Bump Watch - 20 Weeks

My bump. My bump. My lovely baby bump. Check it out!Okay...whoa. In my defense, Thanksgiving was two days ago and I took this right after a nice meal of country fried steak and mashed potatoes.

New symptoms: Nothing much. I've had some lower back problems...okay, okay, upper left butt bone problem. The other is less embarrasing to say. I have started feeling him on the outside now. He sure can kick! I always yell for Russy, but I think it startles him because he stops kicking if Russy puts his hand on my belly. I am still having weird dreams. I had one a couple of nights ago that was super disturbing. I dreamt that Russ was out of town and my Dad told me that he had called him and told him that I miscarried. I know, crazy! I argued with my Dad that I had just felt Logan moving that morning and he told me that it was true and that I should google it. Disturbing, but strangely hilarious!

Weight Chart:

Total weight gain: 7 pounds. Still not too bad, but I'm going to have to start watching it closer so I don't gain too fast. I'm not disappointed about the 3 pounds in two weeks since it was Thanksgiving this week. Plus, I'm now in the "normal" range.

I have an appointment for my big ultra sound this Thursday. We will be confirming Logan is a boy as well as checking to make sure his body and organs are developing correctly. Then I'll have an appointment with my OB afterwards.

That's it for now Blogger Buddies! I've got to get back to watching Finding Nemo!

FYI

If you are jaywalking and there is a crosswalk less than 20 yards away, don't expect me to slow down for you (unless I would hit you). Also, don't expect me to feel bad when you wag your crusty finger at me and mouth obsene things because I didn't slow down. Use the crosswalk and I will respect your pedestrian rights.

Celebrity Baby Names

In the aftermath of another hideously disgusting baby name (Ashlee Simpson named her son Bronx [as in one of the worst parts of NYC] Mowgli [as in the fictional character from The Jungle Book]), I thought I would compile a list of the most horrendous names celebrities have come up with of late. I also added whether they are a boy or a girl because you would never be able to figure it out by their wacked out name. Why must they make up the weirdest names they can to name this precious baby's? These are your children, People! Not Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors!

Audio Science -boy- proud parent is Shannyn Sossamon

Banjo - boy - Rachel Griffiths

Denim - boy - Toni Braxton

Fifi Trixibelle, Little Pixie, and Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlottle Angel Vanessa (I'm serious) - girls - Bob Geldof and Paula Yates

Jermajesty - boy - Jermaine Jackson

Pilot Inspektor - boy - Jason Lee

Pirate Houseman - boy - Jonathan Davis

Rebel, Rocket, Racer, Rogue - boys - Robert Rodriguez

Saffron Sahara - girl - Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon (no wonder he didn't make it in music)

Alabama Gypsy Rose - girl - Drea de Matteo

Apple Blythe - girl - Gwyneth Paltrow

Bluebell Madonna - girl - Geri Halliwell

Coco - girl - Courtney Cox

Ever Gabo - girl - Milla Jovovich

Everly Bear - boy - Anthony Kiedis and Heather Christie

Harlow Winter Kate (Kate is the best part of this name) - girl - Nicole Richie

Kal-El Coppola - boy - Nicolas Cage

Kingston - boy - Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale

Zuma Nesta Rock - boy - Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale

Puma - girl - Erykah Badu

True Harlow - Joely Fisher

And the winner of the most horrid celebrity baby name is.....drumroll please....

MOXIE CRIMEFIGHTER

Congratulations Penn Jillette. You have surrendered your child to a life of shame becuse of the baby name you picked out. How did you pick that name anyway? Scattagories dice? Did you let the dictionary fall open and blindly pointed to a page and name her Crimefighter because of that? You suck at picking baby names!

Weight Gain Chart

I found this pregnancy weight gain chart on the internet this morning. I was wanting to know where I stand in my weight gain compared to what is "normal". The red dots are my weight gain so far. I'm in the low range. My doctor hasn't said anything about it so I'm not worried, but I am gaining weight more quickly now. I am going to try to keep from gaining too much this holidy season *laugh, laugh, snort*. We'll see what happens. I am well within my goal of 25 to 30 pounds for this pregnancy.

I'm really proud of myself about this weight issue. I worked really hard to get into a healthy range for my height and age. I don't want to ruin that by going crazy during pregnancy. I also am planning on starting back walking again. After the bleeding scares, I stopped walking and I can tell how out of shape I have gotten in just a short amount of time. I can't even walk up the stairs to first floor with a box of work without getting winded now. Some of that could be that my belly is expanding and pushing my innards into my rib cage, but not all of it. I shouldn't have completely stopped in the first place. I was scared and let that cloud my judgement. I won't be doing anything strenuous. Just a walk during lunch and maybe one in the evening if I feel up to it.

For now, I'm not going to worry about my weight gain even though it is in the low catagory. If my doctor tells me to gain weight then I will, but for now I'm happy with it and I'm excited to be getting my bump!

A Few Things I Find Annoying

1. People who can't push in their chairs. Hello!!! You aren't the only one in this tiny 8 x 8 office. I don't like tripping over your furniture every time I want to leave.

2. People who are insanely nosey. If I wanted to tell you who I was talking to on the phone and what we were talking about, I would have volunteered the information. Since I didn't, turn around, shut your trap and mind your own business! P.S. If it's on my desk, it's none of your business so get your grubby paws off.

3. People who think I care about their life outside of the cruddy job they do at work. I don't care about your dog or your son or your friend who is addicted to perscription narcotics because of her back surgery and furthermore, I don't want to tell you about my husband, my life outside of work, or my infertility.

4. People who think it's ok to tell others about my life. Stop telling everyone that I waited a long time for this baby and that I had to see a doctor to get pregnant. It's not your issue to tell and it's not their business unless I decide to tell them.

5. People who try to make me look stupid every chance they get. I know just as much about this job as you even though you've worked here for nine years and never moved up. I held down the fort while you were "sick" and in rehab for the first 8 months of the year. I think I can handle myself.

By the way, I got my promotion! Wooo Hooo! No more basement drama for me. Now I get to deal with customers and a lot of coworkers. Yikes. Maybe I didn't think this through...

I'm just glad to be able to move up and work in civilization and work in a place with windows. Plus, I got my raise on the 17th...yes, three days ago. I have to stay down here until they hire a few more people so we can all go through training together. Big bosses said it could be January before I move up, but I am officially promoted.

I Wonder

As you all know, I'm obsessed with medblogs. I love to see inside the minds of doctors and nurses and am fascinated by the human body and what it does and does not do. So, I've been reading a couple of blogs of people working in the emergency department. They love to point out the fact that the emergeny room is for emergencies (like that is such a hard concept). It got me to thinking about my two ER experiences. Well, two that I remember anyway. I think I may have been taken to the ER when I had chipmunk cheek when I was a toddler. So, what constitutes an emergency? The first time I went to the ER was for shallow breathing, probably brought on by my swollen glands and very sore throat which turned out to be mono no thanks to the ER doc. He sent me home with a prescription and did nothing for my breathing. I don't know what I wanted him to do for it, but I wasn't impressed at that time. I couldn't breathe well and I went home still not breathing well. At least I wasn't turning blue. Maybe that would have constituted a "real" emergency? Plus, I wasn't the one whose idea it was to go to the ER. My father, who was an EMT for some years, had my mother take me after a few days of my thoat getting worse and worse. What do you all think? Was that an emergency or am I one of those annoying people that should have used my PCP for that (which I ultimately had to do, who gave me a prescription that I turned out to be allergic to, HA!). So, my second ER visit was when I was bleeding while I was pregnant. I had been bleeding all day (not heavy, but definitely not spotting) so I finally went to the ER to see what they could do. I knew that they couldn't do much besides tell me whether or not I was miscarrying, but I went anyway. After two hours of sitting there (they were very busy with multiple traumas and many people in front of me, one of which was eating a complete bucket of fried chicken, I question her "emergency"), I finally decided that I could wait until Monday to find out. I knew they couldn't do anything if I was miscarrying so I thought I shouldn't waste their time. It seemed like an emergency to me, but was it? Would an ER doc find that to be an emergency? Sometimes, I just don't know what to count as "emergency" and what not to count. It's not like I've been in the ER 30 times in the last year, just twice in the last 20 years. What do you all think?

The Judicial(?) System

I was listening to the radio on my way in to work this morning and the news was on. The newscaster was talking about a man from a city close to here who had robbed, at gunpoint, two banks in my town and one in another state. He was sentences to 47 years in prison without parole. So let me get this straight: A man robs a few banks, steals some money and gets 47 years in prison and Mary Winkler shot her husband in the back, killing him, grabbed her three girls and ran and she got a little time in a psych ward? I guess the insanity plea doesn't work when it involves large sums of money. What is this country coming to?

Taylor Swift - Fearless

Anybody out there a Taylor Swift fan besides me? I bought her new cd last Tuesday and have listened to it a couple of times since then. I. Love. It. It is better than her first one, which was pretty stinking good. When I first heard her new single "Love Story" I immediately loved it. After seeing the music video and being able to put it on repeat in my car for hours (ok, maybe not HOURS) on end, I've decided that it's better than "Tim McGraw" or "Teardrops on my Guitar." There are a few songs that are aimed at a younger audience, but still good. If you are a country/Taylor Swift fan, I definitely recommend it.

Pictures and A Little More

First, I recieved the second part of the results for the nuchal translucency test. Everything came back within normal range. WOO HOO!

Here are a couple of pictures of my new haircut. I love it!


There was this jerkhead in high school that was at our house one day for a study group with my sis and some of her friends. He told me that I laugh like and my profile looks like a donkey. Anyone else agree with him? I was traumatized by that and I still think about it from time to time. Better yet, if you agree, just don't say anything...
I forgot a couple of things in my last post. Total weight gain = 4 pounds. Not too shabby. I still fit into two pairs of my regular jeans and a few of my shirts. Most are getting too short in front now.

I bought these at Kohl's tonight while shopping for sweaters. I had seen the zebra one a couple of months ago and I kept meaning to go back and get it because it is so cute! It just so happened that today was a huge sale (NO WAY!). Every weekend is a huge sale for them. Anyway, and they were both 1/2 off coming to a total of $12.00 for both. Couldn't pass that up...especially when they have the little zebra and monkey feet!

On a different note, while walking through the mall tonight, I passed a security guard. Why is this so odd? Let me explain: security guards are dorks (sorry Sid and Ed!). They are pseudo cops that don't really have much jurisdiction to do anything more than the average employee or shopper. They can call the non-pseudo cops....and maybe detain someone in their pseudo office. So this poor security guard, in her uniform and "badge" was on a two-wheeled motorized scooter (just in case there was going to be a chase and her legs stopped working). To add to her massive amounts of dorkitude, she had a helmet on. I'm not saying that safety is dorky, but a two-wheeled motorized scooter, a helmet, and a security guard uniform don't exactly scream "Voted Most Likely To Be A Movie Star" out of the high school yearbook.

Bump Watch - 18 Weeks

This shirt makes me look bigger than I really am. I could have changed, but I'm lazy.

New symptoms: I was in Hobby Lobby the other night and I almost passed out. I had to sit down on the floor for 15 minutes (tried to get up sooner, but that didn't work out so well) and had to have one of the employees bring me water. Talk about embarrassing. I have no idea what happened. I had a good lunch and I was drinking plenty of water. Also, I have started feeling the baby move! YAY! I couldn't say for sure before if it was the baby or not, but there have been a few times that I don't think it could be anything else. I never have felt "flutters" or "popcorn" like a lot of women say they feel. I attribute most things to gas or stretching.

My dreams haven't gone away. I woke up the other night completely numb because I was so scared! I dreamed that I was in a canoe by myself (there was another canoe there, but I was the only one in mine) in a swamp. I almost hit a tree and there was an alligator by the tree that started coming after me. If I had stayed asleep I would have been that alligators dinner.

I haven't heard anything about the new job. I don't expect to hear anything soon since it's the end of the year and busy. Also, my department is looking into buying a new machine for us. These machines are quite expensive so a lot of time is going into that.

If you have time and want a good laugh, check this site out. Tales from a Labor and Delivery nurse. Too funny!

That's it for now. I'm getting my hair cut this evening. I'll post pictures of it soon.

I love reading blogs by doctors and nurses. I'm fascinated with their views and what makes their brains tick. Of course, since we are on the internet and I don't know these people personally, I just have to take their word for who they say they are and what they do so I take it with a grain of salt. I found this jewel a while back and have been an avid reader since. I love how right-winged and conservative they are. I love how much humor they can put into a post and I love thier archives! Excellent reading (though, a little crude and some cussing at points). That blog then led me to this.

I just started reading Scalpel or Sword yesterday, but I love it already. I started going through the archives and came across an article that he had written about the healthcare reform. It is a four part article that sums up this ER doctor's view about insurance, healthcare in general, and emergency care.

One statement stood out in my mind in particular. Scalpel (what we will call him for lack of a real name) said "As far as Medicaid goes, I would institute other reforms in addition to requiring copays for medical care and medications. Although I think it would be difficult to implement, I think mothers on Medicaid should be required to take mandatory depoprovera shots as long as they are receiving public assistance. If they can't support their current family then they shouldn't keep popping out more of them."

What I find really funny about this statement is that I know a couple on medicaid that keep popping out little ones and this is so true. Why should I have to pay for thier medical care with my tax dollars when they already have a couple of kids that they can't afford. If they are on medicaid and can't afford insurance then why in the world do they think they need 7 kids (that's the last number I heard, I've also heard 5). Plus, she is high risk, so we aren't just paying for standard treatment. We are paying for ultrasounds every two weeks for her and her baby.

Now, the other side of this is that this isn't the baby's fault. That baby and the children already born deserve medical care. They aren't responsible for their parents' bad decisions. So what are we supposed to do? Obviously, pay for the free medical care for this woman so that her kids don't suffer. Then when they grow up, they'll take the free medical care and they'll pop out a bunch of baby's on our dollar and it will never end. Thank goodness we live in the United Socialist States of America. (read that last line with a ton of sarcasm)

The Great Sock Mystery Revealed

I have a pair of black Mary Jane-type shoes. I don't want to wear white socks with them because I don't want to look like I'm 10 or a Catholic school girl. I also don't wear plaid skirts with them if you were wondering. So I always wear black socks with them to look a little more professional when I wear them to work. I have about 5 pairs of black socks, one being a pair with bright stars all over them. I don't like to wear those with these shoes because I would rather people not see my novelty socks. The past few weeks, I have been running out of black socks and I couldn't figure out why. So last night, I got a load of clothes ready for the wash. I found two pairs of black socks (including the star ones) and a single that I couldn't find a mate for. This confused me to no end because I don't usually lose socks. Russ did my laundry for me last night so I could go on to bed. This morning, I woke up and went to the dryer and found one pair of plain black socks and the single. I set them on top of the dryer with a pair of underwear and a bra to put on after my shower. Russ had to preach today so he left while I was in the shower. I get done in the shower and go to the dryer and my socks are gone...all three of them! I did eventually find a clean pair, but I'm sure that Russ stuck his big old man feet into my nice, non-stretched out socks and that irritates me. I wear a size 7 1/2 and he wears a size 12 1/2. How he ever got his big old feet into my tiny socks is beyond me. I would assume he has no blood circulation in his feet today.

Though, maybe I should just be grateful that he didn't get our underwear confused.

Pictures

My Mom and I went through 23 years of photos tonight, trying to get them in order and in photo albums. I found these two and they have to be the cutest pictures we have of Chelley and I. I just love them.

So Far

And this is after I went through and took out what I don't want. Yikes. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it all until Logan gets here.

Doctor Appointment Update

My doctor appointment went really well today! My OB used the doppler so I could hear the heartbeat. That is so much more fun than those stupid transvag ultrasounds! Of course, I couldn't see the little guy, but the heartbeat sounded just as sweet as when I was looking at him on a blurry black and white tv screen. All my bloodwork from the last appointment came back good. I did find out that my blood is RH- so I will be getting a rhogam shot at 28 weeks. I asked him what that meant (I sort of knew but wanted to hear it from him) and he said that if I don't get the shot that my body is going to think Logan is a foreign substance and kill him. Oh. That's nice...so a shot it is! He wanted to know if I wanted the flu shot and I said "I don't know. Do I? You're the doctor." Hee hee. After asking a few more questions, he decided I didn't need it. I would have gotten it if he said I needed it.

In other good news, I had a meeting this morning with the Prenatal Prepay lady and I will only be paying $1,024.40 to the OB for all my prenatal visits, birth, and 6 week appointment. I'm super excited about that! Of course, this doesn't include the hospital portion or the anesteseologist (I'm not planning on getting an epidural so will I still have one?). Insurance is looking much better to me today. Also, and this is really exciting, I have paid off the bills that were for the infertility treatments. YAY! Everything, from here on out is all for Logan and his prenatal care.

I got a huge bag of baby clothes from a woman at church who just had a little boy about 7 months ago. He was 10 pounds at birth and is already wearing 12 month clothes so his newborn and small clothes weren't hardly used at all. They are soooooooo cute! She had given me a bag of clothes already that she had bought at a garage sale. I kept some of those and ended up giving over half the bag to goodwill. Sorry garage sale lady. I really don't want your sons underwear that he was obviously potty trained in. There are a couple of things that you should just buy new and underwear is one of them. Anyway, I'm going to go through the bag and pick out what I want which is most of it and take the rest to goodwill. I won't keep the outfits that have stains on them because there are plenty in there that don't. Logan is basically set for the first few months of his life. I'm not going to have to buy hardly anything. I will buy an outfit for him to come home from the hospital in. Other than that, maybe a cute pair of sneakers and a baseball cap.

That's it for now Blogger Buddies!

Just Had To Laugh!

This morning when I was on the phone with my insurance company, I was asking her why my first beta/round of bloodwork wasn't covered when the second was. This is the claim that was referenced with "Diagnosis is not consistent with the patient's medical records." The insurance company had it coded as B25.42 (I think that is what she said) which is the code of "intrauterine contraceptive device". When she said that, I just had to laugh!!! My clinic swears they didn't code it wrong and the insurance company swears that they recieved the code correctly. I had the clinic send them another claim for that bloodwork. I understand why the diagnosis was not consistent with my medical records now.

I Get It!

I think I've gotten everything worked out with my insurance. I will be paying out of pocket for three of the original ultrasounds. The insurance company is saying that these are still related to the infertility because a normal pregnancy wouldn't have them. I understand that and I am willing to pay them. The first beta, however, was coded wrong so I called the clinic and I believe that will be fixed. The second beta and the ultrasounds that I had because of the bleeding are all covered. It just doesn't show up that way on the explanation of benefits because the decuctible is shown on those. I asked the insurance lady if everything from here on out would be covered and they said that it will all be covered under normal pregnancy. I can live with this since everything else should be covered. I'm closing this chapter and getting on with my wonderful pregnancy!

Insurance Is A Nightmare!!!

I know I have been going on and on about this, but it doesn't seem like it is going to end anytime soon. I will be on the phone tomorrow with my insurance again. Probably bawling my eyes out because they don't want to cover ANYTHING!

I understand that they didn't cover the infertility. It's in the book that they don't and, though it irritated me, I understood that. I don't understand this. They are supposed to cover maternity and they aren't.

I recieved another explanation of benefits today and this is what they said: For the ultrasounds (the original that was measuring a week behind, the second one where we finally saw the heartbeat and the ones I had because was bleeding WHILE PREGNANT!) they said that "medical necessity cannot be determined." Apparently I was just supposed to overlook the bleeding and let my baby die (which is exactly what I thought was happening). Maybe I can understand the first two not being necessary. In a normal pregnancy they would never have happened. But, I'm an infertile and infertiles are high risk.

Then they won't cover my first beta because the "Diagnosis is not consistent with the patient's medical records." WHAT?!?!? There is a reason I was seeing a doctor for this and he helped me reach my goal. The real kicker is that they covered the second beta. Now someone please explain that one to me. If the diagnosis wasn't consistent for the first beta, then why was it consistent for the second?

Am I insured by a bunch of quacks? I thought our insurance was really good. I'm quickly realizing that they will say whatever they feel like saying just so they won't have to cover me. And maybe the things they covered weren't really covered. They are referenced under a discount. "Patient not responsible." Does that mean that they didn't cover it and my health system covered it for some reason? What do I need to do to determine medical necessity? My clinic sent them my records. Is this a lost cause and I am fighting a losing battle? Should I just pay it and forget about it? That's a chunk of money that I'm not sure I want to part with. 5 ultrasounds (not including the one my OB did or the two I had for the NTT) at $150.00 each...plus, office visits and lab work. Ouch. I don't know what to do and this is stressing me out!

On another note, I went and voted after work. I get off at 4:30 and was home by 5:00. I wasn't even there for 10 minutes. I was expecting a long wait so this was a very pleasant surprise.

I HATE INSURANCE COMPANIES!!!

I thought I had this all worked out. Apparently not. My insurance company has had a couple weeks to review my files and to decide if they are going to cover my maternity or not. They have to. It's part of my policy. So I recieved a bill from the clinic this weekend. Nothing is covered and my bill is due. Great. I had to call this morning and I talked to the billing girl and she told me that she didn't know anything about the insurance part. I know that already. We established that the last time I talked to her. I just needed to know if I needed to go ahead and pay for the bill and then talk to the insurance company to see what was up. No. I can let the bill go for now. I did send in what was left from the infertility treatments so I'm not just completely letting the bill go. Again, I broke down and had to cry a little bit about all the stress of this. You would think that this would be a little bit easier, but alas. No. I'm so stressed about finances right now anyway and I really don't need this added stress. I did call my insurance company who told me that they didn't cover it because infertility isn't covered by my company. Thank you. We've been over this. I'm pregnant and you guys need to start covering my maternity! Is my information still under review or am I going to have to get mean about this? Oh. You're right. Your information is still under review. Maybe I need to light a stick of dynamite under their rear ends to get them to actually move at a decent pace.

Oh, and I called a daycare that is behind our company. $166.50 a week! And that's after a nice discount because I work where I do. That's never going to happen. I don't know what we are going to do. The place I wanted doesn't have an opening until the end of July and that spot isn't even garaunteed. The first garaunteed spot isn't until November. Ay yi yi. I'm still checking into a few home daycares. Less expensive is always good. I just hope I find one that I like. If I wasn't pregnant, I would go ahead and bang my head against my desk a couple hundred times.