Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Eventful day...

Today started with a surprise Septa strike. Luckily the regional rails are not part of the strike...unluckily all those reliant on the buses/trolleys/subways are crowding onto the regional rails. Took the train into center city for my OB appointment today - crowded trains and delays. I will have to pick Ian up from school tonight - trains probably will be even worse later tonight and the rest of this week.

I was late to the appointment. Then we received some lovely news that my insurance company (bastards) are denying coverage for some ridiculous things such as venipuncture for routine blood draws, the FLU shot!, and my glucose screening test. Needed to pay for these things at the doctors. All of these things are routine for maternity care...all of these things are supposedly covered in my description of benefits. Supposed to be zero copays, 100% coverage prenatal care. Apparently not. I consider myself an educated intelligent person, however even I cannot decipher the language of the HMO. I now get to look forward to spending hours upon hours trying to contest this to the bastards. I am not optimistic that we will get any money back from them. I cannot help but think that all of those ignorant people who are anti-health care reform better never get sick and better plan to live forever...or be rich. The system does not work. Health care is controlled by for-profit businesses...treatments determined according to profitability. Does that sound okay? Gender and racial discrimination are routine...scary business.

On top of that headache, the heater needs to be serviced so that we do not have carbon monoxide buildup in the house-costing a few hundred dollars- and the washer needs to be repaired asap before it breaks down and we cannot do laundry (terrible timing if baby comes!)-unknown cost for that one.

And the best for last...I had noticed a significant decline in fetal movement over the past two days. My OB strongly recommended I go to the hospital for fetal monitoring. So that is how we spent the afternoon...fortunately everything is okay. Not sure why I couldn't feel movement yesterday or this morning, but wouldn't you know it, as soon as those fetal monitoring belts were wrapped around my belly, the little feisty one started kicking and acting normally. Heartbeats, ultrasound, and kick counts all tested normal then. I am happy about it, but frustrated that I don't know why I couldn't feel her normal activity. Worried it will happen again. And part of me is dreading the hospital bill for today's visit...who knows what Aetna is going to cover these days!

Ugh...it seems like I can have a wonderful day lately that is immediately followed by some disaster or another. No stability, no calm. Very unsettling feeling.

On the bright side, Ginger decided to be a good doggie today, and did not destroy anything in my five hour absence. Crazy mutts! Also, today's hospital visit gave me a taste of what I will be in for when the labor and delivery business kicks in. At least I know where to go, and the nurses and mid-wives were exceptionally nice.
-Marie

2 comments:

Buck said...

Did you talk to Brian about the heater?

Ian said...

No, I'm not going to bug him. It has carbon buildup and needs to be cleaned out. Supposedly a very shitty job to do. Also part of chimney may need to be replaced-not sure. When we turn it on, it sets off the carbon monoxide detector for a bit, then we air out the house and it seems fine unless it has to fire up really strong all of a sudden.