So it looks like I may be admitted to high risk maternity for the next week (or longer). I spoke with my OB this morning, who made a special visit to the hospital to check on me, and he said that he would really prefer if I stay in the hospital for the next week because he, like me, would prefer that I not have the baby before 33 weeks.
I saw the high risk maternity team (minus the attending who was in the ultrasound lab) and they told me that I might be able to go home this weekend at the earliest. They are going to do a test on me tomorrow morning called fetal fibronectin. Essentially, fetal fibronectin is the glue that holds the amniotic sac to the uterus. If they swab for fetal fibronectin and it comes back negative, that means that there is about a 2% chance of having the baby in the next 1-2 weeks. If, however, the test comes back positive, it doesn't really mean a whole bunch of anything. All that a positive test indicates is that the "glue" is starting to not hold as well. This could mean that the baby could be born in the next 1-2 weeks, or it could mean that the baby will be born at term. If the test comes back negative, they might send me this home this weekend as it would be unlikely that I would have the baby before 34 weeks. If it comes back positive my OB will want to keep me here for at least a week to make sure that I can get as close to 34 or (even better) 35 weeks as possible. Unfortunately, one week may turn into two weeks may turn into three weeks.
The silver lining to this cloud is that I get to stick it to the man. I currently have two health insurance policies. My primary insurance is Aetna. I don't remember the exact coverage scheme, but I pay a certain percentage until I reach such-and-such amount of claims. Then I reach something called a donut hole (unfortunately this donut hole is not nearly as wonderful and delicious as Tim-Bits from Tim Hortons). While in the donut hole I am responsible for paying 100%. Once I reach the other side of the donut hole my insurance will pay 100% for the rest of the coverage year. I have totaled things up and it looked like (prior to this hospital admission) that we were going to reach the far end of the donut hole, but not quite get to the 100% coverage from Aetna. Therefore, we decided to keep my OSU insurance. The way that secondary health insurance works is that anything that the primary insurance doesn't pay gets kicked to secondary insurance before it gets kicked to the consumer. The hope is that secondary insurance will cover part of the cost that normally goes to the consumer until we reach 100% coverage from Aetna.
Any of you who have heard me talk about OSU student health insurance know that I don't like it. I purchased it because I had to have it during grad school (in fact, my former grad program paid 90% of my insurance payment each quarter, so back then I only had to pay $50 per quarter for health insurance...not a bad deal). But now I pay full price, I have had them deny claims that they should have paid, and I had them cancel me as a client for a week during this pregnancy (before I was covered by Aetna, so I was insuranceless).
One small thing that brings me a twinge of joy throughout all of this is that OSU student health insurance is going to get a HUGE bill for this hospital visit. Furthermore, we are going to reach the far end of the donut hole for Aetna, so we will have FREE healthcare coverage for the rest of the year!!! I see in my future many check-ups and preventative care visits. :-)
I saw the high risk maternity team (minus the attending who was in the ultrasound lab) and they told me that I might be able to go home this weekend at the earliest. They are going to do a test on me tomorrow morning called fetal fibronectin. Essentially, fetal fibronectin is the glue that holds the amniotic sac to the uterus. If they swab for fetal fibronectin and it comes back negative, that means that there is about a 2% chance of having the baby in the next 1-2 weeks. If, however, the test comes back positive, it doesn't really mean a whole bunch of anything. All that a positive test indicates is that the "glue" is starting to not hold as well. This could mean that the baby could be born in the next 1-2 weeks, or it could mean that the baby will be born at term. If the test comes back negative, they might send me this home this weekend as it would be unlikely that I would have the baby before 34 weeks. If it comes back positive my OB will want to keep me here for at least a week to make sure that I can get as close to 34 or (even better) 35 weeks as possible. Unfortunately, one week may turn into two weeks may turn into three weeks.
The silver lining to this cloud is that I get to stick it to the man. I currently have two health insurance policies. My primary insurance is Aetna. I don't remember the exact coverage scheme, but I pay a certain percentage until I reach such-and-such amount of claims. Then I reach something called a donut hole (unfortunately this donut hole is not nearly as wonderful and delicious as Tim-Bits from Tim Hortons). While in the donut hole I am responsible for paying 100%. Once I reach the other side of the donut hole my insurance will pay 100% for the rest of the coverage year. I have totaled things up and it looked like (prior to this hospital admission) that we were going to reach the far end of the donut hole, but not quite get to the 100% coverage from Aetna. Therefore, we decided to keep my OSU insurance. The way that secondary health insurance works is that anything that the primary insurance doesn't pay gets kicked to secondary insurance before it gets kicked to the consumer. The hope is that secondary insurance will cover part of the cost that normally goes to the consumer until we reach 100% coverage from Aetna.
Any of you who have heard me talk about OSU student health insurance know that I don't like it. I purchased it because I had to have it during grad school (in fact, my former grad program paid 90% of my insurance payment each quarter, so back then I only had to pay $50 per quarter for health insurance...not a bad deal). But now I pay full price, I have had them deny claims that they should have paid, and I had them cancel me as a client for a week during this pregnancy (before I was covered by Aetna, so I was insuranceless).
One small thing that brings me a twinge of joy throughout all of this is that OSU student health insurance is going to get a HUGE bill for this hospital visit. Furthermore, we are going to reach the far end of the donut hole for Aetna, so we will have FREE healthcare coverage for the rest of the year!!! I see in my future many check-ups and preventative care visits. :-)
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