Go Figure...

Is the universe sending me some sort of message? Do I have some sort of crazy extrasensory perception? Sometimes I think that's the case, but I'll stay on-topic here. So right after typing yesterday's rant post about our new and improved worsened health care coverage, what was tucked lovingly into our mailbox? That's right folks - a hospital bill was waiting for me. And not just any hospital bill, but one that was a whopping 600% more than I had expected. Silly me (you'd think I'd learn by now, but I'd rather check to be sure), I called both the hospital and insurance company, only to find that the charges were all valid. Sigh.

In other news, I'm feeling pretty great for the most part. This pregnancy has turned out to be much easier on me overall. I've gained less weight, I'm not swelling nearly as much as I did with Harper (I even sported a lovely pair of compression hose last time), and though elevated to "borderline", my blood pressure isn't nearly as bad as it was last time. Interesting that this "high risk" pregnancy ends up being easier than my "normal" one.

With Harper, I would have been set to deliver next week, during the 37th week. Crazy, right? Judging by my progress at today's appointment, my midwife said that it was looking like I was going to be "pregnant for awhile longer". So I'd like to say that the baby will be here in just a few more weeks, but we'll see how things naturally progress. Mother nature has been good to me so far with the summer temperatures, and I don't mind being pregnant for awhile longer. It's no walk in the park, but I've really been enjoying it this time around.

Thoughts at 36 Weeks

I'll avoid jumping into a political-oriented rant here. But I do have to say: our country's healthcare system really needs some work. Our insurance changed in 2010 and at the time we didn't realize how much for the worse that change would be. Sure, it's likely more than adequate for the average person or family, but that isn't who we are.

We had a rude awakening when our hospital bills started to pile up for prenatal care. I even called the hospitals and our new insurance provider, thinking that there had to be some kind of mistake. Nope... Our new insurance was really that lame. Okay, maybe I shouldn't say that it's all bad. After all, I'm grateful that we have coverage at all. There are no doubt countless Americans without any (or adequate) medical insurance. All I know is that all the medical care for this baby is going to be expensive, but we're determined to make it work.

The good news is that there is a Shriner's Children's Hospital in SLC with a long list of orthopedic services to offer our little peanut when s/he needs it. Shriner's is an incredible group that offers medical care to children with special medical needs. The best part? They'll bill our insurance company for whatever they can, but we won't have to pay out of pocket for the rest. I'm pretty sure that this will only help with major procedures & we'll still have plenty more to pay for (ie labor/delivery/recovery as well as the countless inevitable genetic & orthopedic tests), but this will be a HUGE help.

We're less than a month from our due date, and only a week from being full term. We still have lots to do to get ready, but ultimately... We're more than ready to cuddle our little peanut. We still have some decisions to make on baby names, though. It's definitely more difficult having to come up with names for each gender, but the surprise is SO worth it.

2 Months and Counting

I have just under two months left in this pregnancy. I've been nesting by tackling clutter in the house to make room for the baby while also making the house more comfortable in general. We recently sorted through our extensive DVD collection & sold them to Amazon.com. Not only did it get rid of about five boxes of stored DVDs, but it also put baby money in our pockets. Jeff is dreading doing the same with video games, but I hope I'll be able to talk him into it sooner than later.

We had our 32-week ultrasound today. When I was pregnant with Harper, Jeff never had to miss a single appointment - he went to every one. Now that we have to juggle more than just our own schedules, Jeff has only been able to go to three appointments this time, even though I've been going every two weeks. I thought this week would be a good opportunity for him to meet our new nurses, midwife, and doctor. Plus, it was an ultrasound appointment, so that's always a bonus. I'm so grateful to Jeff's sister Emily for always being so willing to watch Harper. I'm also grateful that Harper is being less of a stink about going over there, too. He can be so antisocial sometimes.

The scan photos look a little better in person, but you should be able to make out the face profile using the labels below. It looks like we'll have another Filipino-nosed baby in the family. No substantial news to report on the growth front. The long bones have still not progressed much. They've taken a month to grow what you would typically see take two weeks for a baby without this condition. They're measuring about 22-23 weeks, though the baby is 32-weeks. Everything else seems on track, which is the best possible news we could hope for.

While we were watching the scan, the baby poked out his/her tongue at us. We also saw that the baby has some pretty chubby looking legs, so that is something to look forward to. Don't you just love chubby little baby legs? It looks like this baby will have extra chubby, extra little legs. :)