stress, ye overfloweth

So while this whole pregnancy thing is very, very exciting and we are happy, etc about it all.......along with it comes the stress of not currently having any insurance.  Chris switched jobs about 6ish weeks ago, and it'll be about another 6 weeks before his insurance picks up.  Baby and I were a bit nervous, but figured it would all work itself out.....Chris was super stressed.  I made some calls and it turns out that we can just pay out of pocket for the first little bit with seemingly low expense......seemingly.

When I called to check on what to do until insurance arrives, the lady told me it was only $50 per office visit, and then to have the first ultrasound done and read, $125.  Doable.  So we made the appointment, went in, fantastic.  Badda bing badda boom 2 weeks later and 2 days before the scheduled (and MUCH anticipated) ultrasound we get the medical bills in the mail.  Not only was the office visit $100 instead of said $50, but we got whopped with a lab bill (hello, pelvic exam) for $155.  Now I realize we should have asked about extra costs with tests and things, so the lab bill I am really not so upset about (I mean it was bad enough having that done with Chris in the friggin room where he kept peeking around his magazine he was "reading" and getting himself thoroughly traumatized)....but the extra $50?!  C'mon!  All you did was make sure I was pregnant---not by a blood test, mind you, just by a simple pee test.  SO!  Don't think you're gonna charge me for what I already did at home TWICE before I came into your office to tell me what I, hello, already knew!  Hmpf! 

So last night I told Chris about the bill and he's all "THEY LIED!" and growling all over the place...which, of course, gets me aggitated.....but I couldn't do anything about it til the morning.  This morning I get up and call the dr's office to hear this message, "Thank you for calling the office of Dr. Mark Pascuzzi and Joanna Miller.  Our office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:30-4:30.  Every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesday 8:30-12, and every 2nd and 4th Wednesday we are closed.  If you need to reach Dr. Pascuzzi or Joanna Miller, please call the hospital.  This machine does not receive recordings." BEEP

are. you. freaking. SERIOUS?!  And to beat all, IT'S THE THIRD WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH! I must have called 20 times.  So now I have to call first thing in the morning to a) raise hell over the extra $50 on the bill, and b) make sure the ultrasound is really $125 and not $5000.....because their "creative accounting"  as Chris calls it is not doing us any favors at the moment.

So.....a little stressed out.  The good news is that the next time we need to go in we should be covered under Chris' insurance.  I did get in touch with my Aflac guy today to get my claim forms going, so c'mon Aflac and show me the money!  Hopefully....it will all work out like I originally thought......but my oh my it's been a crazy day in the Shearer house.....