Went to the doctor's for my monthly checkup, and got some great news and some horrific news.
The great news is that we will be able to find out soon whether we are having a boy or a girl! I originally thought we would have to wait until 20 weeks to find out (which is 6 weeks away and feels like a LIFETIME away!!!), but my midwife, Brandi (who is awesome by the way!) told me that we could actually find out at 15 weeks if we paid an extra $50 to do a 3D ultrasound... that is only 4 days away!! Now, even though we are trying to save money and be extremely frugal, I feel that an extra $50 is worth it!! I cannot WAIT to see what it is! Honestly, I am a little nervous about it... we have been praying and asking others to pray that it would be a little girl. If it's a boy... well I hope I am not disappointed. I just NEED to KNOW!!!! I don't understand people who wait until the baby is born to find out the gender. They say they want it to be a surprise... Isn't it a surprise when you find out at 15 weeks, anyway?
The bad news is that I found out today that our new insurance (which Phil's company switched over in January) is not nearly as good as our old insurance, which seemed to cover a lot more. Under the old insurance, we would have been 100% covered for the medical care at Southern Crescent. However, with our new insurance we will need to pay about $1082... that is not even including the birth!! AHHH!! How is this possible? How can normal people possibly afford to pay that much for doctor's visits, when they are paying out the nose for health insurance to begin with!? I am really upset about this.
Then I called my insurance company and asked them what exactly will be covered for this pregnancy/birth. Basically, our policy gives us a $500 deductible and then they pay 80% and we pay 20%. Our "out of pocket max" is $4000 per year, so this cannot possibly cost us more than $4000. But... seriously? $4000!!!! Who has that kind of money!!!!?!?!?!? Some people are like, "well...just make payments!" But the reason we have been working to get out of debt is to AVOID monthly payments like this. We are almost done with paying off school loans, and it just seems like they will now be replaced with baby bills. Sigh. Does the cycle of debt never end?
One thing I have been thinking about and asking others about is the possibility of going on Medicaid. Pregnancy Medicaid covers the medical bills and the baby for up to a year after he or she is born. It also guarantees that you can go on WIC, which is like food stamps...very helpful. I don't feel ashamed at all at the possibility of getting help from these government programs. This is a part of where my tax money goes. I work hard, but as a missionary I don't get paid nearly what I should to do the work that I do. So, hopefully I can get some help... otherwise we are going to be stuck with big bills by the end of this...
