26 Weeks

Well, last Wednesday I had another appointment at Dr. Prieto's office. This one was actually officially my "transfer of care" appointment so I thought more questions would be answered and I'd get a little more time actually talking to the doctor (or at least the nurse practitioner) about my current conditions. However, other than taking my vitals and asking the same family medical history questions that the hospital asks, the appointment was just like the other appointments. When I tried asking the nurse practitioner questions about my bed rest and Cholestasis and such, she just said "Ask Dr. Prieto when you see him".

So after yet another ultrasound (during which, Dr. Prieto mumbled to the ultrasound tech as usual and barely glanced in my direction), the doctor said that we would go ahead and plan for another amnio reduction next Thursday after another ultrasound appointment and began to leave the room. This time I stopped him and said, "I have a few questions, actually."

I told him that I had researched Cholestasis on the web and found information leading me to believe that it is rather serious and I was especially concerned that one of the side effects of Cholestasis is a vitamin K deficiency that can cause the mother to bleed out after giving birth. I mentioned that this may be of great concern since a couple days before I had bit lip and it had continued to bleed for a half hour! I asked if there was any way I could take a vitamin K supplement and his response was a slight roll of the eye and, basically, that he didn't see any reason for it but if I really wanted to try it, I should just get it over-the-counter. (I learned later on that you cannot get vitamin K supplements over-the-counter. They are prescription only.)

Then I told him that I would like to know what type of bed rest I'm on since a nurse at Bayfront said that there are several types such as complete bed rest, modified bed rest and pelvic bed rest. The doctor actually chuckled at this but the nurse in the room timidly said that there were indeed different types of bed rest so the doctor clarified that I'm "on bed rest but not bed ridden". (So clear!) When I tried to get a little clearer explaination, he basically said that I'm on bed rest to prevent preterm labor but I'm most likely going to have preterm labor anyway. (Again, so clear.)

As I was leaving the doctor's office I stopped to talk to the receptionist. I had received the Medicaid cards for myself, Hannah and "Baby A of Foreman" and Baby B of Foreman" so I asked how that worked since I had Aetna as my primary insurance. Turns out, this doctor's office doesn't accept Medicaid.

Friday morning I received a certified mail from my work saying that I was terminated effective July 7th and my benefits would continue to the end of July. They had warned me of this a few weeks ago but I was hoping that something would change like I could return to work. I know many of you are thinking, "They can't fire you for not working if it's a medical reason". However, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) only protects you if you have worked for the employer for a full 12 months. I started January 30th of this year. So after all this baby drama is over and the twins are healthy and outside my belly, I'll be looking for a new job. I may be able to get a job for the same company but by then they'll definitely have filled my current position and I really liked the department I was in.

On Friday afternoon, my sister brought me and Hannah to the WIC office to sign up for assistance. I wasn't feeling my best after sitting up for over an hour and a half but when we left, I had WIC vouchers for three months. Hannah and I each had to have our fingers pricked to check our iron levels. Hannah took it like a champ, not even crying for a second and her iron levels were perfect. Mine however were slightly anemic and I was told I need to increase the iron in my diet.

Now it's the middle of Sunday night/Monday morning pretty much and I'm just waiting for time to go by. As soon as the hospital registration office opens, I plan to call them and ask how to go about switching doctors considering my insurance coverage ends the end of this month and Dr. Prieto doesn't take Medicaid... and I don't really like Dr. Prieto anyway. My only concern is that I don't know how many other doctors can perform amnio reductions since that was apparently the reason Dr. Igel had needed to transfer my care in the first place.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to need another amnio reduction today. The entire day I've been uncomfortable and short of breath from the excess fluid. I just hope I can work it so that Dr. Prieto isn't the one to do it this time.

I'm having a hard time not getting discouraged with all that's happening. My sister leaves again for Indiana on July 20th and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with her gone. We've had to take Hannah out of daycare during all this because it costs too much and I'm not sure how I'm going to care for her alone during the days. My mom had been helping before Carey came down but my mom starts a new job today (Monday). At least her new job is really close to here so she can actually come by on her lunch breaks, which should help some.