Pick a Price

Today we we headed out first thing for another ultrasound and doctor visit. The morning got off to a rocky start as there was a traffic light out near one of the major roads we travel on which backed things up just a bit. Plus we were told I could not park where I normally do (In a Pappasito’s) so we both don’t have to drive all the way to the hospital and pay for the parking. We instead have now chosen McDonalds about .75 miles away.

Anyway, we arrived late but it made the wait shorter at the hospital (They tell you to arrive 30 minutes early, we were 10). In fact, I dropped Tiffany off at the door and parked the car and by the time I made my way to radiology, she was already being registered. After a brief stay in the waiting room and a cup of coffee for me, Tiffany  was escorted back to the room where I met her and the technician a few minutes later. 

This ultrasound didn’t take nearly as long, this tech knew her way around that machine better than a fat man at a buffet. We were flying through, the results of which you see to the left before we were told that the radiologist needed some more views of the heart.

Tiffany of course took this news as meaning something was wrong. (Spoiler alert: nothing was wrong) and of course the genius tech didn’t help. When Tiffany asked her if something was wrong or looked strange the tech replied, “I really can’t say.” Way to calm the storm sweetie, thanks for your help.

She did her deed and returned a few minutes later saying the radiologist got what he needed to see and that she would be back with the report for us to take to the doctor’s office. She also offered a warning, “Don’t break the seal on the envelope.”

As you might have guessed, this didn’t help Tiffany’s nerves. I was a little perplexed, not worried mind you, but are they not going to read the results if we open the envelope? Is the doctor going to say something to the affect of, “I’m sorry, these look like sonogram results, but you see you broke the seal on the envelope so we really have no way to be sure, your child could be seriously deformed.”

It made me think of that Seinfeld episode when Elaine gets busted for looking at her chart and gets black booked by every doctor in NYC. Needless to say, we didn’t break the seal.

But before we leave the hospital scene, I would be remiss not to mention an alarming trend that’s developing. We don’t seem to be able to get an actual price from the hospital for anything. We were charged one rate for the ultrasound the first time at the hospital and then told yesterday we were not billed enough and it would be another amount today. Then they revised that amount lower yesterday and the amount we paid today was actually slightly more. So they’re real organized over there. I’ve come to call this the Pick a Price payment plan.

We also found out that the Rogam? shot that Tiffany will get in a few weeks will be $50. This is the shot that protects the baby, and any other future babies from cross blood contamination since TIffany and I have different blood types. Basically, there’s a chance you can kill the baby without the shot so they could probably charge whatever they wanted and people would pay it. But let’s get back on track.

With our sealed envelope we made our way over to the doctor’s office which is in the building next door.  After a third stop to the bathroom for Tiffany, we got to the doctor’s office just in the nick of time to be escorted to the exam room where we waited for 15 minutes. 

After Tiffany’s vitals were taken, Dr. Thompson decided to grace us with her presence. For those keeping score at home this was her second time seeing Tiffany since the pregnancy began. (She’s now 22 weeks). She took a measurement of Tiffany’s uterus with a tape measure (normal) and then opened our magic envelope. Surprise, no problems. She asked if we had any questions and we were on our way. Tiffany’s next appointment will be in 4 weeks, I’ll probably sit that one out because two weeks after that she will begin to go every 2 weeks and she will be getting that shot so I think it best for me to be there for that. 

She’ll get some basic labs taken next time, but nothing spectacular that I may miss.  Oh, it was also confirmed again that it was a girl, which is good because we have a closet full of clothes for a baby girl.