Monday, October 01, 2007

Warning: Ranting Ahead

I'm feeling kinda blah today. It hasn't necessarily been a bad day, just... I don't know. I wanted to have the car today to drive over to one of the private clinics to take a tour, so I had to wake up early and take Zach to work. I came back home and called the clinic, made an appointment with someone for 3pm, and took a nap. The tour of the clinic went ok, but for some reason I just didn't get a good feeling. Can't completely put my finger on it. I guess part of it was getting stuck in traffic on the way there (construction). Then it took me forever to actually find the floor where the lady I was meeting with was (and had to walk up 4 flights of stairs b/c I kept being told to go up one more floor, and couldn't find the friggin elevators). The midwife was nice enough, answered all my questions, and showed me the labor and post partum rooms. We were done in all of about 20 minutes (partially b/c a lot of the questions I had about what will or won't be allowed during labor she said would be up to my doctor). Then I went back down to the reception desk to try to find someone to talk to about insurance, and the lady pointed me down this one hall and said to go upstairs and ask for Anabel... I walked down the hall, which was short, dead-end, and had no stairs or elevator. WTF? I just walked out. By then I was kinda fed up of getting lost in that hospital. B/c it's a private clinic it is a bit nicer looking than the public hospital, and they do allow having more people in the delivery room (the hospital said only 1 at a time), but I don't know... again, I just walked out of there not feeling happy. So I guess it's a no-go for that clinic.

I guess part of what's bugging me is that the midwife that showed me around the hospital took a good 1.5 hrs to show me around, answer questions, gave me some pamplets, took me with her to ask about insurance stuff, etc. The gal at the clinic was, again, very nice, but not as proactive? I dunno. Maybe it's unfair to judge based on one employee at each place. But I'm also not going to go against my gut.

And now I'm kinda frustrated b/c I've been trying to research this possibility of getting a child allowance from Geneva canton, but I can't find any reliable info-- it's all hearsay on message boards, and I have no idea if we (as non-Swiss citizens, not even EU citizens) would qualify. Zach wanted me to try to find more info online before he asked about it at work, but I don't think I'm gonna get any further than I am now. So I emailed him the threads regarding the allowances and I think it's now gonna be his job to ask at work... since, you know, they might actually know something that's worthwhile and reliable (if we do qualify for this, the payouts would come from his employer).

Tomorrow I go in for my next check-up, and I'll be armed with a long list of questions to ask her (starting with whether I need to get a flu shot and how/where to do so, and on into the big labor discussion). Hopefully I can actually get some answers. I think the most frustrating thing about this whole ordeal is being given the run-around. I ask my doctor if she can deliver at so-and-so hospital, and she tells me that I should check first if my insurance covers it. I call the insurance that ask about this, and they say they'll cover, but to ask the hospital if they'll take a direct payment. I ask the hospital about taking a direct payment from my insurance, and they tell me I have to ask the insurance company or at the very least bring in a copy of my benefits (which are in English, we'll see if that's at all good enough). At times it feels as if no one's willing to give me a straight answer.

And, of course, I'm sure hormones and pregnancy emotionality are not helping make any of this feel any easier.

(PS- To make everything worse? I have been dealing with one horribly ugly zit at the corner of my mouth for a good week now, and it's finally going away.... only to be replaced by another big fat painful monstrosity on my chin. Nice. And the acne cream I've been trying to use against them? I swore I read online that it was fine to use during pregnancy, only to then come across something else the other day saying never to use that stuff. I'm just gonna trust that Loki's fine, no weird mutant powers thanks to Clearasil.)

3 comments:

  1. Loki is perf and you are beautiful even with a monster zit here or there. bugger those hospitals and insurance companies. but in the end everything will fall into place and you will have your baby safe and sound. good luck with everything!

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  2. Anonymous8:49 PM

    His name is Loki. He's impervious to Clearasil.

    (However, you should have used Mary Kay products. For shame, Marcy.)

    Sorry about the clinic. However, if one nurse sent you down the wrong hall and four people told you to "go up one more floor" when you really needed to go up four or three or two more floors, I think you can safely assume that is not a good place to have a baby, and that opinion is based on more than just the one person who showed you around.

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  3. Loki is fine! Probably a good idea to play it safe though! I sure your zit is not so bad!:) it reminds me of when the doctor had told me I was pregnant with my now thirteen year old, I had just come back from three days on a bachelorette party which involved MAJOR drinking and hangovers! I cried and cried! And doctor told me that it was fine as long as I didn't continue like that for the next nine months!!

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