Baby Corner

[Anna C. 4]

@ chnst: Sounds like it is getting better.... Maybe baby 2 will be an awesome sleeper? Like I'm hoping for a garbage disposal baby as Evi's Allie this time around!

Yeah back on birth control pill it was 28 days, but left to mother nature way longer. I got pregnant on cycle 2 after the pill and was already on 30 day cycles then, it went quick to "normal natural mode"...

Sine we might not even have an ultrasound (since Tricare booted it off the list for being standard of care, boohoo), and even if we would, we won't find out the gender. For fun however I bought at Walgreens some Intelligender gender prediction test. I don't put much trust in it, but instead of an ultrasound picture I can have that thing in the baby book. I bet it's wrong. I can't use it yet, the earliest they state is 10 weeks into pregnancy.... I'm quite curious how that turns out.

[chnst 6]

@ chnst: Sounds like it is getting better.... Maybe baby 2 will be an awesome sleeper? Like I'm hoping for a garbage disposal baby as Evi's Allie this time around!

Yeah back on birth control pill it was 28 days, but left to mother nature way longer. I got pregnant on cycle 2 after the pill and was already on 30 day cycles then, it went quick to "normal natural mode"...

Sine we might not even have an ultrasound (since Tricare booted it off the list for being standard of care, boohoo), and even if we would, we won't find out the gender. For fun however I bought at Walgreens some Intelligender gender prediction test. I don't put much trust in it, but instead of an ultrasound picture I can have that thing in the baby book. I bet it's wrong. I can't use it yet, the earliest they state is 10 weeks into pregnancy.... I'm quite curious how that turns out.

what do you mean they booted ultrasound off completely???? Ultrasound is so important for assessing the well being of the baby, that's crazy. I think I would rather pay out of pocket for one, but that is so irresponsible of that insurance company. Haha let us know if the gender test works. How do you test that? We are still contemplating whether to find out the sex, but I am way too curious.

[Eveline 9]

As far as I know TRICARE still offers two ultrasounds for pregnant women. One for early determination of gestational age and one at around 20 weeks to see the development. Everything else they don't do without any medical reason. That goes for prime and standart. Here's a pretty recent post about it. http://www.tricare.mil/pressroom/press_article.aspx?fid=476 I know plenty of moms on either prime or standart that are pregnant right now and they all have ultrasounds done.

[Anna C. 4]

@ Evi: As it says on that website, the 20 week scan has to be medically necessary to be paid for. Unless there is a medical concern or a family history, there is no valid reason for an utlrasound. It is the new 2010 guideline and I just talked to our Tricare office on base, and they confirmed it. As of this year, Tricare is strict, and the obgyns have to give a valid medical concern to order the ultrasound. A routine screening as done with all other insurances or in Europe does not qualify for reimbursement. I know about a couple fellow pregnant women on Tricare and there obgyns made up that they couldn't hear the heartbeat with the doppler at 20 weeks in order to order an ultrasound. It has gotten much tougher. Tricare follows simply ACOG guidelines that state it's not that necessary. What really ticks me off though is that they pay for circumcisions, but not for ultrasounds. That's just ludicrous.

@ chnst: They DO pay for an initial ultrasound to guesstimate a due date, which I don't need nor care for. The 20 week scan is what I want since I feel it is important!

Edited June 29, 2010 by Anna C.

[Anna C. 4]

Ahhh it wont let me edit! I had to go get Jona,he woke up from his nap and is now happily shoving his cereal into his mouth....

@ chnst: I don't understand how it is supposed to detect different hormones in the mother's urine, I frankly think it's all BS, but still a little fun thing to do! I'll post a picture of the result...

As far as paying myself for a 20 week scan - that runs at $1400 around here, which is a bit much, considered I paid 185 Euros for Jonas (I was in Germany during 18-22 weeks, prime time for the scan), and that was with a high level perinatologist... I just hope we'll find a reason to make up for the ultrasound, or maybe my history of PTL will be enough, who knows. I'm just majorly peeved that an elective cosmetic procedure that won't save anyone's life is routinely covered while they decided to not cover routine 20 week scans that have the potential to save lives (what if there is a heart defect, a kidney defect, spina bifida, and so on???).

Edited June 29, 2010 by Anna C.

[tnh9479 1]

Wow! They need to give Senators the same military insurance and see how quickly it would be changed. That is just #######.

Anyone have any great ideas on how to stop a toddler from biting? I refuse to do the bite him when he does it because to me it seems like teaching not to hit by slapping them -- doesn't make sense.

[chnst 6]

Wow! They need to give Senators the same military insurance and see how quickly it would be changed. That is just #######.

Anyone have any great ideas on how to stop a toddler from biting? I refuse to do the bite him when he does it because to me it seems like teaching not to hit by slapping them -- doesn't make sense.

I start to cry, and I really play it up. Ben feels horrible when he realizes that he hurt his mommy, he still bites his daddy every now and then when they play rough, but daddy encourages it He doesn't bite me anymore, so it works. Every now and then he gets frustrated and slaps or throws something but I show him how that hurts my feelings or I show him the "ouchie" he caused and he instantly appologizes.

Anna: wow that is ridiculous. About the circumcision- can u imagine the outrage in America if insurance companies would make parents pay for that procedure? It's very ironic that they omit ultrasound and keep circumcision, but I am not surprised. Maybe you could get a regular 2-D Ultrasound, mine was in NYC for 20 Minutes and they charged "only" $800 I think. Im also sure that if you have a good midwife/doctor they will find a reason to do an ultrasound- I had one with Ben because I couldn't feel him move for 1 day. Our insurance pays for less well baby visits than our doctors recommend so we bring him in anyways and they make it a sick visit. So I'm not encouraging anyone to insurance fraud, but especially with pregnancy, it's always safe to do an ultrasound when in doubt.

[Anna C. 4]

@ Twila: I do the same as chnst, plus I ask him to bite himself. Doesn't exactly work always, but today I saw him leap for my arm, so I quickly put his arm in his mouth and he bit himself (not hard, didn't leave a mark!) and noticed it's not nice. I noticed that he stops himself from biting recently, but it is his first I'm upset with you reaction. the biting is really annoying, just a couple weeks ago he bit my butt!!!! It's sort of funny, but at that moment, it just hurt and came out of nowhere since I was preparing a diaper and he was behind me.... Not wanting a diaper change!

Well, I think Tricare is nice in many ways as it comes free, but I'd rather have them cut tricare totally and get more income (cause costs are down if you get rid of Tricare) and then pay myself for an insurance we like, and wouldn't mind paying extra. I was so happy with Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City back then (sure, they won't pay homebirth either, but their pregnancy care was excellent, they have really low intervention rates, and they have so many midwives, peds, that you find someone who accepts your views). And they are cheap! I paid $400 for hubbie and me per month, that's quite a steal I think.

Baeh I still cannot eat much. I even didn't want Chipotle today, which is like super odd cause I LOVE Chipotle. I can't wait for this phase to be over so I can stuff my face with the good stuff!

Edited June 30, 2010 by Anna C.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Anna, I love Chipotle. Chicken Bowl, extra corn salsa please! lol Hope you feel better soon!

Thats stinky about the insurance. I pay about 390$ a month for Employee + family. This covers all of us, and any (unlimited) future kids to come. But its through my employer, who pays a good chunk of it im sure.

Stef, my insurance company doesnt cover circumcision, as a matter of fact, a lot of insurance companies dont, state insurance doesnt either. its considered cosmetic. I paid 300$ out of pocket for Zaids.

[chnst 6]

ooh I love chipotle too! Hubby was so nice to research all the chipotle locations in a 50 mile radius and put them in the gps for me. I'm addicted to the burritos. In fact I could have one (or two) right now!!!

Kel: oh wow, that's a surprise, circumcision is so traditional over here. I didn't think insurance companies wouldn't cover it although it is not recommended anymore by the american board of pediatrics. I wonder if hospitals are aware of that. Parents have to consent to it but it's presented as a "necessary" routine procedure by so many doctors and nurses, did you guys know it wasn't covered by insurance?

We are really lucky, I don't think we pay anything for insurance through the NYPD. We have GHI and Empire and overall I am happy, although Empire just terminated their contracts with a lot of hospitals in our network. But most physicians accept GHI, so we have a huge selection and very minimal co-pays. I am so thankful for that, especially now that we have kids.

Although I almost had a heart attack when I opened a letter from the hospital where Ben was admitted and it started " We wish we could be writing with better news, but your insurance is not under contract for the time Ben was admitted here".. blah blah, basically the hospital insurance doesn't cover Ben's stay. We called the insurance company the day he was admitted and the person told us that the hospital was within the network, but he must have misunderstood or just gave us the wrong information. So basically they wanted us to pay for the entire week! They eventually processed it because he was admitted through the ER. phewww. Just the thought of paying for a weeklong hospital stay in the NYC area is a killer.

[Eveline 9]

OK, I checked Tricare again and again I only find this (from february 2010) http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/jsp/Medical/IsItCovered.do?kw=Maternity+Care&topic=Women

Maternity Ultrasounds

TRICARE covers medically necessary maternity ultrasounds separate from the global delivery fee. Doctors often perform medically necessary maternity ultrasounds at different times during pregnancy, and if your provider has reason for concern, TRICARE will cover the ultrasound. Specific conditions for which TRICARE will cover an ultrasound include the following:

• Estimating gestational age
• Evaluating fetal growth
• Conducting a biophysical evaluation for fetal well-being
• Evaluating a suspected ectopic pregnancy
• Defining the cause of vaginal bleeding
• Diagnosing or evaluating multiple gestations
• Confirming cardiac activity
• Evaluating maternal pelvic masses or uterine abnormalities
• Evaluating suspected hydatidiform mole
• Evaluating the fetus's condition in late registrants for prenatal care

There's at least the two bold points that a doctor could easily do an ultrasound for, especially the biophysical evaluation for fetal well-being part. If it came down to the ultrasound I'd make up something for them to give me one around 20 weeks. that's ridiculous to not pay for one anymore.

I wouldn't want to totally get rid of Tricare. I like that we have it. Without it we'd be screwed.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Mommies Sofia needs some help, she has a serious rash on her #######, it started like a little pimple and now there are like three of them, she never had a rash before so we are a little nervous and daddy is freaking out, my poor baby doesn't let me clean that area when i change her diaper and cries like if she is in pain ( we know she is). I let her stay without a diaper for about 10 minutes so she can get some air in that air but she is not potty train, what to do mommies? we tried different creams already - Desitin, a+d, Johnsons, etc but they are not working

[Eveline 9]

Vi: Google 'yeast rash'. Allie had it once and I took her to the pediatrician. She prescribed us 'Nystatin' which cleared up the rash in no time. Good luck

EDIT: The pics on google are kinda gross. The rash on Allie didn't look that bad, not even nearly as bad. It looked like a regular butt rash but up front and it wouldn't go away with the regular diaper ointments.

Edited June 30, 2010 by Eveline

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Eveline thank you so much, let me check it right now

[Staashi 371]

ooh I love chipotle too! Hubby was so nice to research all the chipotle locations in a 50 mile radius and put them in the gps for me. I'm addicted to the burritos. In fact I could have one (or two) right now!!!

Kel: oh wow, that's a surprise, circumcision is so traditional over here. I didn't think insurance companies wouldn't cover it although it is not recommended anymore by the american board of pediatrics. I wonder if hospitals are aware of that. Parents have to consent to it but it's presented as a "necessary" routine procedure by so many doctors and nurses, did you guys know it wasn't covered by insurance?

We are really lucky, I don't think we pay anything for insurance through the NYPD. We have GHI and Empire and overall I am happy, although Empire just terminated their contracts with a lot of hospitals in our network. But most physicians accept GHI, so we have a huge selection and very minimal co-pays. I am so thankful for that, especially now that we have kids.

Although I almost had a heart attack when I opened a letter from the hospital where Ben was admitted and it started " We wish we could be writing with better news, but your insurance is not under contract for the time Ben was admitted here".. blah blah, basically the hospital insurance doesn't cover Ben's stay. We called the insurance company the day he was admitted and the person told us that the hospital was within the network, but he must have misunderstood or just gave us the wrong information. So basically they wanted us to pay for the entire week! They eventually processed it because he was admitted through the ER. phewww. Just the thought of paying for a weeklong hospital stay in the NYC area is a killer.

Circs aren't covered by insurance here - and I have one of the top 10 in America. My OB asked if I wanted it done and it would be $100. We had decided against it - I figure if Enzo wants it he can decide on his own someday.