Disappointed
We just got back from taking a tour of the hospital where Pip is supposed to be born... and even though it's supposed to be the nicer of the two hospitals we could choose from - I'm still a little disappointed. I'm trying to figure out why - and mostly it feels like we just had many of our "options" cut... For example:
* We MIGHT be able to have a midwife, but that depends on if one is available. "Ask when you get there....", they say.
* We MIGHT be able to have a private room so that Jeremy could stay over... but that also depends.
* We will PROBABLY be able to get an anesthetist for an epidural if we ask for one... but we should keep in mind that it can take up to 90 mins to get the blood work done before they'll allow it... and then it depends on if there is an anesthetist available... if someone else is having a C-section, then sorry! No drugs for you!
* I WON'T be able to do any kind of laboring in water: they don't have those facilities - but it MIGHT be okay to walk around the hospital and eat. It depends. Maybe not.
* And then the cherry on the top: the $100 co-pay I thought I would have to pay on admission for this birth it turns out "must have been a mistake" (even though I have it in writing!!! From my OB-GYN department!) "oops, sorry, your plan has a $400 PER DAY co-pay... Sorry Ma'am, your benefits are what they are - the clerk must have made a mistake."
Baaa.
Time to force myself to be a little more pollyanna-ish. I am thankful that we do have health care. I am thankful that our baby is healthy so far. I am thankful that we CAN afford to have our baby in a hospital (which is clean! and well staffed! and fully supplied with drugs!), and that we can afford to pay the co-pay, even if it is more than we expected...
But I am still just a little disappointed.
* We MIGHT be able to have a midwife, but that depends on if one is available. "Ask when you get there....", they say.
* We MIGHT be able to have a private room so that Jeremy could stay over... but that also depends.
* We will PROBABLY be able to get an anesthetist for an epidural if we ask for one... but we should keep in mind that it can take up to 90 mins to get the blood work done before they'll allow it... and then it depends on if there is an anesthetist available... if someone else is having a C-section, then sorry! No drugs for you!
* I WON'T be able to do any kind of laboring in water: they don't have those facilities - but it MIGHT be okay to walk around the hospital and eat. It depends. Maybe not.
* And then the cherry on the top: the $100 co-pay I thought I would have to pay on admission for this birth it turns out "must have been a mistake" (even though I have it in writing!!! From my OB-GYN department!) "oops, sorry, your plan has a $400 PER DAY co-pay... Sorry Ma'am, your benefits are what they are - the clerk must have made a mistake."
Baaa.
Time to force myself to be a little more pollyanna-ish. I am thankful that we do have health care. I am thankful that our baby is healthy so far. I am thankful that we CAN afford to have our baby in a hospital (which is clean! and well staffed! and fully supplied with drugs!), and that we can afford to pay the co-pay, even if it is more than we expected...
But I am still just a little disappointed.
posted by Bronwyn at 5:22 am
1 Comments:
Shocking!! Some of those things are pretty readily available. The water birth and midwife, I don't know about. But for sure the epidural is easier to get if you want it. I don't remember any necessary blood tests to get mine. I just said I wanted it and 20 minutes later I had it. Also, could Jeremey still stay over even if you don't get a private room. Better him around than not (says me after our tiring experience). BTW, check with work about the co-pay... maybe the hospital was wrong. If not, I actually applied (really for Elizabeth, but I got pregnancy coverage too) for Medi-cal and go them to cover our daily co-pay. Not sure if it was "correct"... but we didn't have to pay the $400 bill.
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