Meet our little boy...

I'm not sure you've noticed, but I am WAY excited about our little boy. I think the only one who can even remotely compare is the baby's Tia Katie, who still capitalizes the letters in the word "NEPHEW" when text messaging. I'd like to introduce you to our child, only in as much as we know him right now:


Look at that profile... very distinguished! I think I already see the "Garcia" nose!

Showing off his little hand... looking a lot like a bundle of joy!

This is the IRREFUTABLE evidence that our apple has a stem... I am hoping this is just a GREAT picture and not evidence of hyper-testosterone levels! In case it's not visible enough, here is the labeled picture:

And, for his final trick, our little boy will show off his arm/hand. I say he is warming up... probably going to conduct Mahler 2 or something great. My father says he's pitching... for the Yankees, no doubt :)

That's our baby... I felt him kick for the first time yesterday as I drove alone from New York to North Carolina. Nathaniel says it's because the baby knew I was alone and wanted me to know I'm never actually alone again! In any case, he was super active between New Jersey and Baltimore!

I'm very excited to learn more about this creature who we only know in shadows right now!

Still smiling...

I'm still pretty giddy about this whole baby boy thing... even with documentation to do and a 9 am deadline.

I'm sure I'll be sad to pass up some of those ADORABLE knit dresses and large flower headbands I was looking at in various stores, but I am SO HAPPY to be having a baby boy... it must have been what I wanted all along. :)

He's COMING!

So, I'm still pretty firmly in the giggling phase, but I thought I'd attempt eloquence beyond "It's a boy..."

We met our new doctor's office today. We went through the usual history and they consulted with my previous medical records. They were very amenable to the arrangement about checking my sugar, provided I do it more frequently than twice a day. My first doctor is, herself, pregnant. When I checked out, they explained that their service fee for delivery (which was the financial Armageddon at the other practice) would not be billed until AFTER I had given birth, since the hospital would, invariably, get their billing in first, meaning my doctor's office would qualify for the 100% reimbursement - no deductible funds. This realization makes me even angrier at having gone through the latest fiasco. However, I think they may have done me a favor, as this new practice impressed me. And to top it all off, THEY FIT ME IN FOR MY FETAL EVALUATION TODAY!!! Thus, I saw my little boy's stuff live and in person.

The baby was wiggly all day. At the morning appointment, the doctor kept trying to find the heartbeat with the doppler machine. FOUR times she found it. FOUR times the baby wiggled away - such determination!

When I first became pregnant, I could not have been convinced that I was carrying anything but a little girl. As time has moved on, though, my resolve has failed. Every time we've listened to the baby's heartbeat, the kid has either kicked the monitor or wiggled away. I became more convinced that the likelihood of a Y chromosome at work was more likely.

During the ultrasound, the child's anatomy was undeniable and brought me to tears. I've always wanted a boy first and am SO excited to get my long-held wish. Nathaniel was all smiles, although still (and always) refraining from anything related to a giddiness. My mother, however, was probably the most entertaining person. She was SO convinced that I am having a girl, the news took her breath away. While she was thrilled to see and hear that the baby's anatomy measured well and within normal limits, she was not able to redefine this little creature in her mind. I've seen her: She'll love this little boy no matter what. It's just hard for her to resign herself to abstaining from torturing my offspring with similarly tight parts in hair and little knit dresses. As Emory has already proven, however, little boys are GREAT!

Everyone else has been so sweet and excited for us. I am now anxious to hear about my sister in law's baby, as we're hoping for a "BFF" scenario that would only be enhanced by a same sex relationship.

I understand that this post is still scattered: my excitement has yet to be tempered and a good "Glee" episode only served to exacerbate my current state. We'll put up the pics as soon as we can.

In any case, IT"S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY!!

IT'S A BOY!!

IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY!!!

TOO EXCITED TO WRITE MUCH MORE NOW! WILL ELABORATE WHEN GIGGLING STOPS!

IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY IT'S A BOY!

Breaking up is hard to do...

We've decided to go our separate ways: I am officially leaving my ObGYN's office.

I think somewhere around the point that a frigid woman was speaking the words "We've asked people who could not afford to pay for our services to leave our agency. Private care is expensive," that I knew that this blow to our relationship was the final, fatal blow. It's funny - I always thought I would push us to the brink with my blood sugar issues. Instead, they chose to part ways over an irrational monetary request, constricted by an irrational timeline.

I intend to write a letter to the doctors who were so careful and wonderful, especially in my early treatment.

Dr. Zimmerman was nearly declared a minor deity by my family, who remember well the day we spent in a hell-like purgatory at Rex's Emergency Room, as we waited to find out if this was a legitimate pregnancy, or a dangerous ectopic pregnancy. In the middle of a rush to order unnecessary tests and my distraction as I tried to guard my urethra from scary catheters, Dr. Zimmerman calmed the storm by walking into the room. He brought a rational, concrete plan to the scenario. The followup with him was helpful and initiated a journey wherein I reconciled myself to a pregnancy and began to develop rapport with the office treating me.

Dr. Haakenson was another voice of calm and comfort. In the several subsequent early treatment visits, Dr. Haakenson held my hand as we breathlessly waited for a heartbeat and to monitor an ongoing confirmation that we, in fact, were gestating a viable baby. Dr. Haakenson also reminisced with me, as he is the father of an old high school friend from band. He chaperoned our field trip to New York City in my junior year and asked with a jovial sigh how my parents were doing. It was like visiting an old family friend as we walked through weekly visits for the first month we were aware of this pregnancy.

The sad truth is, however, that the humanity of those doctors cannot compensate for the inhumanity of a billing department that refuses to temper the need to be paid with a humanistic approach to accepting that payment.

I realize, however, that I am not completely powerless in this situation. You see, I may not have readily available liquid capital that makes me the desired demographic according to this office manager's policies. My failure to be able to produce $2500 in 4 months may even seem like an appropriate reason for a woman to condescend in her fiscal defense for her unfeeling approach and policy. However, while this business manager spent so much time defending her wallet, she left her reputation wide open. She really ought to understand that in the age of social media, a woman hopped up on pregnancy hormones with a knowledge of resources available to her and a vocabulary developed enough to communicate the wrongs committed against her in a climate rife with ideologues and politicians willing to roast the "mean medical profession," my story and reviews could very potentially get some good mileage. In fact, Atrium ObGYN may not enjoy googling their reviews in the near future. While I will never stop extolling the excellence of care provided by Doctors Haakenson and Zimmerman, I will not hesitate to clearly and concisely illumine those business practices which caused me such significant anxiety well after I began to build a trust relationship with my doctors nearly half way into my pregnancy.

On Tuesday I'll be trying a new office. I don't know much about them except that I have already checked with their office and have been assured that I won't run into the same financial complications at this office. I am changing hospitals to join this practice and will be giving birth at WakeMed. (I've always been a fan of diversity... WakeMed will make sure my child is ethnically socialized from the nursery on!) Perhaps the greatest disappointment is that I was supposed to find out the gender of the baby on Wednesday. I highly doubt the new practice will be able to do that for us. I will be asking, though!

I guess that I have not experienced morning sickness or many negative side effects of pregnancy. If insurance and financial headaches are the worst of what I am to expect, I should be thankful. However, I refuse to go into interest-baring debt for my children. I will comply with industry-standard practices and pay slowly and fully.

But, be warned: for those who would wait until I am nearly half way through my pregnancy before using an appointment I schedule to disclose financial ruin to me, you will feel the wrath of my hormone and indignation-fueled keyboard.

Did you call them health benefits?

On October 1, 2010, my insurance coverage changed. The former plan I had through my company offered me $25 copays for my OBGYN, with a sizeable deductible for hospitalizations, but still a rational number. The cost of that plan went through the roof. Whether this rate increase is caused by the insurance company's fear of Obamacare or just greed, I may never know - each side will blame the other. And, switching around news stations, the blame will get spread evenly. However, the truth is that my former plan was no longer affordable to me or my company. So, as Socrates did so many years ago, I picked my poison.

Note: I am not being hyperbolic.

The "best" option for my family and I was to put Nathaniel back on his own, Massachusetts-based student plan and for me to choose a high deductible plan. A high deductible plan means I pay the first $2750 for anything and everything out of my pocket and get 100% coverage after that. I also would keep my premium down to around $400 a month, 50% of which my company covers. In addition, I get a Health Savings Account, where I can ferret away pretax dollars to pay that deductible down.

If I planned correctly at all, this set up would mean that I could pay for my doctor out of my own pocket (partially) using the pretax dollars I was saving over a longer period of time and leave the hospital without any bills for myself. That was such a cute little world I had created for myself.

I am the person caught in the middle of the "big, mean insurance companies" and the vigilante health care czars. I am now being forced to pay $2500 BEFORE MY BABY IS BORN in order to maintain the care of my doctor's office. Since my deductible is $250 more than that number, I have to pay it out of pocket. No help from anyone. As we are moving into a new house. As we are trying to save for at least 6 weeks of maternity leave. As Christmas is here.

I am so frustrated about this issue, I don't even think I can write articulately about it. My doctor's office asked for $625 a month until February in order for me to retain their baby-catching services. THAT IS ANOTHER RENT PAYMENT.

I asked the girl in the office what I needed to do. Do they have a procedure that would prevent my child from emerging if I can't pay that money? Am I going to be asked to leave the practice? Are they, honestly, serious about this whole thing?

After a period of what I deemed pretty rational and justified anger, I even attempted to qualify myself for emergency Medicaid. Of course, I make too much money. I just don't make enough money to PAY THAT AMOUNT TO A DOCTOR'S OFFICE TO CATCH MY CHILD AS HE/SHE EMERGES FROM MY WOMB BEFORE THAT CHILD EMERGES FROM MY WOMB.

I'm not sure what to do from here. Their fee is a standard fee for child delivery. Moving to another practice would, most likely, not offer anything different, except the opportunity to tell my insulin resistance story for the 102395748574832 time and have to go through that frustration.

In any case, I have a child coming forth around the middle of April. I am seriously considering finding a tree in Umstead Park to have this baby under. We could make a party out of it. As long as I don't get my mother's pre eclampsia or toxemia, it'll be a blast. I believe this scenario to be the only logical solution to my "health benefit" crisis.