I agree with itwerenotnight, a midwife may be a good way to go. They seem to be a little more caring and more "for the patient" then a lot of Dr.s (im not saying doctors dont care, its just midwifes are different).
The only thing that might be hard might be the insurance with them. I know my insurance will only cover 80% of most midwifes. They accept the ones im with, but only because they are associated with 3 Drs and a practice that accepts my plan. However, there is a local birthing place, that only has midwives and 1 dr that comes on a call in basis. My insurance will only cover 80% of that.... which still isnt too bad at all.
first, you're not missing much. obstetric care is little more than peeing in a cup and having your blood pressure taken. AFP and other bloodwork isn't nearly as accurate as people would make it seem and has a high rate of false positives so you are simply saving yourself the stress of dealing with that. diagnostic ultrasound does nothing at this point in your pregnancy. best wait till at least twenty weeks -- even then, unless you'll terminate the pregnancy in the event of a birth defect, what're you losing?
your body KNOWS how to handle this pregnancy and there's nothing a doctor can do that you can't do for yourself. read books, educate yourself, eat well, avoid dangerous situations and substances.
second, why not lie and tell the receptionist at an OB's office you don't KNOW how far along you are? i doubt when they get you in for a visit they'll be like "oops! more than twelve weeks. go away!"
I second this comment. I didn't see my doc until 13.5 weeks, and didn't see an ob until I was 15 weeks along, and my ob care thus far has been minimal -- they've taken urine samples, done some bloodwork, a pap, a pelvic exam, and listened for the baby's heartbeat. I'm not getting my fetal anatomy scan done until next week, when I'll be 19 weeks. They really don't do anything vital at the early appointments.
I know that doesn't help when you're upset because of the way you've been treated, but you really aren't missing that much.
I also second the suggestion to just not tell them. Call them up, say, "I'm pregnant." When they ask how far along you are, say, "I don't know, I haven't seen a doctor yet." What are they gonna do, make you take a lie detector test? :)
thats such a good idea to say you don't know how far along you are.
do you have planned parenthood in your area? they work on a sliding scale and i'm pretty sure they take almost all insurances..
but i would do the same thing as you. if you really have a certain dr in mind that accepts your insurance and you have called and given you a hard time. go there when they open and dont leave til they let you see someone.
i am so sorry you are going through this. i can't imagine how frustrating it must be.:(
I'm sorry you have to deal with Tricare. I know what a pain in the butt they can be. I had to call a bunch of numbers over and over and get refered from one to the other and finally FINALLY got an OB appointment and things have run okay-ish since. (well, as good as these inept people can get. I swear they are so unorgnaized) I'm with cerise_blue on telling them you just don't know how far along you are. By the way, I was 13 weeks and told them up front that I was. What I had to do is get "Tricare approved confirmation of pregnancy" and THEN I could start recieving care. *rolls eyes*
I don't have much advise because I had such problems with tricare that I just went out and bought my own insurance. It's kind of expensive so I don't really recommend it but it was just a mess like yours and too much stress for me to deal with. It ended up that my primary care physician which is the only doc I can see got orders somewhere and was no longer at the facility. So of course I couldn't get an appointment - mind you I didn't know that at the time and I kept calling and they just kept telling me they had no appointments. I ended up having to drive over there and just show up to get something done. At that point, they did the quick urine check and based on that result, they gave me an appointment with another primary care physician the next morning. So then I drove out there merely to pick up my prenatal prescription and for him to log onto the computer and find an ob gyn. When I called them, they said they were booked and scheduled my first appointment for a good month plus from then. I wasn't too happy with that so I
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I'm so jealous!
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you might think you are, but ah, twin pregnancy... not so fun ;)
feel free to come take one! LOL
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The only thing that might be hard might be the insurance with them. I know my insurance will only cover 80% of most midwifes. They accept the ones im with, but only because they are associated with 3 Drs and a practice that accepts my plan. However, there is a local birthing place, that only has midwives and 1 dr that comes on a call in basis. My insurance will only cover 80% of that.... which still isnt too bad at all.
Good luck.
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your body KNOWS how to handle this pregnancy and there's nothing a doctor can do that you can't do for yourself. read books, educate yourself, eat well, avoid dangerous situations and substances.
second, why not lie and tell the receptionist at an OB's office you don't KNOW how far along you are? i doubt when they get you in for a visit they'll be like "oops! more than twelve weeks. go away!"
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I know that doesn't help when you're upset because of the way you've been treated, but you really aren't missing that much.
I also second the suggestion to just not tell them. Call them up, say, "I'm pregnant." When they ask how far along you are, say, "I don't know, I haven't seen a doctor yet." What are they gonna do, make you take a lie detector test? :)
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do you have planned parenthood in your area? they work on a sliding scale and i'm pretty sure they take almost all insurances..
but i would do the same thing as you. if you really have a certain dr in mind that accepts your insurance and you have called and given you a hard time. go there when they open and dont leave til they let you see someone.
i am so sorry you are going through this. i can't imagine how frustrating it must be.:(
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