We're going to Medical City tomorrow to rent a breastpump. A lactation consultant said that pumping in between feedings will help increase my supply, and now David will be able to feed her! Hopefully this works...
Thursday, December 27, 2007
First tub bath!
Gracie had her first tub bath today. She started crying when we took her clothes off, and didn't really stop until it was all over and she was clothed and I could feed her. But hopefully she will grow out of that and start enjoying her baths.
We're going to Medical City tomorrow to rent a breastpump. A lactation consultant said that pumping in between feedings will help increase my supply, and now David will be able to feed her! Hopefully this works...
We're going to Medical City tomorrow to rent a breastpump. A lactation consultant said that pumping in between feedings will help increase my supply, and now David will be able to feed her! Hopefully this works...
Sunday, December 23, 2007
2-week check-up
Well, Gracie has only gained one ounce since her last appointment (6 lbs, 11 ozs), which puts her 4 ozs under her birthweight of 7 lbs. The doctor is not too concerned though, because it was a gain and not a loss. We will take her back in a week to check her weight again, but some babies just don't gain it weight as fast as others. She's also grown one half inch in length, so that is also encouraging. Gracie has also had some stomach issues over the last few days, some frequent diarrhea and spit-up, which could also be attributing to the slow gain. They said I dont' really need to do anything different with my diet, just increase my water intake to make sure she doesn't get dehydrated. I also have to feed her every 2-3 hours instead of every 3-4, but I dont' have to feed her for as long. I've been letting her nurse until she's done, but now they're saying that could be causing her to spit up more because she overfills herself, and her sucking reflex takes over before her stomach lets her brain know she's done. So now I just will limit her to 15 minutes on each side, but more frequently, and she should gain that weight back quickly.
Her umbilical cord fell off last Saturday (12/22), and the doctor said to give it 24 more hours and then we could give her her first real bath (just been doing sponge baths until now). So we will probably do that tomorrow. As for her skin being really dry, the doctor said that's very common in babies this young at this time of year, and that once we start bathing her it will help keep her skin moisturized and to use baby lotion liberally. So she's fine!
Got her 2 week state-mandated newborn screening done today, also. They do it at birth and at 2 weeks old to check for a variety of deficiencies (see this link for details: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/lab/mrs_nbs_tests_ns.htm). They had to stick her heel to get the blood so I didn't watch. For some reason it bothered me to no end and she cried through the whole thing and it made me really upset that they were sticking her. At her 2 month appointment she's supposed to get 5 vaccinations... I already told David that I'll have to wait outside the door; I dont' think I can handle that! Anyways, so she's all fine and dandy, and I'll keep you up to date on how her appointment goes next week. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!
Out for her first walk on an unusually warm day in December!
Gracie's First Christmas!
Her umbilical cord fell off last Saturday (12/22), and the doctor said to give it 24 more hours and then we could give her her first real bath (just been doing sponge baths until now). So we will probably do that tomorrow. As for her skin being really dry, the doctor said that's very common in babies this young at this time of year, and that once we start bathing her it will help keep her skin moisturized and to use baby lotion liberally. So she's fine!
Got her 2 week state-mandated newborn screening done today, also. They do it at birth and at 2 weeks old to check for a variety of deficiencies (see this link for details: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/lab/mrs_nbs_tests_ns.htm). They had to stick her heel to get the blood so I didn't watch. For some reason it bothered me to no end and she cried through the whole thing and it made me really upset that they were sticking her. At her 2 month appointment she's supposed to get 5 vaccinations... I already told David that I'll have to wait outside the door; I dont' think I can handle that! Anyways, so she's all fine and dandy, and I'll keep you up to date on how her appointment goes next week. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!
Gracie's one-week-old birthday! (12/19)
Out for her first walk on an unusually warm day in December!
Gracie's First Christmas!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Doctor check-up on jaundice
Went to the Gracie's pediatrician today, who was recommended by my pediatrician, Dr. Clifford. We loved Dr. Len! He was fabulous with Gracie and she didn't make a peep through the entire exam. He says her jaundice has pretty much gone away, and didn't even the need to test her billiirubin level. He said if we could give her a few minutes in the sunshine periodically over the next week it will go away entirely. She weighs 6 lbs, 11 oz today, which is perfectly normal. She should gain it all back by her two week appointment, which is on Wednesday, December 26th.
So she is perfect! (of course!)
So she is perfect! (of course!)
Friday, December 14, 2007
*~Gracie's Birth Story~*
I was told not to eat or drink anything (not even water) starting at midnight Tuesday morning (the 11th). After some delays with getting my room ready, we finally arrived at the hospital at 9:45am for the scheduled induction. We were shown to my labor and delivery room and I changed into my gown. I signed all my consent forms, and had blood drawn (had to draw from a vein in my thumb, because my other veins were too small since I was dehydrated). Dr. Greggs got there and checked my cervix. There was no change in dilation or effacement since the week before (1.5cm, 85%), so she placed Citotec pills onto my cervix at about 12:20pm. At around 1pm I was in a lot of pain and called my nurse. She checked and determined that I was reacting to the Citotec by having contractions 1:30 minutes apart, and because I had no time to relax in between them I was not dilating. After consulting with David and the nurse, I decided to go ahead and get the epidural (because I had still not made any progress). I was very scared of the epidural, but the anesthesiologist did a wonderful job. The IV he gave me beforehand was the worst part, since he used the same vein in my thumb where the blook had been drawn earlier. I had to bend over in a really uncomfortable position to get the epidural, but it was just a pinch and a 4-second cramp and it was over. He was very quick and efficient and talked me through the entire process. I felt great after that. I couldn't feel any pain from a pinch to my foot or leg, just pressure, and if I concentrated hard, I could move my legs a little and bend my toes. I was given a little button that let me "control" my epi to a certain extent; if I started feeling any pain, I could push the button and get a little more. It was great.
Unfortunately, the epidural slowed my progress even more. The doctor came in to check me again at around 7pm and I was only 3cm dilated, and 90% effaced, so she went ahead and broke my water. Well, within a few minutes I started to feel the contractions. I could feel the pressure when they started and stopped. Soon it turned into very real pain, and I started pushing my little epidural button every minute. An hour later I couldn't take it anymore and called my nurse. She checked me and I had progressed to 7cm and was 100% effaced in one hour! The epidural wasn't keeping up with the contractions, though, and I was again getting to where I couldn't relax in between the contractions, so they decided to "up" my epidural... twice! I ended up not being able to feel anything at all. That was the only time I was really really scared. It was like, "This is what it must feel like to wake up and be paralyzed". I couldn't feel pressure or move at all, no matter how hard I concentrated. But David and everyone were really supportive and even made me laugh to get my mind off the scary lack of feeling. Although I was progressing rapidly, the baby wasn't descending through the birth canal as quickly as she needed to, so the nurse and David helped me move into "rolling" side positions to "open up" the birth canal and help the baby's descent. By 10pm, I was at 9 cm, and fully effaced. At around 11, the doctor came to check me again. She put her hand down to check my cervix, then made a funny face, then looked under the sheet. David was standing across the room, having just walked our visitors out the door, and he looked too, and he made a funny face. I asked what was going on. David just said, "I see hair!" The doctor confirmed that the baby was indeed crowning, and things moved very quickly after that. The nurses came in and started setting the room up for the birth. The lights came out of the ceiling and the baby area came out of a cabinet in the wall. At around 11:30 the nurse had me try a few practice pushes. I couldn't feel my contractions, though, so she had to tell me when to push. I couldn't feel anything, but I held my breath and did what I thought was pushing. She quickly told me to stop, because I was pushing too well! It took the doctor almost another hour to get all set up and ready, and I started pushing for real at 12:20am. I pushed through the first contraction (three pushes of ten seconds each), and the doctor said I was indeed a great pusher. With the second contraction, push #1 got the baby's head out, push #2 the doctor loosened the cord that was around the baby's neck and rotated her shoulders, and push #3 she was born at 12:25am! I cannot describe the feeling when they placed her on my tummy, it was amazing. David and I were both crying with joy to see our daughter's face for the first time. She was just beautiful!
The nurses took her to the side and cleaned her up, while the doctor was stitching me up. Gracie had swallowed some amniotic fluid, so the nurses had to spend some extra time with her, but they got it all out and she had no lasting effects from it. They gave her back to us about 45 minutes later, and we were able to spend a very special half hour alone with her, and made our first attempt at breastfeeding. Afterwards, we let the family in that had been waiting in the waiting room during the birth. We all visited for a little while, then David and the rest of the family followed the nurse to the nursery so she could do Gracie's bath and evaluation while I got all cleaned up. Everyone went home around 3am and they wheeled me into a post-partum room for the rest of the morning.
I hadn't eaten or drank anything for well over 24 hours by this point, so they brought me a bunch of graham crackers and juice. The room we were in was in the overflow post-partum wing, so we had two beds, which was really nice for David. It took awhile for Gracie to be released from the nursery so I could feed her because her temperature dropped dramatically after her bath. They kept her in a warmer for awhile, and finally brought her to me after about 3 hours so I could feed her. They had to take her back to the nursery afterwards, though, because her temperature was still not as warm as they wanted (although they told me this was pretty normal). David went to sleep pretty quickly, but my nurse kept coming in every 20 minutes to check on me, go over paperwork with me, and give me medicine so I didn't get much sleep at all.
At 7am the cafeteria opened so I ordered myself a huge breakfast. We got up (after that monster epidural I was finally able to walk on my own by 8am) and took showers (that was the best shower of my life). We had some visitors that morning, and around lunch-time, a room opened up on the main post-partum floor, so we were moved up there. We got to keep Gracie with us throughout the day, which was nice. She passed her hearing screening with an above-average score, and we worked on mastering our diapering skills. We continued to have visitors throughout the day, and finally settled down to sleep around 11pm. I decided to have the nursery keep Gracie again that night, so I could try to get some more sleep. Of course I was woken up to feed her every 4 hours (although I insisted on this, I didn't want her having any formula at all) and to take medicine.
The next morning they said I was ready to be discharged, although I could have stayed another night if I wanted since Gracie was only technically born the day before. We went ahead and decided to go home, and waited for Gracie to be discharged by her pediatrician (my pediatrician, Dr. Clifford!). That happened around lunch-time, and after paperwork (birth certificate, discharge instructions, etc.) and another great shower, we were all packed and ready to go by 3pm. The nurse wheeled me downstairs where David had the car ready and we were off! Gracie was home for the first time by 4pm, 40 hours after she was born.
Hopefully next time I go into labor on my own and don't need to be induced. That's the one thing I wanted to experience, the contractions of early labor and knowing that the baby was coming on its own. I really enjoyed having a bunch of people visit while I was in labor. It made the 12 hours go by fairly quickly. It was very important to David and I that we were the only people present when our child was born (aside from the doctor and two nurses), and we will definitely have it that way again. However, next time we will definitely limit the post-partum visitors to a certain time period during the day. We enjoyed seeing everyone, but we were never able to rest and really suffered because of it when we got home. We really should have stayed that extra night, but we had no way of knowing just how crazy it would be at home. I will still insist on having the baby brought to me to breastfeed, and will still have the nursery keep the baby at night. So, overall, it was a great experience, and we can't wait for #2! (;D)
Unfortunately, the epidural slowed my progress even more. The doctor came in to check me again at around 7pm and I was only 3cm dilated, and 90% effaced, so she went ahead and broke my water. Well, within a few minutes I started to feel the contractions. I could feel the pressure when they started and stopped. Soon it turned into very real pain, and I started pushing my little epidural button every minute. An hour later I couldn't take it anymore and called my nurse. She checked me and I had progressed to 7cm and was 100% effaced in one hour! The epidural wasn't keeping up with the contractions, though, and I was again getting to where I couldn't relax in between the contractions, so they decided to "up" my epidural... twice! I ended up not being able to feel anything at all. That was the only time I was really really scared. It was like, "This is what it must feel like to wake up and be paralyzed". I couldn't feel pressure or move at all, no matter how hard I concentrated. But David and everyone were really supportive and even made me laugh to get my mind off the scary lack of feeling. Although I was progressing rapidly, the baby wasn't descending through the birth canal as quickly as she needed to, so the nurse and David helped me move into "rolling" side positions to "open up" the birth canal and help the baby's descent. By 10pm, I was at 9 cm, and fully effaced. At around 11, the doctor came to check me again. She put her hand down to check my cervix, then made a funny face, then looked under the sheet. David was standing across the room, having just walked our visitors out the door, and he looked too, and he made a funny face. I asked what was going on. David just said, "I see hair!" The doctor confirmed that the baby was indeed crowning, and things moved very quickly after that. The nurses came in and started setting the room up for the birth. The lights came out of the ceiling and the baby area came out of a cabinet in the wall. At around 11:30 the nurse had me try a few practice pushes. I couldn't feel my contractions, though, so she had to tell me when to push. I couldn't feel anything, but I held my breath and did what I thought was pushing. She quickly told me to stop, because I was pushing too well! It took the doctor almost another hour to get all set up and ready, and I started pushing for real at 12:20am. I pushed through the first contraction (three pushes of ten seconds each), and the doctor said I was indeed a great pusher. With the second contraction, push #1 got the baby's head out, push #2 the doctor loosened the cord that was around the baby's neck and rotated her shoulders, and push #3 she was born at 12:25am! I cannot describe the feeling when they placed her on my tummy, it was amazing. David and I were both crying with joy to see our daughter's face for the first time. She was just beautiful!
The nurses took her to the side and cleaned her up, while the doctor was stitching me up. Gracie had swallowed some amniotic fluid, so the nurses had to spend some extra time with her, but they got it all out and she had no lasting effects from it. They gave her back to us about 45 minutes later, and we were able to spend a very special half hour alone with her, and made our first attempt at breastfeeding. Afterwards, we let the family in that had been waiting in the waiting room during the birth. We all visited for a little while, then David and the rest of the family followed the nurse to the nursery so she could do Gracie's bath and evaluation while I got all cleaned up. Everyone went home around 3am and they wheeled me into a post-partum room for the rest of the morning.
I hadn't eaten or drank anything for well over 24 hours by this point, so they brought me a bunch of graham crackers and juice. The room we were in was in the overflow post-partum wing, so we had two beds, which was really nice for David. It took awhile for Gracie to be released from the nursery so I could feed her because her temperature dropped dramatically after her bath. They kept her in a warmer for awhile, and finally brought her to me after about 3 hours so I could feed her. They had to take her back to the nursery afterwards, though, because her temperature was still not as warm as they wanted (although they told me this was pretty normal). David went to sleep pretty quickly, but my nurse kept coming in every 20 minutes to check on me, go over paperwork with me, and give me medicine so I didn't get much sleep at all.
At 7am the cafeteria opened so I ordered myself a huge breakfast. We got up (after that monster epidural I was finally able to walk on my own by 8am) and took showers (that was the best shower of my life). We had some visitors that morning, and around lunch-time, a room opened up on the main post-partum floor, so we were moved up there. We got to keep Gracie with us throughout the day, which was nice. She passed her hearing screening with an above-average score, and we worked on mastering our diapering skills. We continued to have visitors throughout the day, and finally settled down to sleep around 11pm. I decided to have the nursery keep Gracie again that night, so I could try to get some more sleep. Of course I was woken up to feed her every 4 hours (although I insisted on this, I didn't want her having any formula at all) and to take medicine.
The next morning they said I was ready to be discharged, although I could have stayed another night if I wanted since Gracie was only technically born the day before. We went ahead and decided to go home, and waited for Gracie to be discharged by her pediatrician (my pediatrician, Dr. Clifford!). That happened around lunch-time, and after paperwork (birth certificate, discharge instructions, etc.) and another great shower, we were all packed and ready to go by 3pm. The nurse wheeled me downstairs where David had the car ready and we were off! Gracie was home for the first time by 4pm, 40 hours after she was born.
Hopefully next time I go into labor on my own and don't need to be induced. That's the one thing I wanted to experience, the contractions of early labor and knowing that the baby was coming on its own. I really enjoyed having a bunch of people visit while I was in labor. It made the 12 hours go by fairly quickly. It was very important to David and I that we were the only people present when our child was born (aside from the doctor and two nurses), and we will definitely have it that way again. However, next time we will definitely limit the post-partum visitors to a certain time period during the day. We enjoyed seeing everyone, but we were never able to rest and really suffered because of it when we got home. We really should have stayed that extra night, but we had no way of knowing just how crazy it would be at home. I will still insist on having the baby brought to me to breastfeed, and will still have the nursery keep the baby at night. So, overall, it was a great experience, and we can't wait for #2! (;D)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
GRACIE JANE NICHOLS IS HERE!
She was born at 12:25am, weighing 7 pounds even and 19 3/4 inches long! She has ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes, and big feet just like her mommy! It was a very emotional moment for both of us, and now we can't stop smiling! Thanks for all the prayers, and Thank You, God, for our beautiful angel!
We will post a detailed birth story later!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
TODAY
Wow, I'm so nervous I just could not get back to sleep. Have to call the hospital in about a half hour to make sure they have my room available, and if they do, we will be out the door at 6:30am. I was told not to eat or drink after midnight last night, and it probably wouldn't be bothering me so much except I keep thinking about it... so I desperately want a cookie and a glass of milk right now! *sigh* Oh well, I will be able to eat immediately after delivery so that's good.
I'm so excited, but so scared. Never been to the hospital for myself before (aside from some minor ER trips). No surgeries, no broken bones, no major illnesses. I've been blessed with health for most of my life, and now in my increasingly anxious mind I wonder if that's because I was born so late (a little over two weeks, I believe). So maybe Gracie needs a little more time... I don't know. Too late now, I think. So we will go into this trusting God to guide the medical professionals and help us deliver a perfect little baby. David is amazing. He loves me in the most genuine way, and doesn't take anything about this for granted. I know he will be there for me throughout the entire experience, and sometime in the next 24 hours (well, hopefully) we will be holding our little girl!
Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes. We will have the computer at the hospital (free internet, yay!) so we will post something as soon as she's born!
I'm so excited, but so scared. Never been to the hospital for myself before (aside from some minor ER trips). No surgeries, no broken bones, no major illnesses. I've been blessed with health for most of my life, and now in my increasingly anxious mind I wonder if that's because I was born so late (a little over two weeks, I believe). So maybe Gracie needs a little more time... I don't know. Too late now, I think. So we will go into this trusting God to guide the medical professionals and help us deliver a perfect little baby. David is amazing. He loves me in the most genuine way, and doesn't take anything about this for granted. I know he will be there for me throughout the entire experience, and sometime in the next 24 hours (well, hopefully) we will be holding our little girl!
Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes. We will have the computer at the hospital (free internet, yay!) so we will post something as soon as she's born!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
The Plan
Well, yesterday was the due date... and no Gracie. Guess she just takes after her mommy and needs a little encouragement to get on out of there!
We worked it all out with my doctor and will definitely be delivering at Medical City. Induction has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 11th, at 7:30am, if she doesn't come on her own before then. She hasn't made any moves yet to make me think she will. I'm pretty nervous now that I know THE DAY, but I know it will be fine. David and I are very excited to hold our little girl, and introduce her to the world!
We worked it all out with my doctor and will definitely be delivering at Medical City. Induction has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 11th, at 7:30am, if she doesn't come on her own before then. She hasn't made any moves yet to make me think she will. I'm pretty nervous now that I know THE DAY, but I know it will be fine. David and I are very excited to hold our little girl, and introduce her to the world!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
This crazy whack of a doctor...AGH!
Why do people think they can take advantage of you just cause you're pregnant? You know how we've been struggling with the doctor trying to get me to change hospitals at 36 weeks, after we had already paid for and attended childbirth classes and everything and registered at and become familiar with Medical City. She got all in my face and said that its no longer "convenient" for her and I "would just have to understand that", etc. I haven't budged; this other hospital she wants me to switch to (RHD) is pretty low-grade, all shared rooms, the lactation consultant is only there two days a week, so if you miss her then tough ***, any nurse can come get your baby, the security isn't all that, etc. And if your baby needs a NICU Level 2, it is transported to Medical City anyway! So we've been struggling with that, the decision has been to just blow her off every time she mentions RHD, when it's time we're just to show up at Medical City and if she delivers the baby then fine, if not, I don't even care who does.
Well, here's the latest development in this fiasco. My doctor told me at my 38 week appointment (last Tuesday) that if I hadn't made much progress by my next appointment (39 week appt tomorrow) then we would discuss a possible induction for the week following my due date (which is this coming Saturday). I'm okay with that, there's no reason to schedule an induction before my due date. I told her at the very beginning that I wanted medication for pain, but DID NOT want any intervention to start labor, unless necessary (in other words, no induction before my due date, no breaking my water for me, and absolutely no c-section unless there is mortal danger to mine and/or the baby's life). Now the baby is not too big, her heart rate is perfect, my blood pressure is perfect, etc. Well, I get a message from the doctor's office yesterday morning that says, "Hi Sara, this is Donna from Dr. Gregg's office. I'm calling because you're scheduled for an induction tomorrow morning and you're not registered at the hospital. Please call me back so we can get this taken care of. Thanks, bye."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
This nurse tells me that at some point last Friday Dr. Greggs decided (out of the blue, for no reason and without discussing anything with me) that she no longer wants me to go all the way to my due date this Saturday, and wants to induce me this week. Apparently, she decided to call RHD (the hospital I'm not registered at because I'm not considering delivering there) and tell them that she'd like to induce me on Wednesday (yes, the 5th) and do they have times available. They called her back to tell her that they were booked Wed, Thurs, and Fri and that if I were to be induced this week it would have to be Tuesday (yes, the 4th) morning at 6:30am. So she tells her nurse to call me and let me know that she has now decided that she doesn't want me to go to my due date and that that is my only option for induction. I told them to go ahead and cancel that induction, unless the doctor has a good reason to induce me before my due date, then she can call and tell me why herself. But that I would see them for my 39 week appt tomorrow at 4:30. Oh, and let me guess, was that hospital she called RHD? The nurse said yes. I said, Well, the reason I'm not registered there is because we decided months ago that I would be delivering at Medical City, and I'm not changing that. The nurse says Well sometimes insurance isn't covered at Medical City, I'd hate for you to get stuck with a bill you can't afford. I told her that I appreciated her concern but that I've already verified the coverage with the insurance and Med. City. Then I hung up.
I called my contact Kathleen in the admissions office at Med. City to verify all this, and she said that my insurance covers everything there, and that she is appalled that the doctor's office tried to counsel me on what the billing practices are at Med. City! So she double-checked and verified everything again, but it covers everything, no matter what the doctor says.
WTF?! My doctor has totally lost all my respect and confidence. She is no longer acting in my best interests. I'm just praying this little girl comes on her own in the next couple of days, so I dont' have to worry about this whole induction business.
Well, here's the latest development in this fiasco. My doctor told me at my 38 week appointment (last Tuesday) that if I hadn't made much progress by my next appointment (39 week appt tomorrow) then we would discuss a possible induction for the week following my due date (which is this coming Saturday). I'm okay with that, there's no reason to schedule an induction before my due date. I told her at the very beginning that I wanted medication for pain, but DID NOT want any intervention to start labor, unless necessary (in other words, no induction before my due date, no breaking my water for me, and absolutely no c-section unless there is mortal danger to mine and/or the baby's life). Now the baby is not too big, her heart rate is perfect, my blood pressure is perfect, etc. Well, I get a message from the doctor's office yesterday morning that says, "Hi Sara, this is Donna from Dr. Gregg's office. I'm calling because you're scheduled for an induction tomorrow morning and you're not registered at the hospital. Please call me back so we can get this taken care of. Thanks, bye."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
This nurse tells me that at some point last Friday Dr. Greggs decided (out of the blue, for no reason and without discussing anything with me) that she no longer wants me to go all the way to my due date this Saturday, and wants to induce me this week. Apparently, she decided to call RHD (the hospital I'm not registered at because I'm not considering delivering there) and tell them that she'd like to induce me on Wednesday (yes, the 5th) and do they have times available. They called her back to tell her that they were booked Wed, Thurs, and Fri and that if I were to be induced this week it would have to be Tuesday (yes, the 4th) morning at 6:30am. So she tells her nurse to call me and let me know that she has now decided that she doesn't want me to go to my due date and that that is my only option for induction. I told them to go ahead and cancel that induction, unless the doctor has a good reason to induce me before my due date, then she can call and tell me why herself. But that I would see them for my 39 week appt tomorrow at 4:30. Oh, and let me guess, was that hospital she called RHD? The nurse said yes. I said, Well, the reason I'm not registered there is because we decided months ago that I would be delivering at Medical City, and I'm not changing that. The nurse says Well sometimes insurance isn't covered at Medical City, I'd hate for you to get stuck with a bill you can't afford. I told her that I appreciated her concern but that I've already verified the coverage with the insurance and Med. City. Then I hung up.
I called my contact Kathleen in the admissions office at Med. City to verify all this, and she said that my insurance covers everything there, and that she is appalled that the doctor's office tried to counsel me on what the billing practices are at Med. City! So she double-checked and verified everything again, but it covers everything, no matter what the doctor says.
WTF?! My doctor has totally lost all my respect and confidence. She is no longer acting in my best interests. I'm just praying this little girl comes on her own in the next couple of days, so I dont' have to worry about this whole induction business.
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