6 More Weeks to Go

Moving while pregnant can be such a pain.  For obvious reasons, moving at any stage of pregnancy with lifting, packing, cleaning can be very tedious and tiresome.  But in another regard, finding a new doctor when you are X amount of weeks along can also be very frustrating.  When we first arrived to our new location, we went straight to the base hospital to take care of insurance and getting me a referral to be seen off base.  We live 40-45 minutes away from the base hospital and we heard a rumor that if you live outside the 30-minute range, you could find a doctor off base no problem.  This was not that case with me because I am special.  I am special because I am pregnant and high risk and all specialty clinics on base (OB/GYN being one of them) have the first right of refusal for treatment.  However, due to budget cutbacks, the Air Force has decided to save money by absorbing and treating all patients at the base hospital for all specialty clinics if they believe they can handle the case.  Disappointed, I decided to give the OB/GYN clinic a try.  After three appointments I was not impressed.  One day, I showed up for my appointment and it was not scheduled, so I had to wait around to be seen and shuffled here and there for lab work, ultrasound and a NST.  When all was said and done, I was at the base hospital for 3 hours with three kids.  Let me tell you, that was F-U-N!

So, both George and I decided that we would rather pay money out-of-pocket, deliver at the hospital 10 minutes from our home and see a civilian doctor also within 10-15 minutes from our home.  We had to switch from Tricare Prime, which pays for everything, to Tricare Standard which has a $150 deductible, 15% cost-share, and costs $17/day in the hospital.  This is all worth it to me.  It costs a lot of gas money to go up to the base and they wanted me to go twice a week!  The deductible will probably balance out any gas money and for the comfort and peace of mind that I will have when delivery time comes, I am willing to fork out some dough.  The hospital I will deliver at is highly rated and recommended, similar to the last hospital I delivered at.  There is a steak and lobster dinner, awesome menu, large rooms, personal showers, technology in the rooms (flat screen TV that functions as a computer as well).  I would have had none of those luxuries at the base hospital.  Anyway, I probably sound like a spoiled prego woman, but after delivering at an awesome hospital and receiving top-notch care from my previous doctors, it's hard to go back to the stone age.

Almost 34 weeks... I feel huge! Look at that watermelon under my shirt!

So, I discovered it's really difficult to find a doctor after you are 20 weeks along.  I never had that problem before, but every place has their quirks. After being rejected at least five different times because I am so far along, or the doctor already has so many deliveries scheduled in September, they don't take patients past the first trimester, yada, yada, yada, I finally found a doctor. Who knew that it was so hard to find a doctor?  I had a list of doctors within a 25 mile radius of my home that were Tricare providers and I researched them all online, found out who delivered at the hospital I wanted, and then started calling.  After two days of research and phone calls, I was ready to give up and just stick with delivering on base.  But things worked out and I have my first appointment August 2nd.  Wish me luck!