Day 28 & Dr. Visit

So, busy day today! I went to see a new Dr. for a new patient consult on my "habitual" miscarriages (as if I do it on purpose!). We'll call him Dr. "B" - he seemed pretty on top of things. He went over with me the "Big 3" reasons why people have m/c: anatomical, chromosomal, and hormonal. We talked about what Dr. H had already done and thus ruled out the chromosomal part, and ultimately decided to check a couple more things in the anatomical and hormonal areas.

For anatomical, next month we're going to do a hysteroscopy and an endometrial biopsy, which is basically a video tour of the inside of my uterus (vs. an ultrasound which is looking at it from the outside), plus a sample of my uterine lining. That way we can see just how good things look in there plus make sure the lining is a welcoming place for that fertilized egg. This all made me happy because I have been suspicious ever since learning that last one had implanted down low. It seemed to me like it just took a long time to find a good place to land and by then it was too late.

For hormonal, we're also going to check my progesterone and make sure there are no issues with my "luteal phase." We are also going with a newish technique for this, testing saliva rather than blood. Dr. B said he feels it gives a more accurate picture of what's really going on. So basically if my progesterone is not high enough, it would cause various issues including interfering with the development of a welcoming uterine lining. All of this will take place around day 20-21 of my NEXT cycle, the downside of which is that I am supposed to try NOT to get pregnant next month.

I discussed my whole insurance situation with Dr. B too and he said he thought if he codes everything right then they should pay for it all, and he agreed with me that recurrent miscarriages is not infertility. Sweet.

When I got home I also called my other Dr.'s office about the ultrasound bill, and at first they said "too bad, so sad" and I pouted a bit and hung up. As I was getting ready to compose an angry letter about the whole deal, the billing gal called back and said she noticed that they had coded the ultrasound differently ("infertility") than the actual Dr.'s visit ("recurrent m/c") from that same day. My insurance company had actually paid for the Dr.'s visit, which she thought might have been a mistake on their part, but it also might be worthwhile to re-bill the U/S with the same code they had used on the visit, and see if they turned around and paid for it all. She said that could trigger an audit of my whole chart and they could potentially go back and "un-pay" for some other things, but maybe not. So I said let's give it a shot. I am not sure what other stuff they might decide not to pay for, but it is important to me to know pretty quick like if they are going to pay for "recurrent miscarriages" vs. "infertility." It could turn into a big ugly mess, but I want to know where that magic point is along the line where they decide that miscarriages = infertility. It all seems very ambiguous, doesn't it?

So that's it for now. Day 28 and I've taken one pregnancy test, which was negative. Yesterday I was sobbing uncontrollably about getting a speeding ticket, so that tells me that my monthly visitor will probably be here soon.

More insurance woes

I finally got the bill from my Dr.'s office for the ultrasound that my insurance had denied. Not only do I have to pay it myself, but now I have to pay the full amount (vs. the amount my insurance contracted with them for). So instead of $135 now it's going to be $206. Boo!!! It's really not fair that all this is sprung on me after the fact. I mean, I don't know if I would have really said I didn't want the ultrasound at all, but at least it would have been my decision. I may still call my Dr.'s billing department and have words with them, but it's hard to find a time to do that during the day since I'm at work and all. I do have a couple of days off next week so maybe I'll do it then. It seems like maybe they could come up with another diagnosis code to use and get me off the hook.

I also decided to go see another Dr. about this whole fiasco. A woman. I found a place in town that specializes in women's health, and they don't provide full OB care but their brochure talks about "early pregnancy care" including looking after early pregnancy problems such as m/c and taking steps to prevent recurrent pregnancy lost. Bingo! Sounded right up my alley. I'm sure I'll have to pay through the nose for it, but it's totally worth a shot, even if it just makes me feel like I'm doing something. I sent an e-mail requesting an appointment today, so more on that later.

Ciao - day 19

Here we go again

Okay so last month I give myself a C for effort in conception. So it's not too disappointing or surprising that my friend came a'visiting as usual. 30 days this time, not bad, not bad at all. I feel like 29 & 30 are like good "scores" on a test or something. It's so weird! Anyway. I've gained back a couple of pounds since going to Vegas, then coming back and only working out a couple of times before getting sick. I've been sickly now with a cold for almost two weeks so been trying to take it easy. I think I am about back to normal now just in time to start school up again tonight. ONE more class after this! Bloomsday is coming up fast and Natalie and I are also doing Race for the Cure this year so we are going to start "training" tomorrow after work. I am hoping the weather starts getting nicer so I can try running outside, since I read something in an article in my Self magazine about "treadmill ass" -- now doesn't that sound nice? That's what's new in my world :)

Apparently I'm "Infertile"

*Sigh* I was afraid this might happen. I got an e-mail alert today from my insurance company saying they had processed a claim. I went to check it out online and lo and behold, the charges for my last ultrasound were not covered. So of course I called them up and said "what's the deal?" They said the ultrasound was done for infertility reasons, and anything of that nature is excluded from my plan. *blink* Great! Um, HELLO?!? Who comes up with this stuff? I mean, I get it, multiple miscarriages is a form of infertility in the medical world, but I...AM...NOT...INFERTILE! I have been pregnant THREE times in a year. How much more fertile do I have to be? ARGH!

What happens in Vegas....

STAYS in Vegas! Literally! Sadly, I took like 8 pictures the whole time we were down there, and about 5 of them were from my camera phone. Eric and I did basically zip zero nothing touristy or picture-worthy (besides attending Li'l Bow Wow's 22nd birthday party at Studio 54, hee hee). We missed the Bellagio fountains, we missed the Mirage volcano, we missed the rides at the Stratosphere and the New York New York. About the only thing we did see was the lions at the MGM Grand, but it was hard to miss them since we had to walk right by there to get from our room to the Strip. We pretty much ate, drank, and gambled, aside from a couple of recovery hours lounging by the pool. But it...was...AWESOME!!! The perfect vacation that we'll probably never be able to have once we have kids. Speaking of which, it is day 16 and we have been totally slacking on the baby making! Since my cycle was 29 days last month I really better not take tonight off. Oh TMI!! Sorry!

P.S. - I got 50/50 on my presentation :)

Nope

Well the test I took this morning was clearly negative, so I am not so worried about the fake out situation. It should have definitely been positive by now, especially if it was already making me sick. I was having a little heartburn today and I still feel slightly sick to my stomach -- but at this point my guess is that I feel that way because I have a presentation to give in my Leadership class tonight :) Yesterday's sickness, well, I'm chalking that up to the leftover pizza I had for dinner the night before. Also work is a little crazy so I may be feeling a little anxious about that. So hooray, I am going to have the BEST time in Vegas this weekend!

9 min 53 sec

Yay, I ran my mile in less than 10 minutes on Saturday. I am so proud of myself! I didn't lose the 10 pounds I wanted to by the end of February, but I did lose 6 and I'm still fitting into pants I haven't worn in a long time. The 10 minute mile is clearly another step in the right direction. Next stop: 9 minutes!!! Or maybe 2 miles in 20 minutes, that would be a trick for sure. Running the mile my heart rate did get up to 170 beats per minute which is almost 90% of my max. So what I'd like to do is keep running at around that rate until I can maybe get my HR to stay down around 165 or so the whole time. I've started swimming too, and my goal there is to swim more than 2 laps without having to take a break, gasping for breath :)

So aside from that, I have been feeling a little weird about things. After my fake out period last time I just can't get comfortable. I have been feeling a little nauseated today for no apparent reason and even stranger is that my period seems to be lingering still, for the 6th day now. This is completely unusual since the last hundred or so have been 2-3 days max. So I am going out of my mind wondering what is going on and I am going to have to take a pregnancy test now just to be sure… especially since we are going to VEGAS on Friday! So stay tuned!