there for a whole year now (unless I get pregnant again before that haha hoho hehe) and that is kind of weird because I feel like I've been practically living there for the last 10 months. The nurses were so nice and said I should come by whenever I bring Jack to the pediatrician since the office is right upstairs and I just might do that. I feel lucky that I found a practice I really like, to go through this whole experience with.
They were also going on and on about how adorable Jack is. They see a lot of babies and they said that he was the cutest they have seen in a long time.
I may be his mama but I have to agree with them. He's pretty darn cute.

reality bites

So Jack and I went to the Dr yesterday and considering we were gone almost 3 hours, he did amazingly well. He did get hungry in the pediatrician's waiting room and started screaming bloody murder but luckily I wore a shirt that I could easily nurse him in so that was easily solved. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of all this and maybe I really can handle having a normal life again where I actually leave the house and see people and talk to adults during the day.

As much as I love being with Jack all day, I need to start thinking about breaking out of this little bubble we have created this past month. Someone from my agency called me a couple of days ago to tell me that a really good client (who shall remain nameless so as not to jinx things) was interested in me and how soon could I be ready to take some digital photos to send to them? That really shocked me back to reality because I honestly hadn't given a minute's thought to when I was going to start working again. The good ( and bad) news is that my body is in no way ready to start working again, I have to lose at least 15 more pounds before I can fit into any of my own clothes again and I can't do anything more than walk before mid-February. That gives me almost a month before I have to think about horrible things like leaving Jack for more than 5 minutes at a time.

After all, if I left Jack for more than 5 minutes, I might miss something like this:

And I eve you with the onesie of the day, courtesy of Jack's cousin Paige:

no sharps, just smiles

Today Jack and I are going on our first solo outing. We both have a Dr appointment (such an exciting life I lead now) so we will see how it goes. Luckily, my OB and his pediatrician are in the same building so they are just an elevator ride away from each other.
I have been looking into an alternative vaccination schedule and I think I found something that I can be happy with. I am going to talk to Jack's Dr. about it today and hopefully he will be on board with it so Jack will not be getting any immunizations until he is 4 months old, including the Hepatitis B shot that I would not let them give him in the hospital.
I don't have the time to really get into it right now but babies these days are getting a shocking amount of immunizations before they are 2 years old, many more than were given even 10 years ago but almost double the amount when I was a kid. Many well respected doctors have written about this and there are many alternative schedules available that will still allow him to get all of them before he starts school but allows us to space them out so we can tell which ones he may have side effects from and allow his poor little body to recover from having all these foreign substances put into it.
***********************************************************************************

Enough about all this seriousness, let's have a smile:


Jack decided yesterday he does indeed like his swing after trying it and hating it a few times. He fell asleep in it for over a half hour both yesterday and today and that makes Jack's mama smile too!
Happy Wednesday!

doctor visit

I had a checkup at the OB today and Chris and Jack joined me to take some pictures with the doctor who brought Jack into the world.


Jack has not been in the best mood the last couple of days and I have put myself on a bland diet in hopes that it is something I am eating that is bothering his tummy and will clear up quickly. It seems like no matter what I do, unless he is eating or sleeping, he is uncomfortable and generally angry.

He didn't want to sleep this morning after his 9AM feeding and only slept for an hour at a time after that until we went to the Dr this afternoon. We were gone for almost 2 hours and he was mad just about the whole time, alternating between just grimacing and outright screaming, to the point where, in the car on the way home, he was absolutely sobbing. It is so hard for me to see him like that and luckily when we got home he ate for almost an hour and then slept for 2 hours and has eaten and slept normally since then. (Until I started typing those words and he woke up after sleeping only a half hour. HELP!) Good news is he is eating like crazy and that means we will hopefully find that he has gained a bit of weight this week.

In other news, my big post-partum weigh-in went better than I had hoped and I have lost 22 pounds in 10 days! (DOUBLE YAY!) Hopefully some of that weight came off me and is going into Jack. We go back to the pediatrician on Thursday so we will find out but I think he is definitely getting his cheeks back:

ugh

After much deliberation, I got a flu shot yesterday.

I never thought twice about getting a flu shot in the past. Either it was offered at the doctor's office and I got it or I didn't even think about it. My OB suggested that I get one a couple of months ago because it helps to immunize the baby for the few months after he is born when it is still flu season, (a newborn cannot get a flu shot, even though the hospital seems to load up babies with all kinds of other crazy shots in the couple of days after they are born, much to my paranoid-mother-to-be-dismay) and that sounded like it made enough sense to me, so I called my GP and asked about getting a flu shot.

This is where things started to get a little kerflunky.

Seems my GP does not believe in giving pregnant women flu shots and flat-out denied me. hmmmm... That made me think for a minute. Then, I went to a Walgreens where they offer flu shots and the NP would not give me one unless I got a note from my doctor. OK, this is when I started getting a little freaked out. So I did what anyone would do and got on my old pal Dr.google and started looking. And I found waaaay more information than I really wanted. I talked to other pregnant girls. I talked to girls who were pregnant last flu season. I asked Chewy his opinion ( he didn't really give me an answer but he did remind me of what happened when he didn't get his shots he was supposed to get. I assured him that I would not be fined by the county for not getting a flu shot, but thanks for the reminder)

After all of this, I was more confused than ever. Seems the opinions fluctuate from somewhere in the neighborhood of:
"YOU WILL GIVE YOUR BABY IRREPARABLE BRAIN DAMAGE AND/OR SCHIZOPHRENIA AND/OR AUTISM IF YOU GET THIS SHOT!"
to:
"IF YOU LOVE YOUR BABY AT ALL, YOU WILL GET THE FLU SHOT BECAUSE THE FEVER AND POTENTIAL INFECTION FROM THE FLU COULD GIVE HIM BRAIN DAMAGE AND/OR KILL HIM!" to a couple of opinions in the center of the two but enough hysteria is produced by the mere mention of a immunization that I just had to stop reading (after an hour or two and a couple of frantic phone calls to Chris and friends who already have children).

I put it off for a couple of more weeks and spoke to my OB again when I saw him this last time and he assured me that the shot if perfectly safe for me and the baby and that the chance of getting the flu late in the pregnancy and it causing some sort of complication is far greater than anything bad happening from the shot itself.

So, I found a very nice NP at the local CVS Minute Clinic , (who actually had a thimerosal-free shot specially sent from Ft. Lauderdale for me) and got it done.
The end.
And I am going to just not worry about it anymore. Because all this motherhood worrying stuff is exhausting.
Now I need some brownies.

is it too late to re-think this whole thing?

Today I went to the hospital for a tour of Labor and Maternity. It was.....not as reassuring as I thought it would be. I think I'm going to need a little more time for it to all sink in before I fully talk about it but I will say that it made me call Chris and inform him that I am having this baby at home, thank you very much, and there is nothing he can do about it. I will also say that the theme in some of the rooms is early farmhouse with over-handed touches of hideous purple flowers.

They do offer suites and bigger private rooms that actually have windows, (unlike the 2 rooms I saw that had windows completely covered with hurricane shutters, no I am not kidding) but they are on first-come first-serve basis, meaning that if they are all taken when I have this baby, I am stuck in a shared room that Chris can't even stay the night with me in and may or may not have a window I can actually see out of.

I'm trying to have a positive attitude and tell myself that everything will work out and we will be so busy being happy and in love with the baby that I won't care where I am and it is only 2-3 days out of the whole rest of our lives together but it is really hard right now.

where would you rather be?

Today I went to see a potential pediatrician for Kumar. I made the appointment super early (7:45) so that Chris could come with me before work but of course, that did not work out because this is the day he starts JURY DUTY!!

*Cue: creepy music and thunder clap over the courthouse*

Since Chris was going to be trapped in the most horrible criminal courthouse ever made, I didn't have the heart to make him feel bad about missing the visit because having to spend the day (or possibly multiple days) there is punishment enough. I know how horrible this place is because I had to go there 3 years ago, about a week before we left to get married and luckily the judge took mercy upon me and let me go after the first day when I told him that I was going to St Lucia to be married in a matter of days. His exact words were, "Get out of here and go get married." He was a nice judge and I have not gotten called back again *knockonwood*....

Anyway, the pediatrician took his time and answered all my questions about vaccines and cord blood banking and other stuff on my list and I had a nice little tour of the place and it seemed like they have a good set up. They have a lab on the premises and a bunch of other locations in the area that have doctors on call after hours and weekends so there are really no complaints. I have an appointment with another pediatrician next week after I get back from my trip that has a much smaller office and then we will make a decision. Since I really have no problems with this first place and they were both recommended by my OB, it makes me comfortable to make a decision after only seeing the two.

Considering we are going to be spending a lot of time in the pediatritian's office the first year of Kumar's life, this is a good place to do it. The second place will definitely not be able to beat the view from the exam rooms:

for you pretty lady - $200.00 (partII)

Things I learned about collection agencies and the hospital:

1. Apparently there is a high level of turnover at these places because it seems that whenever I call and ask to speak to the person I spoke to last time (AKA the person I may not have to tell the whole story to AGAIN) they are not available/off that day/at lunch/just got eaten by a shark.


2. Representatives are so uneasy about giving you any information (including their own names) that it seems they are protecting some sort of State Secrets. Maybe I should start working for one of these places undercover and find out what all the secrecy is about. My guess is they just hate their job so much that to think of having to actually talk to the same person more that once is enough to push them over the edge. So, when you ask their name, they will answer with either "Ron" or "Mrs. Jones". (Kinda like the IRS. Have you ever noticed how every letter from the IRS is signed by "Mrs. Jones"?) (OK yes- I have gotten way too many letters from the IRS in my past. That is a whoooole 'nother story.)


3. The hospital jacks up their prices so much because they figure the bill will be paid by an insurance company, where nobody will question the separate charge of $732. from the hospital for Emergency Room Visit *AND* $583. Emergency Room Visit charge -billed separately from the doctor. Additionally, the doctor charges $671. for "repairing superficial wounds" (which he did not do, the pimply-faced Nursery School student did) (and not very well-please see application of krazy glue ) AND the biggest smack in the face, a $32. charge for "medical services 10PM-8AM". Who knew the ER doctor charges you extra for making him work after-hours??


4. Because these prices are so jacked up, once you call these people to talk about your bill, almost the first thing out of their mouths is "if you pay today with a credit card, we can give you a 60% discount." Which would make almost anyone who is just trying to do the right thing and pay a bill that they rightfully owe to just agree, thank them for the discount and pay it. (kinda like in a 5th Avenue Rug store, where Going Out of Business signs have been up for 10 years and they have a "Special Sale. Only today-big discount just for you". )


5. I used to be that kind of person, until I did pay what I thought was the entire bill (with a 60% discount, thank you very much) only to receive another bill from another company for almost the same amount. Turns out, the lady I spoke to misled me into believing this was the entire bill when it wasn't. This is when I turned to my dear, sweet, understanding husband, also known as SuperLawyer!!


6. Not even SuperLawyer can get information out of these people. Luckily, the company I have been dealing with are a lot nicer and even offered to send me an itemized bill so I would know exactly what it is I am paying for. Big, mean evil other company, not so much, so far.


7. Big, Mean Evil Other Company are no match for SuperLawyer. He will break them, even if it is the last thing he does.

for you pretty lady-$200.00 (Part I)

Back in October, I was unloading the dishwasher and a wine glass broke in my hand and cut my thumb. Now, being the tough broad that I am (stop laughing!!) I wrapped it up tightly in 3-4 band aids and got on with my day. Later that night, (about 6 hours later) Chris asked to see it, and the second the band aid was unwrapped, the blood started gushing.

"You have to go to the hospital and get that stitched", said my sweet, concerned husband.

"No- I think it will be OK" said the terrified chicken (hereby known as me).


After a bit of negotiating, including the words, "You have insurance, you should just go and get it taken care of. It's no big deal."

No less-true words have been spoken.


Now, the story of the Mt Sinai ER at 10:00 on a Tuesday night is a story in itself. Let's just suffice it to say it is run by teenagers. At least that's the way it seemed to me.

From the person who checked me in, to the x-ray "technicians" (U M Med students), to the pimple-faced resident/intern/nursery school student who did the actual stitching, I do not exaggerate when I say 90% of the people I dealt with that night were younger than me. By at least 10 years.

The only doctor I saw the whole time was some guy who came in, looked at the finger, ordered (unnecessary) x-rays (b/c I later found out that one cannot see glass on an x-ray so what was he looking for when I made it perfectly clear that this cut was created by GLASS), and glanced at it once again when the stitches were done. He then pointed out to the pimple-faced kid that he missed a stitch in the center and after my screams of fear and protest, told Kid to just glue it. (With crazy glue! Why all the needles when we could have done crazy glue all along?!?!?)
(PS-I had just finished telling Chris about the missed stitch and how I could totally live with it right before this so maybe I should go to medical school too)

So-once I was home with my finger wrapped in a ridiculous amount of gauze and my Tylenol PM for the pain, I thought - OK It's over with. At least I have insurance and I don't have to worry about this any more.

Until (UNTIL!) a couple of months later, I get a bill from the hospital. So, I fill out the back where it asks for insurance info (I already did this at the hospital but - Kids who run hospitals get things messed up sometime so I will tell them again) Still NBD.

Then I started getting a lot of bills. Bills with the words "Collection" on them. Bills that told me there was something wrong. Now, mind you, I have not heard one word from my insurance company (Hereby known as Bumana to protect the *cough* innocent)

Instead I called Bumana myself and told them I was getting bills that they should be taking care of. That is, after all why I saw off a limb each month and mail it to them in a little envelope. So when bad things happen, I don't have to worry right?!?!?

Wrong. I was informed that I have a $9000.00 ER Deductible. (That's right. Go back and count the 00000's.) And so, I am left to pay this out of pocket.

Me-"But I was never told there was a separate deductible for the ER. And definitely not that it was $9000.00"

Mean Nasty Bumana Lady-("HAHAHAHAHAHA SUCKERRR!!")

Me-"So why do I pay you hundreds of dollars every month if you don't cover an almost $3000.00 ER bill?"

MNBL- "Too bad. So sad. Why don't you cry about it."
(No, I'm lying, what she really said was-now get this-)

"You have insurance for catastrophic injuries. Once you reach the ($9000.00) deductible, we would pay everything else."

Me-"............."

Bottom line- there is nothing whey were willing to do. Joke's on me.

Ans here is where I begin my adventure in Collection Agency Land!!!

Stay Tuned...
(To be Continued)