Thursday, September 23, 2010

A Small Victory and a Minor Setback

You may remember that at my last OB appt. my doctor told me that I wouldn't be getting my ultrasound until 30 weeks.  Well, my health insurance called me this week to discuss the pregnancy wellness program they offer.  They wanted to go over the plan benefits with me and make sure I was planning to take full advantage of the birthing classes, lactation consultations, CPR training, home health care following delivery, etc.  Though I've already taken the classes and consider myself a semi-pro at breastfeeding (seriously, 19 months and counting should earn me that title), I think I still might take the refresher classes because I always seem to learn something new.

Anyway, she asked when my next ultrasound was scheduled and gasped when I told her how late it would be.  She told me that I needed to call the doctor back and tell him that I was very concerned with how late it was being scheduled and I wanted it sooner to make sure things were okay with the baby.  So I followed her directions precisely and it worked!  My ultrasound is now supposed to be scheduled around 20 weeks.  Fingers are crossed that our little one will not be shy on that day since I probably will not have another ultrasound after.  So for those of you that are in the "wait to find out" group still might get your wish ;-)

On that phone call I also received some potentially bad news as well.  The representative informed me that if we have a boy, the insurance won't cover circumcision.  She also told me that only about 50% of people are opting for that now.  I guess I just assumed it was still widely practiced.  In any case, we'll still have it done but will just have to pay the $500-$1,000 out of our pocket to have this "cosmetic" procedure done.  I thought it was a little weird that they'll cover someone to come in and help me cook, clean, etc. after the baby comes, but won't pay for male circumcision.  So originally I said that having a boy would be cheaper because we already have boy things.  Now, it may end up being more of a wash.  I'll be thrilled with either a boy or girl.  Just praying the little one is healthy.

4 comments:

  1. Yay! So glad you had the u/s scheduled earlier. :)

    FWIW, because of Caleb being born with blisters all over him they couldn't circ him in the hospital. We had to wait until he was almost 5 weeks old, and had it done in the dr. office. The cost between his and Owen's was almost $400 different. We avoided all the extra hospital fees by having it done at an office visit. Might be worth it to look into that option.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Make sure you drink a realllllllly cold glass of ice water right before the ultrasound. I didn't want to know the sex of my first two, but I did with Ewan. Mine were all breech, so with the first two it was very difficult to see what they were, but when I did that with Ewan he tossed and turned the whole ultrasound!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You insurance coverage sounds amazing apart from the circumcision thing. I'm curious to know if they cover birth doula services. . . Anyway, yay for the ultrasound! Can't wait to hear who you're gonna welcome in the next few months.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So glad you don't have to wait so long!! Ugh - that would have been excruciating :).

    They couldn't do Ryden's circumcision in the hospital because they had so many to do, so we had it done in the doctor's office. I was told that a lot of people are purposely opting for this lately - doing it around a week old or something. We had Ryden's done at six days old because that was the soonest they could get him in, and it had to be done ASAP because they don't do them at that office at over 10 lbs. At six days old Ryden was 9 lbs. 7 oz., so he was just under the wire. Anyway, it was $285 for his "cosmetic" procedure :-P. I had no idea it wouldn't be covered, either. But $285 isn't too bad compared to $500-1000!

    ReplyDelete