On last Tuesday, I officially entered the second trimester, and on last Wednesday, Conan and I simultaneously announced our good news to the world of Facebook. I had to laugh at the difference in the tone of Conan's status post ("Well, it looks like I am going to be a Dad...") and mine ("Friends, I have been keeping a secret!! And now I'm going to tell you all about it!! Conan and I are going to have an itty bitty Baby Frith in November!!") Exclamation point, exclamation point!!!! You couldn't tell this mommy-to-be was bursting at the seams to have finally shared the news, could you?
Not that Conan wasn't -- He's been trying to convince me from Week 5, when we first found out, to just go ahead and tell everyone. Sometimes he would get irritated with me and wonder why it got to be my decision alone as to when we would tell the world. "Well that's because the baby's in my tummy, not yours!" I'd say... No, but seriously, he was very patient with me, and agrees it was well worth the wait.
I was completely overjoyed by the wowed reactions and sweet comments of support and encouragement that we received. I must have gotten 70+ comments on my page alone! Seriously, I think the day we made the widespread announcement was even more exciting than the day we found out! Is that crazy? It all feels so much more official, and even more glamorous, now that everyone else knows.
In week 13 I have felt a lot more stretching in the round ligaments of my abdomen, and sometimes it can be briefly painful, like when I roll over and switch sides in bed at night. Conan says he can tell that my hips are widening, but thankfully, he told me the other day he "likes me a little thicker." (Good thing, 'cause it's only going to get thicker from here, baby!)
Here are photos from 13 weeks and 5 days:
I mentioned a few weeks ago that after my first visit with Dr. Christen, his nurse called me and said my urinalysis showed that I had a UTI. I finished my 3-day prescription of antibiotics and felt better for a week or so. Then early last week, I started to feel like the bladder infection had reared its ugly head again. I swear to you, for two nights in a row I peed every 30 minutes. I had to fly back to Seattle from Alabama feeling like this, and I didn't even want to drink anything on the plane for fear of having to ask folks to get up for me every 30 minutes! I had a window seat, of all things, with two (rather large) people I had to climb over if I had to go! However, I knew I couldn't dehydrate myself, so I drank anyways and somehow I was able to put mind over matter and only had to get up a few times.
Anyway, I called Dr. Christen as soon as I arrived back in Seattle and went in to have another urinalysis done. This one turned out negative for a bladder infection! What the heck? The first time, when I actually had one, I didn't even realize it, and then when I thought I had one, I didn't! How frustrating!
For this reason, I haven't gotten as much quality sleep as I'd like to lately. I've woken up cranky a lot! On Saturday morning, Conan set his alarm as loud as it could go for 7 a.m. and then pushed the snooze button for an hour. During that hour, I was still trying so hard to fall back asleep, and it was still going off as loud as it could every 5 minutes! I was so upset having to get up that early on a Saturday, and posted on my Facebook that I was NOT happy about it. I caught heat from a couple of mom-friends of mine, who were all, "I can't believe you're complaining about this! Just wait!" I get it; I know I have to get used to it, and it'll be worse when the little one gets here. But this preggers still needs her sleep, ya know? :(
Dr. Christen told me that the frequent urination should temporarily get better (and a few books I've read said that too) until I'm huge and my bladder has less room to expand. But most moms I've talked to say it only gets more intense from here on out... I'm reconsidering that adult diaper.
On a happy note, this week I signed up for the Baby Yourself program with my insurance carrier, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama. This program matches expectant mothers with their very own RN, who checks in with them regularly to give advice, update them about what's happening in their body and the growth of their baby during that particular week/time period, and ask important questions about the progression of the pregnancy. I can call or email my nurse at any time to ask for help answering questions that I might want answers to right away, instead of Googling the answers or having to wait till my next doctor's appointment. My nurse's name is Diane, and she is the sweetest thing! She's my new buddy, and we chatted for a good 30 minutes on our first phone call. She is sending me a care package of goodies this week, so I can't wait for my surprises :)
One of my first questions for Diane was how much will it cost me to have this baby? I'm talking about medical bills for my OB care, labor/delivery, and hospital stay. She said I have great insurance -- my OB care is all included in one global fee that is covered 100%! This includes two ultrasounds (the 8 week and the 20 week), but if Dr. Christen thought we needed more ultrasounds, Blue Cross would consider the reason before deeming them covered by insurance or not. Then, my labor/delivery/hospital stay are covered 100% except for a $200 copay per day spent in the hospital. My epidural is also covered 100%. And, if I add my baby to my insurance policy within 30 days of the birth, all of the baby's medical care will be covered. Diane said just don't pay any of the medical bills for the baby until I have added them to the policy, and the coverage will be retroactive and take care of everything.
She did warn me to be aware that there are certain tests and screenings that will be offered to me, like the triple or quad screen (which includes testing for Down Syndrome) that will not be covered by my insurance policy, so I should always ask to call Blue Cross first on any such additional things that are offered to me, to see if they are covered, so there are no financial surprises! Can you think of any unexpected expenses that you had to pay for out of pocket, that I should watch out for?
Thanks friends :)
2 comments:
WOW, that sounds like great insurance coverage! We have BC/BS but it didn't cover that much with AM and have a different plan with them now and I KNOW it won't cover as much as last time! I loved the Baby Yourself program, they will send you a big drink cup...I still carry mine around full of water all of the time! Keep it full, it will be good for you! :) I can't think of any financial surprises, sounds like all of your bases are covered. I didn't do the screenings with AM and don't plan to with Jason. I'm keeping them no matter what :)
BTW, is your BC/BS policy through your job? We're searching for a new one b/c the one we have now is through ALFA and it's terrible! It hardly covers a thing, I still haven't figured out what we pay them for!
WOW, that is amazing insurance!! The Baby Yourself program is really nice, they send you tons of goodies. The only other thing you need to take into account is once your precious angel is born, you will make a HUGE # of dr visits and will have a copay for each one.... and thats just for "well visits" you will be taking him/her to the dr quite a bit for the 1st year for "sick visits" just b/c that is what all 1st time mothers do :-) But if/when your baby does get sick, unless its fever or something of a more serious nature I'd always call the nurse and ask advice before making the treck to the dr.
Sorry you had a UTI, they are no fun but glad you are feeling much better!! YAY for 2nd Trimester :-)
LOVE & misses :-)
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