Our Local Healthcare System

When I sit back and this about this issue that arised this week, I don't know whose more brain dead...the hospital or the people behind our insurance. Let me explain...I had a couple calls into the hospital to get a base price for what they charge for labor and delivery so that David and I could get ready and budget a little bit for what might be coming up. Well no one had called me back. So I drive by the hospital everytime that I go to Habitat so Tuesday, I decided that someone had to have the answer when I confronted them face to face. So I got shuffled around and finally ended up with the ladies in Patient Accounts. Well Doris in accounts called all over that hospital and kept either getting the run around herself or people weren't at their desks. One lady named Gail, told her that she didn't do that and wasn't responsible for it. So I left my name and number for Christy in accounts to call me on Wednesday with an answer. I left there and sat in the CRV and called my insurance company to get an answer. Low and Behold they didn't have one either. The girl was at their Chattanooga branch and didn't know that Skyridge was "in network" and made the comment that she didn't know that they delivered babies there either. That made me a lot more comfortable about delivering here in Cleveland.

So Tuesday night we had our childbirth education classes. I was talking to Christine, the educator about it and not really putting up a fuss about it but just really talking about how stupid this situation had become. She said that she was going to talk to the doctor's and the people in the office because they had a big meeting scheduled for Wednesday up at the hospital. Christy at the hospital had mentioned that as well and said that she would check about it on her end at the meeting too. Wednesday came and went without a phone call from the hospital. That didn't surprise me much though.

Thursday, I had a scheduled doctor's appointment at Life Circle and Christine pulled me into her office with the office manager. She was a really nice lady and said that she couldn't believe the situation and the problems that have occured. She took it upon herself and went above everyone and called the Chief Finance Officer and left him a curt message about the situation. By the end of my doctor's appointment, he had called her back and given her an answer about what he was told that they billed $5300 for a regular labor and delivery. He told her that I was to go back and speak with Christy about the account and that everything should be straightened out and taken care of. HA YEAH RIGHT! After Habitat Thursday afternoon, I went in and spoke with Christy. She called Gail (the one that didn't handle that stuff), and gail said that my amount responsible for was $385. Well if Skyridge bills $5300 and I'm responsible for 30%, where the hell did they get $385? I mean it would be nice if it was that low but I mean come on nothing is that cheap and our insurance isn't that grand. So supposedly Christy is going to look a little further into this and call me back. Am I holding my breath for a return phone call....NO.

Girlfriends and Damaged Roads

I haven't posted for a while because I really haven't had a whole lot to say and really don't have a whole lot to write in this post but I thought it would be better to post a little something than not at all. This week has been pretty uneventful besides a scary situation on the baby front. Tuesday Morning I called into the dr's office because I hadn't really felt the baby move on Sunday or Monday and even Tuesday morning. So the dr told me that I needed to come in there right then. So I went in and got hooked to some monitors and it took the dr twice to "buzz" the baby with a vibrating tool to wake her up and get her heart rate to jump to what the dr was looking for. Everything turned out okay. She kicked me not stop yesterday as payback I believe but I rather feel her kick all day then be quiet for a couple days. The dr said that she rather me be in every day and err on the side of caution then her deliver a still born. I would rather that as well of course!!!

Today I got together with a couple of my girlfriends at Applebee's. We ate and laughed and planned the baby shower. I won't give up any of the details because they are going to send out invitations. :) I also went and helped out at the habitat office and got to see everyone there. It's great to catch up with them and see them. I don't mind the work either.

David called me on my way home from Applebee's and said that it looked like the water mane had busted in front of the house and that there was a hole in the road. He said that when he got home there was a back hoe in the road digging it up. I got home and checked the mail and there are spray paint lines all over our driveway, grass, and David said that they continue to our water mane. I hope that they aren't going to continue to dig up where the spray painted lines are because they will be digging up two of my rose bushes and I don't appriciate that thought. I guess I will have to see what tomorrow brings. I did say that I was going to habitat tomorrow but not if there's a threat of them digging up my rose bushes that's for sure!

January 19, 2009

There isn't a whole lot going on in this homefront. We are getting snow an actual accumulation of snow. It probably won't be there in the morning unless it continues all night like the weather channel says it should. There shouldn't be bread and milk in this city with weather like this. This weekend was pretty quiet around here. Saturday, we did some things around Chattanooga and then came home and that night we worked on the sports room and got the closet and room cleaned so we are slowly getting ready for visitors and having a new member of the family arrive. Sunday, we slept until about noon and then we noticed that the sun was out and decided to take the millions of boxes of Christmas lights and finally got them under the house. Today was a pretty uneventful day for me because everytime I got up to do something, even take shower I got so tired and my legs would get really hot and weak. So I didn't do a whole lot today except just a couple loads of laundry and a load of dishes. I'm pretty excited about tomorrow evening and going to our Childbirth class. It's going to cover interventions during birth and breastfeeding. I've heard how hard that breastfeeding can be so I want to learn as much as I can about it and get as much support that I can receive as well. I know one thing that if the baby doesn't get a whole lot more active by tomorrow then I'm going to call the doctor's office and just give them a head's up and see what they have to say about it this late in the game. She moved once or twice today and moved for 10-15 minutes yesterday but usually she's just rolling and moving all over the place especially in the morning and afternoon but since Sunday, she really hasn't moved except for once or twice and just a really faint kick here and there. So I'll call the doctor's office tomorrow and just see what they have to say. Probably, not to worry about it and that it's normal with her having dropped into the pelvic region already.

The countdown really starts now!

My doctor's appointment went well today. I am 30 weeks tomorrow and the baby already has it's head down and she's readying herself to appear and be part of this world. I passed my gluclose test with flying colors. I can feel her and see her really move in my belly. She moves my entire belly and it looks like an alien coming out of my stomach. It freaked me out a lot yesterday.

Childbirth Class #1

Our first childbirth class was this evening because last week was cancelled because of the horrible rain that we had last week. I really enjoyed our class tonight because it was small. There was 1 other couple in there besides us. We discussed what we hoped that the class would get us and what kind of birth plan we had worked out with if we wanted medication or so on. The instructor is a "doula" or a certified birth partner. She wasn't like most of the doula's that I have read about but she also works there at Life Circle. She was very personable and very knowledgeable. She has attended just shy of 300 live births in 10 years. We learned about labor and delivery of course, and comfort techniques to help you during l&d. Next week we are covering interventions during labor and breastfeeding. What I liked the most about the instructor is that she is unbiased when it comes to whether you want to have a natural birth or a medicated birth. She approached the subject of l&d from both views/aspects of it. I really felt like I was getting the whole aspect of the birth process and not a one sided view. The other couple that was there is on their second child but our instructor said that your body resets itself after 7 years of not having kids so this is like them having number 1 all over again. We also had something in common, neither one of us likes Dr. Mullin as a Labor and delivery doctor. We both chuckled at that!

Ghosts in the House

Last night I had a scare that's for sure. It started Sunday night, about the middle of the night, I had gotten up to use the bathroom (surprising thought with being pregnant!) and when I laid back down I heard a giggling coming from the babies closet. I knew that it was a certain toy that was bought for her and it normally goes off when someone walks by the closet or is playing with it. So it got me worried because the cat and David were in the bed with me. So I stayed still and listened but didn't continue to hear anything so I fell asleep.

Well last night, it was much the same thing except that the toy kept going off constantly. Nothing near it and it kept giggling and this was after 1 am. I got up and turned all the lights on that I could. I found it at the bottom of the closet with nothing pressing on it to cause it to giggle. I took it out of the closet and tried to get it to giggle and it wouldn't without a good beating to it. So I'm skeptical about it. I did put it past my mind and fall back asleep but it was a very scary situation for me.

Weekend Activities

I haven't posted in a while so I thought that I would post about our ever uneventful weekend activities. Friday, we collected all of the Christmas lights and inventoried them, and put them into storage boxes so that they can be taken and stored under the house. We inventoried them so that we know what we'll have to work with for the light display next year. So now I have boxes in my dining room waiting to be transferred under the house. Saturday, we went to Chattanooga to some consignment stores and checked out the sears essential store that's there just at the 75/24 split. It's like a Sears and K-Mart together. I had never been to one before. It was interesting to say the least. After that I was really tired so David and I went to lunch at Ryan's and then came home and worked on the lights more. Sunday, we didn't get a whole lot of stuff done just a little bit here and there. We went to Babies R Us because they had a coupon for three free onesies if you added 20 items to your baby registry so we went and did that. Then we came home and did stuff around the house. When I sit here and think about what we did each day, the days just blend together. I definitely feel like time has slowed down especially waiting for the little one to come. She did scare me on Sunday because she didn't really move or wasn't really active at all. Even after eating ice cream which she really reacts to. I think she was taking a day of rest. It scared me though and I told David that if she didn't start really moving and getting active today that I was going to call the doctor. Well she has been kicking and moving all day today. There's no second guessing that's she's doing okay today.

First Full Week of 09

2009 came in with a blast...a blast of rain that is. We have had 4.87" of rain from Monday to Wednesday. That's the official totals from the state for this area. Besides the rain this week has been kind of 'blah'. I had terrible pains in my belly area on Wednesday night, it just turned out to be those wonderful Braxton Hicks contractions. Pregnancy in this late stage isn't really fun. You get so worn down and tired just doing regular things around the house and then sleep...haha what's that?! I sleep for a few hours a night then I'm awake. I guess my body is trying to get myself into a functioning habit so that I can take care of Fallon when she arrives.

That's the next thing, I'm so intent on concentrating on the fact that she could come at any time. I didn't really focus on this before now, besides dreaming about it almost every night but other than that I didn't really worry about it and now I am almost panicked over it. There are some woman that are part of a message board that I frequent that were due the same month that I am and were just a week or a couple of weeks ahead of me and they had their babies either right after Christmas or right after the New Year. They posted pictures and the babies were so tiny. It scares me and I think the thing that panicks me the most is when I think of "do I have everything that I need if she came tomorrow?"

I have a good start I believe. I have a ton of receiving blankets, bib, and sleepers for Fallon. I don't have the little things like burp clothes and don't have a clue how to do the feeding process until my milk would come in (TMI). It really worries me about all this coming together once she does come. I guess they will enlighten us in child birth classes and if it's God's will that she come early then I will cope now won't I? After all the worry, I am very excited about her arrival. I am really ready to be a mother and be as great as my mother is.

Cleveland's Under Water

David and I were supposed to go to our first Childbirth class tonight but the instructor cancelled it because they have cancelled schools because of the flooding. We have a creek that runs along the greenway/greenbelt that has crested it's banks by a couple feet spilling into fields, yards, and streets around it. David and I went snooping to see what the fuss was about and the neighborhood in back of Logan's Roadhouse has water surrounding the houses and roads closed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as we were driving. We checked our backyard and it's flooded too. The storm drains at the back of our property are full so it's back flooding into our yard.

Bzz Agent

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End of Christmas Lights

David and I worked on the Christmas lights and taking them down today. We got a lot of the extension cords taken care of and some of the lights. It doesn't seem possible that we can put most of the lights up in a day and it takes us a month or more to get stuff taken down and put away. I got really tired and felt like collapsing in the middle of the driveway all of a sudden. We had been working steadily on the lights for a couple of hours and I hadn't had lunch yet but I wasn't really hungry yet either. So David had me come in and sit down. I made myself a sandwich and started to feel better so I worked on laundry a little bit and then he came in and we relaxed for the rest of the day. This day really did crawl though and by 6-7 pm tonight we were really looking for something to go out and do. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything for us to go and do. But now is the time to wrap up and head to bed. The babies been kicking all afternoon so I'll help her settle down and settle down myself.

We've Picked a Name

David and I went to Barnes and Noble Yesterday and went through their baby name books while we were waiting for some of the other stores to open up. David looked at some meanings of the names that we had been toying around with and came up with the name of Fallon Zora Lee Barnette which means Courageous woman born at dawn in a meadow. :) We didn't plan on it coming together in the meaning that way but Fallon was a name that we had found on the lists and really liked. Zora was David's grandmother, everyone called her Zode and Lee is after my middle name which has no real significance to it at all but I like the name. So We have done it, aren't you proud of us.

The New Year

Well it's 2009. There are so many things to already look forward to for this new year. We have a new little one coming into this world and to share our life with. We have a lot of learning to do about ourselves becoming parents and how we are going to work together and clash in our parenting styles. I think that we will be great parents. I am very ready to be a mother and to share my life with this little being inside of me. I don't know what else is going to take place this coming year. I am sure there will be surprises around each and every corner. New challenges, oppurtunities, and chances to make our mark on this year.