Dr Appointment

(Transcribed from a long email to family- posted here for posterity)

Damon met Dr Schwartz and seemed very pleased. Every time I see Dr. Schwartz, I am impressed and often surprised by his views on some things.

Baby and Mamma are doing really well, weight and blood pressure are normal. My morning fasting blood sugars are pretty much under control on 10 units of Lantus. I have had a couple of higher mornings, but I think if I can get my stress levels down a bit and make sure I take time to get in a little extra exercise, I should be just fine- Dr. Schwartz did not seem overly worried.

Baby is still measuring “big” but she is measuring “big” by the same 2 centimeters she was large by the last time I saw him. He was not terribly concerned, so did not feel the need to do a growth scan at this point. He said that might just be my anatomy. If I recall, I have been measuring “bigger” since about 28 weeks.

We talked a little bit about induction, and he said with “regular insulin dependent diabetics” he does an amnio at 37ish weeks and if the lungs are mature, he proceeds with induction. I asked if this would be the case with me and he seemed to indicate that it is probable and he threw out the VERY tentative date of the first week of May. Additionally, if I do need induction and I am in good shape otherwise, he may hand me over to the midwives for the induction process- but he told me not to worry about it until my next appointment in 2 weeks (April 24^th).

I asked shortly about C-Section and he talked about his philosophy and it is very much in line with the philosophy I have personally. Essentially it comes down to this: If he ends up doing a C-Section, it is almost guaranteed that the baby could not be born any other way. (In fact his reputation for NOT doing them causes his partners who have delivered a few of his patients via C-Section to apologize when they do them!)

According to him, very rarely can he look at a patient at 34/35 weeks and be able to tell if she will need a c-section. He did say “I mean this in a joking way, but not really… You could have picked a better partner where that is concerned” and motioned to Damon’s head. We all got a laugh out of it- however, to be honest; the size of the baby’s head does not scare me (at this point). I have good hips.

Insurance is the only “sticky” point. Damon’s plan is not nearly as cushy and financially forgiving as mine. I REALLY had not planned for that. I had originally hoped to stay on the insurance here at work for cost and continuity’s sake- at least until the baby is born. But, in the last month it has become blatantly obvious that the owner has to change May 1^st as well, and either way I would have a new deductible to meet. By going straight to Damon’s insurance, it will keep me from having to pay a deductible on my office’s new insurance and then Damon’s insurance…

I called the contact in the dr’s office (Linda) and she told me that once I have the new card and information, she can run my info and get an idea of what it will cost. Thankfully Dr. Schwartz and the midwives (because they are billed under Dr Schwartz name) are covered. I will have to fill out a new “pre-certification” form, and once we know the costs, we can work out payments if necessary.

I have a call into the hospital to find out the general costs there as well so I can be as prepared as possible. Unknown costs scare me. Hopefully my personal guess as to the amount they will charge me is way off (Around $4000 which is the max “out of pocket” for United Health Care Family)- but with insurance you never know. But at least we are covered and when the baby is here, I imagine the money will be farthest from my mind.

SO- we are doing really good health wise, we are excelling at our weekly tests. Just a couple more weeks and all of this confusion will be a distant memory.