When enough seems to be enough...

I'm having such a yucky experience with this pregnancy and I just need to vent. This is a different set of doctors/hospital than my pregnancy with Libby. I started going here because it's only 10 minutes from us as opposed to 45 minutes away like the one before. The doctors at this office are all really nice and I do like them. They have good bedside manner and that is very important. I've quickly learned that it's not everything though…some of you might know about my issue with the gestational diabetes…my number was 3 points higher than they wanted so they've determined that they think I have GD. I did research, talked to my doctor and pretty much cornered her and wanted to know if there was what she thought to be great danger to the baby if I didn't check my sugar 4x a day. She said no, it was just the number that they were going by. So I had an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay and they're pretty much letting me manage this my own way as long as things still look alright (which they do). In the beginning-ish stages of this pregnancy, my blood pressure readings were a little high. Nothing crazy and when they retook my blood pressure a few minutes later it was always normal. Well one of the doctors there decided that because I'd had a few high readings, she wanted me to start taking non stress tests 2x a week at 28 weeks. They started me at about 30 weeks and I've gone to 6 of them so far. I get a statement in the mail saying that the cost is $357.00. I'm responsible for 20% of that. I figured that was for the rest of the time. Wrong - it's for every single test I have. So if I have to pay $71.40 per time and I've gone 6 times that's roughly $430.00 that I have coming out of my pocket already. If I continue to go twice a week, that's another $1000.00 out of my pocket just for the NSTs!!!!! My biggest problem with this?? The baby is fine and my blood pressure? Yeah, my really HIGH blood pressure is causing readings like 111/70 and 115/72…numbers like that. How on earth can they classify that as high blood pressure?? The nurses at the hospital say that they have a tendency to overreact in that office and they can't understand why they have me there twice a week. So I'm making yet another decision to buck the system and again, it stresses me out!! I just can't justify throwing that money away when there is clearly not a problem with my blood pressure and the ultrasounds (I have yet another one scheduled in 2 weeks) all show the baby is exactly where she should be as far as growth goes and the amniotic fluid level is exactly where it should be. I know it's my responsibility to take care of this baby and do everything I need to do to make sure she's healthy, but I can't help but feel like I'm being bullied into all of this and that maybe it's more about insurance money for them. Sorry this is so long, it's just extremely frustrating and I feel like they're adding more stress than is necessary.

Wow, that's ridiculous. And I can't believe they didn't tell you beforehand, or at least look into, how much it would cost you out of pocket! In this economy, there's no way I'd be paying for those tests when everything is right on track.

But, I've also never pregnant, so take my response with a grain of salt

Just wanted to add that I don't want to come off as being whiny and I know it could be a lot worse. I guess the hormones don't help this super sensitivity!!

OMGosh Laurie! That is ridiculous especially where there doesn't seem to be a problem with your pressure. That's a normal pressure according to my doctor.

Wow Laurie...I'm sorry you're having such a time with all this but I agree..it sounds like a bit much especially with your BP being normal.

With Avery, I had pregnancy induced hypertension starting at 22 weeks. My highest blood pressure was 150/90 in the office but I think it may have been higher than that at one point b/c I actually blacked out at home... so my doc put me on Aldonet 3x a day and even with that it ran about 130/80 normally the rest of the pregnancy. But even with all that (and swelling like you wouldn't believe) he didn't start non stress tests on me until 34 weeks.

Are you monitoring your BP at home? If not I would suggest that..you can get the digital BP cuffs at wal-mart for about 30 bucks..I've been monitoring mine this whole pregnacy b/c of my history but thankfully this time I"m not have issues with BP..still I check it every day...maybe you could keep a chart..I'd check it 3x a day and see if you have any spikes...if it's running normal then I would definately balk on the NSTs 2x a week..b/c wow that is a lot of money.

Oh wow Laurie, that really stinks! I don't blame you for being frustrated. That all just seems way over the top. I had high blood pressure with Kaitlyn, and I would have killed to have the numbers you have! lol. If they're stressing you out, that's not good for you or baby. They need to chill. Do you have a blood pressure machine at home you could use to periodically check yourself? That's what I did with K, but I could always feel when it was high anyway. I hope you get some resolution to all this!

Thanks girls!! Yep, I do check my blood pressure at home and my readings are always normal. I've been checking ever since I was about 14 weeks along. I've never had a spike or anything like that. They always ask if my numbers are normal and I've kept a chart (though they've never asked me what my numbers are or to see the chart!!) My numbers are actually lower at the hospital than they are at home...they didn't even mention the NSTs at the last appointment...I figured they would comment on how good the numbers were or something like that....makes me wonder if they even get the information unless something seems wrong...