Humility - a long story.

Well this pregnancy has begun with quite the bumpy start. Just after announcing to the world that we were having a baby, the baby announced to us that there might be complications. If you don't wish to hear the details...stop reading now. I started spotting and was super worried that we were about to lose the baby. Instantly, came guilt. I had just spent the last week complaining about the nausea and morning sickeness and could often be heard saying, "I hate being pregnant." These words echoed in my ears as I sat in the E.R. awaiting the results of my blood tests. It was my fault! God heard me and decided to do something about it. So, I hit my knees and begged for forgiveness. I promised not to complain anymore if he'd let me keep the baby. Apparently, He thought that was a fair deal and the baby is now fine.

The whole experience was highlighted with a mess of bureaucracy. A few weeks before all this happened, we discovered that James and I had been accidentally kicked of our health insurance because of someone's careless mistake. The problem had been remedied but our coverage wouldn't start up again until Dec. 5th. I went into the emergency room on December 1st. December 1st was a Saturday so no one could be reached by phone that day to discuss our options. Eventually, we learned that emergency room visits were covered under the "red card." Thanks goodness!

So, when you're only 6 weeks into a pregnancy and you're threatening to miscarry, here's what happens. They do a blood test to determine your beta levels. There is a pregnancy hormone that your body produces when you are expecting and this level should double every 48 hours as your pregnancy progresses. So, my beta (a.k.s. HCG) levels in the hospital were just over 30,000. The hospital released me after an ultrasound, put me on bed rest, and insisted that I follow up with another blood test on Monday to make sure my hormone levels had doubled.

Well, since my healthcare coverage didn't start up again until the 5th, we hadn't seen an O.B. yet. I did have a family practicioner in town, so we hoped that he could handle the blood test for us. I called their office early Monday morning to schedule an appointment only to discover that they were booked for 3 days. The secretary put me through to the nurse's voicemail and asked me to leave a detailed message in the hopes that they could do something. The same secretary informed me that their office did not accept the red card.

Plan B...the red card is issued by Medicaid through the health department. So, certainly the county health department would be able to accept the red card and get me the test I needed. WRONG-O!!! For starters their labs aren't open on Monday, and secondly, they would only agree to accept me as a patient if I signed on to have all my pre-natal care there. Let me tell you why that's not gonna' happen. I've seen their exam rooms. I've seen their lines. I've seen their nurse technicians and their tattoos and piercings. Call me judgemental, but NO WAY! Besides, I require a doctor that has a background in high-risk pregnancy and pre-term labor. The health department pre-natal care staff is only Certified Nurse Practicioners and Nurse Midwives.

Plan C...I called the emergency room at St. Lukes - Northland to see if I could simply have a requisition from the attending doctor to have a quick blood test in their lab. That simple question led to about 45 min. of runaround and at least 15 on hold back and forth between different members of the hospital staff who knew nothing. I finally spoke with a woman who insisted that I could not use her lab, because the doctor who cared for me in the E.R. wanted to make sure that I followed up with someone in person on Monday. They needed to have an O.B. to send the test results to. I explained my situation and promised to have an O.B. by Wednesday, when my health insurance kicked in. I asked her to release the test results to me personally, promising to forward them to the doc on wednesday. She refused. She insisted that I agee to have my care through County Health and that I wait until Tuesday to use their labs.

Finally, James and I decided that if we just went back to the emergency room that they'd have to see me since I was still spotting. The doctor would then order another blood test and we'd finally have some answers.

Just then, I got a call from my family practicioner's office. The nurse there had spent most of the morning trying to find my chart from the E.R. which she couldn't locate because it was getting passed around from useless person to useless person. She explained that while their office did not accept the red card that they could bill me directly and that a blood test is only about $75. She also mentioned a 20% discount if you pay at the time of service. She saw how urgent the need was and agreed to get me in right away. Then she realized that the lab that their office uses is the same lab that the E.R. uses (my doctor's office is in the medical building attached to the hospital). Then she decided to call the lab and see if they could just bill my red card directly. THEY COULD!!! So, she said that I could walk in to the lab anytime that day before 6pm and have my blood work done. She then called me promptly the next morning with the results.

Isn't that amazing. How is it that one person with a kind heart and some common sense can accomplish so much when a dozen people with multiple degrees could only make a young girl mad?

To finish the story...My HCG levels had not doubled, but they had increased. I was able to get in to see a fabulous "high-risk only" doctor on Thursday. He did an ultrasound and found a heartbeat. Yea!!! Happy dance!!! He also was very thorough and discovered that my spotting was due to "implantation bleeding." Something that's quite common and not much to worry about. So I spent the next two weeks trying not to complain about the nausea that lasted all day.

I wish the story ended there but, no. This week I picked up a flu bug. The lady who was trying so hard not to complain about nausea had spent the last 4 days getting to know her comode a little better than she'd like. This, accompanined with chills, a fever, and dehydration, has me just the most pleasant person to be around. I'm not sure what I am supposed to learn from this trial but I suppose I may be able to tell you in hind sight later on.

Until then...

I hope you all appreciate what I'm willing to do to bring you grandchildren, nephews, cousins, friends, etc.