The Hospital Bill

So I did call and argue the invisible IVs that I was given. I was told that my account would be put in "dispute" and I could call back in 30 days to find out what they decided. Yeah, right. At that point I was thinking that I wouldn't be getting any kind of news about the account and it made me mad because how was I going to prove that I never received an IV?

Two weeks after my complaint I got a call from the hospital. Yes, they called me! And they had looked at my paperwork and saw that I hadn't had an IV. Yay! So they were removing those charges from the bill. I was shocked that it was actually that easy, but it was.

I didn't bother arguing the pregnancy test. I figured they'd just tell me that they had given me one so they needed to charge for it...although the stupidity of giving someone who is visibly pregnant a pregnancy test...wow. And $60 for a pregnancy test? Maybe next time I'll bring them one of my internet cheapies from home and let them use that. They obviously don't know how to shop for good deals on pregnancy tests.

Ahh, the craziness that is our health care system.

Doctors or thieves?

The hospital bills are coming in after losing our baby nearly 7 weeks ago. Here's a lesson we've learned, always ask for an itemized bill. M. requested one and it came today. We found some interesting things on it.

The most shocking is that they gave me a pregnancy test. I was 18 weeks pregnant and showing. I was in the ER because I had started spotting and was there for a "threatened miscarriage," but yet they had to do a test to prove it. Anyone want to guess how much a pregnancy test costs? $5? $10? Yeah, in a store...But go to the ER and they charge you $65.77 for a urine, pregnancy test.

I was also charged $94 for an IV that I never received.

They tested me for STDs too. It doesn't matter that I've been tested many times, in the course of my fertility treatment, for STDs and have a mutually monogamous relationship with my husband. But while testing me for STDs, did they bother checking for an infection? Of course not (since that's what was really wrong). Wanna know how much it cost ME for them to find out what I could have told them? $165

Another test that they ran could have been spared with a simple question to the patient...They checked my RH factor. This is something that I was tested for with Aiden, so I could have told them what they'd find. But they chose to just charge me $53.75 instead of asking me.

No wonder insurance costs are on the rise with all of this frivolous testing being done! I feel violated. All of these tests that were done, all of this information that these doctors found out about my body, and I didn't even know they were doing it. They didn't tell me. It just feels as though someone went through my underwear drawer when I asked them to find me something that was on top of my dresser.

How are we supposed to trust our doctors if they don't trust us? I wanted to post this for all of you. Learn a lesson from this and next time you're in the hospital make sure you ask for an itemized bill so you can make sure it's right. I never thought to do this before, but it makes sense. You always walk out of a store with a receipt. You should know what you're being charged for in a hospital too. It's your money. Make sure you guard it wisely.

My rant is over for the time being. We'll be calling our hospital in the morning!

Changes are coming...

I'm changing the design of my blog a little bit so you may see some changes as you stop by for the next few days. I want to give credit for the background to my header to my brother, Joel. He is a phenomenal photographer and I'm going to include a link to his and my other brother, Jesse's public Picasa web site. I know if anyone is interested in buying any photographs they'll be happy to oblige :-).

Joel recently won a Ritz Camera contest. This is the link to his prize-winning photo: http://www.ritzcamera.com/help/Scenic+Runner+Up+5+2007.htm?bct=sPhoto+Contest;sScenic+Photo+Contest+2007

I was so proud. And I'm hoping he'll let me keep my cool header...

Puppy Woes

So today we took Nappy, commonly known to Aiden as "puppy" to Petco. Yes, Aiden has inherited my creativity when it comes to names...Not! But use a fire-starter once in his line of vision and he'll have figured out how to do it on his own. Of course momma won't know that he's figured this out until the fire alarm goes off, but I digress.

So we took Nappy to Petco. Fun, fun. She was desperately in need of grooming. She has those black, black, nails where you can't see the quick, so I rarely clip her nails because I'm so scared I'll hurt her. I've always wanted to take her to Petsmart to be groomed, but the price there was just so steep--nearly $75. We just couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much...after all, we have a college education to save for.

A few weeks ago, a co-worker of Daddy's pointed us to Petco where it is only $45 for a full grooming session (and we even splurged this time and paid $10 to get her teeth brushed too). She is looking spiffy-but her breath isn't as fresh as I thought the brushing would make it. I guess there is only so much you can do with dog breath.

So the grand adventure began around 9:40 when I loaded up Aiden and Nappy. That's always fun because Nappy begins jumping all over the car while Aiden laughs hysterically at her panic. Once we get moving she's fine, but it's always a rocky start to a car ride as I wrestle her off my lap and attempt to navigate the car.

We arrived at Petco and I dropped her off. They said it would be 3-4 hours. I thought that would be a good time for Aiden and I to hit the mall so that I could find some new clothes for the season.

So off we went. We'd barely been to the first store when Aiden began informing me "I'm done mama, go car ride now". Um...how about no?

Then he finds a new tactic: "Aiden have to go pee-pee"...That's the one thing I hate about our mall. I only know of ONE bathroom there and it's at the front of the food court. So off we headed to the food court (and no, it wasn't near the store we were in, so it was a hike).

Anyone want to guess what happens when we hit the food court? Yep...that's right..."Aiden NEED dinner!" (we're working on the breakfast/lunch/dinner concept...for now, they are interchangeable in his vocabulary).

So after telling him that we'd have lunch in a little bit (it was only 10:40 at this point), I got him to the bathrooms and we took care of that issue...And then off to find another store for mommy to shop...Yay!

And once again the chorus began "Aiden need wunch! Aiden go car ride! Aiden go home! Aiden go play! Aiden push stroller!" Ay yi yi!!! So in between the complaints I did manage to snag a couple pairs of shorts that fit and we checked out and headed to the food court. I figured if I fed him maybe he'd be a happier camper.

Wrong! We ate and then when we got up to continue our shopping, I still had to find myself some lip gloss, of course, Aiden decided he should be pushing the stroller. I said no (I had visions of Aiden plowing down everyone in his path and ramming into displays). He said, "Waahhhhh". At which point I had to plop him into the stroller. I start pushing the stroller and guess who is dragging his feet on the ground? That's right...Lil' ol' innocent Aiden. We had a quiet discussion about how he needed to put his feet on the foot strap or he was going to be unhappy when we DID get home. He decided it would be wise to comply with me. Momma ain't raisin' no fool!

So we made it to another store and of course he hops right out of his stroller as I'm browsing for Mother's Day cards and decides to push the stroller. I decided that him pushing the stroller in a confined area within a store was a good compromise so I gave him directions about how far he could go in the store and let him go. We had peace for a few minutes...Until he decided to lay the stroller down in the middle of the aisle to explore the wheels...That'd have been fine if no one else was in the store, but of course, there were other shoppers. Aiden wasn't happy that that game was ended so quickly.

This was the point where I decided that we should go to the kids play area in the mall and let him blow off some steam. This worked well until he announced that he had to go poo poo...and then when I tried to get his shoes on and get him loaded into his stroller he threw a fit--he didn't want to stop playing. (I'm rolling my eyes at this point).

So I strap my thrashing, screaming child into his stroller and head back through the food court. The screaming stops at this point and Aiden begins declaring again that he needs French fries. I swear the mall is set up with the only restrooms in the food court for precisely this type of situation.

They have some cool potties at this mall. They have a family restroom with big potties and little potties. I was really glad at first that it was a pint-sized potty--until he sat down to do his business. Aiden tends to sag his little bum into the toilet when he goes. I guess he doesn't want to miss the toilet and figures the closer he can get to the target, the better...Well, with the pint- sized potty Aiden sagged his butt in there and announced "Oh no, bottom all wet!" And that's when my excitement over the pint-sized potty ended.

At this point I look at my watch. Nappy is supposed to be ready between 1 and 2. It's only 12:15. So off we go back to the play area...1pm we leave, with more kicking and screaming. I swear people thought I was kidnapping the child. We got a lot of looks.

We arrive back at Petco around 1:20 and I'm told it'll be another 45 minutes to an hour. I wanted to cry. How was I supposed to entertain this child who was already well past naptime for the next hour?

Chick Fil-A! brilliant! So we went and ate again and Aiden got to play some more while I sat in a booth and attempted to keep my eyes open (I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep thanks to the lightning and thunder show that lasted all night last night). It was nice for about 20 minutes, until Aiden decided that it was much more fun to come in and out of the door to the glass-enclosed play area than to actually play in the play area. It started with him wanting a drink, then he had to poo poo...another fit as I forced him to put his shoes on to go to the potty (which ended up being an unsuccessful trip anyway), and then back to the play area. All of this time I'm waiting for Petco to call...and they don't. After an hour and 15 minutes and the frustration over Aiden's "the other side of the door is greener syndrome" mounting to the boiling point, I decided that enough was enough. I stuffed Aiden's shoes on him (as he screamed, and once again I had people taking mental notes of my face and my child's-- just in case an Amber Alert came out later today). And dragged him to the car. He was so tired, I was tired, I was ready to go postal on Petco and reclaim that dog...At this point I was thinking that there'd better be some bows in her hair for this to take 5 HOURS...

And finally, finally, the dog was ready...I swear, I need a 5 hour spa treatment after today! Why does my dog get one? Oh yeah, she's a bit less expensive...still!

Of course, that couldn't be the end of the story. There had to be one final blow...As I'm heading out towards the car, I have Aiden in one hand screaming (of course) because he wanted to hold puppy's leash, and the puppy on the other hand running willy-nilly nearly wrapping me up in said leash and my purse falls off of my shoulder and into the middle of the main traffic area of the parking lot. I manage to scoop it all up and drag Aiden the rest of the way to the car. As I open the door for him to get in, the dog jumps in past Aiden and the leash catches Aiden square in the back and throws him into the edge of the door...and now we have a real reason to cry as the welt rises up immediately and he screams, "Puppy hurt me!" through his tears...Sigh...And no, there were no bows for the dog.

But she does look much better...I'm still not sure if it was worth it. Ask me tomorrow!

Aiden's new snack

For a few days now I've noticed Aiden chewing on something. I didn't know what it was, but I didn't check it out either because with the potty training comes treats. Aiden does tend to savor his treats by letting them melt in his mouth.

Yesterday he was sitting on my lap chewing. It occured to me that if he was still eating a treat, he had really made that sucker last. I asked him to open his mouth and I saw something whitish in there. Did I think something was askew at this point? Of course not, I figured he had a nougat (all of the treats are chocolate) of some sort. Then I caught a whiff of his minty-fresh breath. Hmmmm...Just as I did that, he swallowed and announced "all gone, Aiden go get more". This is the point that I realized he had somehow helped himself to my Extra peppermint gum.

So I had my unwitting child (he's going to catch onto this soon enough) lead me to his stash. And there it was, a half-eaten stick in the playroom and another 3 sticks lying in wait on my Bible which was by our stairs.

I called Mike to tell him, because of course it was hilarious that he's been walking around snacking on gum lately. That's when Mike told me that he'd seen him chewing and chewing on something white last week.

Little stinker!

Training, training...

Well, this is day #4 w/ no accidents and yesterday we had a second successful trip to the potty for #2...Yay!

Potty Pooper!

That's right folks...after 12 repeat episodes of "Aiden have to poo-poo" and mommy drops everything to run to the bathroom w/ Aiden only to be rewarded by being told "Aiden poo-poo all gone". At which point mommy replies, "o.k. you tell me when you feel like you have to go again and we'll try then". And yes, we must have repeated that 12 times today. Some of the episodes were mere minutes apart. We read books, mommy gave him "privacy," mommy sat on the floor with him. Mommy tried everything in a desperate attempt to get him to go. Just as mommy was leaning her head on the door of the bathroom in defeat and thinking "I'm giving this two weeks, and if it still doesn't work, we're giving up for awhile" Aiden did it. Yay!!! And yes, we took him swimming as a reward. I'm not about to say that he's arrived, but I think we're getting awfully close.