My Uterus is None of Your Business

I'm not sure who reads our blog these days so if the following rant offends you, I can't say that I'm sorry but I'll warn you that it's a rant about my uterus and insurance companies and greed!

Cooper was born at 34.5 weeks gestation.  He was considered a late term preemie but he had respiratory distress as most of you know and spent about 10 days in the NICU.  Fortunately, he's grown to be a perfectly healthy little boy with no lingering effects.  When I was pregnant with Cooper I paid $0 in prenatal care with the insurance that I had.  When he was in the NICU, his total bill came to a whopping $50,000.00.  Yes, that says 50k!  We didn't have to pay a dime because our insurance covered all of it.  Yes, we were lucky in many ways.

Fast forward just 3 short years and its as though it's been 20 years since I had a baby in terms of insurance and coverage.  I now have deductibles and coinsurance and much less coverage this time around even though I'm with the same insurance company under the same plan.  To get my prenatal care and give birth I can expect to pay around 2k out of pocket.  That feels harsh, but doable, and it was an anticipated cost when we were planning for baby #2.  We're lucky we can plan for that type of cost! 

All of this was acceptable, things change, times are different.  But with this pregnancy my doctor wanted me to get a progesterone shot beginning at 16 weeks through my 36th week that would significantly decrease the odds of my having premature labor again.  Since  there was no known cause for my premature labor and after one preemie you are at an even higher risk for another preemie I was the perfect candidate for this treatment.  I started my weekly shot at 16 weeks as scheduled.  I've had 11 of these shots to date. Enter KV Pharmaceutical. 

A couple of weeks ago I happened on an article on msnbc.com about a premature labor drug spiking from $10 to $1500 per shot.  This is my shot, that was covered by my insurance company, with no problem.  KV Pharmaceutical won government approval to exclusively sell "Makena", the new name of my progresterone shot.  Originally their suit was backed by the March of Dimes and by OB's because it meant the quality would be more consistent and would be easier to get.  They did not anticipate the greed, which quite frankly, surprises me.  Isn't that what these companies do?  Make a crap load of money off of people who need their drugs?  To me, not so shocking!  Everything was fine for my shots for the last couple of weeks, and then I needed a refill.  Now, pre authorizations aren't working, approvals aren't being made and now at 28 weeks I'm skipping a shot.  If I'm lucky, I'll get approved in time to get a shot next week.  If I'm lucky, I'll get approval period.  And if I'm super lucky, my baby will be full term.  If I don't get any more shots I'm hoping that I've had enough to keep my levels up so I won't have preterm labor. 

Steve and I have talked about the long term vision of our family.  Baby #3 seemed like it was unlikely, but isn't that our decision to make?  If I can't get those shots then would I want to risk another preterm labor?  Why does KV get to call the shots on the state of my uterus? My uterus is none of your business!

Good News

This post is all about Maddie.  For the first time since I hit the 15 week mark I got good, solid good news about my pregnancy.  Maddie had always been peachy, me - not so much.  But luckily today we were able to see that my placenta had finally moved to the proper position!  Yay!  An odd thing to celebrate but it saves us a lot of worrying and wondering and possible bed rest for the time being!  We also got another pleasant surprise at the ultrasound when they were able to do a 3-D image of her and we got to see her face.  The pictures are a little funny, think "floating face in space" but it was neat to see her in a way other than seeing through her!  Here is a sneak peak of her room.  We just need to finish with curtains and her name on the wall.....

Updates and better things....

Pregnancy update:  Things are chugging along, starting into the last trimester finally and I am emotionally and physically DONE with being pregnant.  I don't like being pregnant, my body doesn't like it at all and I'm pretty sure it's bad for my psyche.  I just want to make it to full term and have a healthy little Madison to look at and I know it will be worth it.  But in the meantime, people should warn you that pregnancy a second time around is less fun than the first, especially if the first was no fun.  Someone should also tell you that if your boobs got all stretched out the first time around they will become completely unmanageable and ridiculous the second time around.  I'm tired of food landing down my shirt or on my belly, it is not cute, I look like a slob.  Hormone shots do not make things any easier or happier, they just make you cry more, feel like poo and make your rear end itch and swell up.  Oh and I have track marks along my back end from all the needles, it's awesome.  On the plus side, I'm almost done.  Yep, that's all I got for the plus side right now, I'm almost done.

Here is the better part, it was a warm weekend where we could get a lot done and Coop could play outside half naked and fully naked and pick up worms and name them "Wormy".  According to Coop, Wormy was such a nice worm.  And then he played with Wormy until he broke in half.  Rest in peace Wormy.  Even better, I have pictures of the Wormy fun.  If you don't like worms, don't look at the pictures.

Almost 3

It's hard to believe Coop will be turning 3 in two months.  The time has really flown by, especially the last two years.  I am constantly in awe of what come out of his mouth and how much he absorbs.  These three pictures are within the last week and to me it looks like he is about 10 years old, not 3.  I'll take 3 though, he still likes to snuggle with his Momma.