Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Hiring decisions

My first two appointments are finally scheduled with my ob/gyn. I'm less and less sure about staying with them. After the not-calling-me-with-my-test-results thing, I was going to schedule my appointment (one at 7-8 weeks, one at 10 weeks, I was told), but couldn't produce the first-day-of-last-period date, so the woman told me to call back the next day, Tuesday. I did. The person on the phone, a different woman, insisted I give her my insurance information so they could check it before they'd schedule me to come in. Even though I've been going there for more than a year, I'd been there less than a month ago, and they already had it on file.

So I gave it. The woman said she'd put it through and when it was approved (is women's healthcare so downgraded that insurance doesn't reliably cover pregnancy?) she'd call back, possibly that same day.

She didn't call. She didn't call the rest of the week. My sister-in-law Angie gave me the name of the midwife association she goes to. (She used to go to my doctor's group, Maumee OB/GYN. So did Courtney. That's why I started going. Neither of them still go there.) I called back yesterday. "Melissa's the regular scheduler, and she's out," explained a yet different woman I spoke with, this one named Leslie. "I can't find your paperwork. I'll check with the billing department and call you back tomorrow."

I didn't expect a call, but I got one. I like Leslie. "We found your paperwork," she said. "Since Melissa's been sick I just didn't know how she had things organized." Not at all, was my thought, but I said nothing. We scheduled my 7-8 week appointment for next Monday--an hour with the nurse, she said, to get my medical history and give me information--and my approximately 10-week (really 11, if I'm counting right) appointment with the doctor to get a pap (sigh) and hear the heartbeat. That part cheers me up, at least. And I was grateful to actually get some information. I’m fond of Leslie. Still not sure about the office, though.

But I'm not sure whether Angie's association would help; I'm not sure whether I need or want a midwife, or if they supplant or only supplement an obstetrician, or what would happen to the hospital option (I have only one with Maumee OB/GYN, Toledo Hospital, and a 10% chance that my doctor will be on call at the critical time). Also, they're even further from our house than Maumee is, which would be a big pain, especially later on. There are other options, of course, but I don't know which ones are good ones.

Basically I don't know and I don't know what I need to know. Therefore, for the present...as Eric would say...

...to the Internet!

1 comment:

Angie said...

If I already shared this, just disregard it, I have the memory of a two year old. My group has four midwives and one OB, Dr. Jackson, they do the whole sprectrum of "womanly" care, paps, pregnancies, all of it. You can choose to see just Dr. Jackson, or you can see the midwives, if you see the midwives, you will meet Dr. Jackson at some point throughout your pregnancy as well. They are all very different, but all have the same goal, which is to proveide you, to the best of their ability the kind of birth experience you want. Jon delivered Addison, and going into it, she was the only one I was unsure about for my delivery, but looking back I am glad it was her and wouldn't have wanted it any other way, so keep in mind first impressions can be deceiving. I have been going there for the last 5 years, and 7 of the girls I work with all go there and have had babies in the last two years. I know it's a hike out there, but it is worth it in my opinion. And as for Dr. Jackson, he is amazing, although I don't see him for my regular exams, I wouldn't hesitate if he were the only one available, and I never really thought that I would be comfortable with a male OB prior to meeting him. He was what got me through labor, when it came down to it, he gave me the alternatives I didn't want to hear, but I knew I could trust him, and I knew that he had respected my wishes the best he could, but at that point it was about Addison's safety. If it had been any other doctor, I would have questioned his intentions, he is an excellent doctor and I do not use those words very often.