What were your biggest pregnancy surprises and pet peeves?

Adam Evans62 said:Goddamn Medicare 😠 🙂

I am so incredibly pissed off right now I’ve been crying so hard I thought I was actually going to go into labor from the stress!!!!!

A notice showed up today at $117 about unpaid premiums for my private health insurance—I’m totally 😲
.
I went straight to check the contract/policy I signed back in February 2010, and it clearly states it runs until February 2011. That was when I paid my final installment.
I didn't renew the contract (meaning I didn't bother going back to the agency to file a new signed agreement like I did the previous two years) because I'm pregnant. Since all pregnancy-related services are covered for free under the standard plan, I wanted to save some cash.

I called those idiots immediately and told them I settled every single debt up through February 2011 when the one-year term ended.
Some arrogant old lady on the phone just laughed in my face and said:
"Ma'am, did you even read the fine print on the back of the contract? If you didn't explicitly request a termination in writing before the expiration date, we automatically renewed it for another year!"

Screw this country and screw me for being stupid enough not to read that. And screw the arrogance of these government bureaucrats and everything else...
Now I have to scrape together money for these damn $117, even though we're basically just dragging things out month after month and moving money from one empty pocket to another... 😢

Dear Medicare and our great nation: you get a massive :2up: from me!

I second this entirely... except I'm the one who got a warning notice on $200, which is just ridiculous... since I pay everything online, I'll just send them a message asking what their problem is, right?
And then I'm canceling my policy in writing... seriously, they have zero respect.

Olivia Miller2 said:I second this entirely... except I'm the one who got a warning notice on $200, which is just ridiculous... since I pay everything online, I'll just send them a message asking what their problem is, right?
And then I'm canceling my policy in writing... seriously, they have zero respect.

It seems everyone is getting hit with penalties lately. My husband was told he owes $167 for his supplemental coverage, even though he pays via automatic bank transfer. What on earth is going on with 😕 😠
? Now he has to trek down to the bank to get printed proof of his payments, just so he can go over there and prove it to the folks at Medicare.
Clearly, they are dealing with some sort of systemic glitch—or maybe the payments aren't being routed where they belong.

Mary, calm down—if you're actually short on funds, just negotiate a payment plan with them. That's how I handled a similar situation once; it wasn't an issue at all, and they were surprisingly reasonable.

Okay, I’ve calmed down a bit, but honestly, I thought I was going to have a total nervous breakdown.

And it wasn't even just about those damn $117—we'll get to that—my mom actually sent the money to those idiots already after she called me while I was sitting there losing my mind and crying hysterically 😛—she thought something was wrong with the baby or me, but once she realized what was actually happening, she felt so relieved she just paid them immediately!

What really gets me is how Medicare treats us like we're some kind of illiterate cattle, as if the government isn't already trying to squeeze every last cent out of us 😠 👎

Honestly, what they’re doing at MIT is just plain rude. They really ought to be sued—maybe even reported to the Consumer Protection Bureau. Instead of actually sending me a policy, all I got was some sort of warning on $133 😠
. There wasn't a single mention of a new payment plan, or any verification of my current income, NOTHING. And this was all intentional because I purposefully didn't renew the policy!!!

So, I go to ask them for their cancellation form, and this lady tells me they handle those things within a three-month window from when you submit the request , and then she has the nerve to tell me I just need to pay everything owed so far plus three more installments...

And if I don't pay immediately, she says they’ll just hit me with a garnishment on all my accounts... If you aren't following how that works these days, believe me—you do NOT want that hitting your bank account. They freeze everything, even if you have ten times the amount required for the garnishment, and then you can be stuck unable to access your own money for months on end 😠 😠 😠

But seriously, I am thinking about suing them through consumer protection; there’s no way this is legally sound. The idea that I "tacitly" accept a renewal without ANY offer, any notice that the policy was extended, or any notification regarding what my payments would be... nothing. My godmother is an attorney, so once I get all my paperwork organized, I’m going to sit down with her and hammer this out
And to top it off, the lady actually had the audacity to claim she’d be happy if I had taken their supplemental coverage, saying I definitely needed it. I shut that down pretty quickly by telling her I definitely do NOT need it since I already have private supplemental insurance—which is exactly why I intentionally didn't renew...

Great, looks like there's even more of us 😢
Everyone got hit with a warning notice in the mail today. Probably why I couldn't get through on the phone for nearly an hour—everyone was busy calling them and telling them where to shove it 😛

Michelle Nelson4—look, see if you can check with that lawyer friend of yours. Do we actually have any rights here? Are they allowed to just automatically renew an old policy and send out pre-foreclosure warnings without sending a bill or any kind of notification first? 😠

Though, I bet those scumbags covered themselves legally. If you look at the fine print, it says if the policyholder doesn't cancel at least 60 days before the term ends via written notice, the contract is considered valid for another year under the exact same terms 👎

Also, I told my grandma I wanted to cancel the contract starting in July, but damn it, there’s also this clause about a three-month notice period where you're still obligated to pay the premium!

So it turns out I'm stuck paying until at least September. Then I'll be stuck paying for the whole year because I won't be pregnant anymore by next month, which means I'll have to pay for all the exams and copays all over again...

Wow, looks like they’re on a roll lately...
I won't even get into how rude they are—they didn't even specify which month's rates I supposedly missed, just told me I owe money$200!
And this guy is writing like I have to settle up within 15 days of the notice, but the date says May 23rd and I only got it this past Friday!
Ugh, I'm seriously going to lose it when I deal with them!!!

It is truly terrifying what kind of country we live in. I’ve had my own share of struggles with Medicare; a clerk failed to process my claim correctly, so I didn't receive my benefits. Then she altered the date, which pushed my entire payment schedule back to next month! I know exactly when I submitted that application, and you can even see on the paperwork that a "1" was added in front of the date, but none of that matters to them.

On another note, what has been really bothering me over the last few weeks is this constant irritability. By nature, I am a very emotional person, but this is extreme. I find myself on the verge of tears almost every time I try to speak. Most of the time, I just feel terrible. The only exception is when I think about my son, whom I will finally get to kiss in five weeks. I am genuinely scared of what comes next for me. Will I ever return to my normal self? I have no one to confide in. Everyone just waves me off or uses that mindless "it'll be fine, it'll pass" cliché.

Back when I was in the early stages of pregnancy and wanted to start shopping for essentials, I let MM and his foolish parents influence me, so I gave up because they insisted it was "too early." It is never too early; there is only such a thing as being too late! Now, I am physically unable to go out, I don't have the time to order things online if they aren't in stock at the store, and trying to buy everything all at once is overwhelming. Especially since his family suddenly seems to have developed amnesia regarding their offer to help split the costs.

I swear, sometimes I feel like a single mother and that my "dear" partner is nothing more than a burden. His parents used to be wonderful. But now that he has supposedly started his "real life," I am finally realizing how foolish and incompetent they actually are—all they know how to do is complain. Complaining is easy, especially when you spend every afternoon napping like a lazy cat under the guise of "resting." If it weren't for my parents, I would lose my mind. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: they show me every single day how much they love me and their grandson. They stay informed, they work on the yard, they look after me; without them, I would be in an asylum. Meanwhile, his people can't even manage to lie around from 2:00 to 5:00 PM like MM's lot does; instead, they actually work themselves to the bone. And then, whenever they actually have something to show for it, people say, "Oh, it's easy for them..." It's quite the opposite! My parents have it much harder, yet they are smarter and more valuable. I just hope my son doesn't turn out like the others, hahahahaha...

Anyway, I will stop now. It feels slightly easier having all of this written down so I can look back on it occasionally. 😬

I had my run-in with the healthcare system and their total lack of organization today...

At my last checkup, my OBGYN sent me off for blood work, a urine sample, and an OGTT. Since there’s a lab right inside my local Department of Justice facility that handles OGTT tests, he told me—since my referral was already sitting in their computer system—that I could just show up in the morning after fasting for 12 hours, and they’d send the results straight to him.

So, naturally... I followed those instructions perfectly this time. I figured I’d get everything done about a week before my next appointment on June 14th so the results would be "fresh" when I see him (though, honestly, I kept putting it off because the thought of being without food for over 14 hours makes me feel a bit dizzy 😲).

Anyway, I stopped eating at 7:00 PM last night. Then, at 7:00 AM this morning, I’m standing outside the lab like a total overachiever, handing over my paperwork...

Only for the woman at the counter to hand it right back to me. She says I have to make an appointment for the OGTT.
Great. So my doctor didn't know that? And what about the blood and urine tests? "No, no, you have to call and schedule those after 11:00 AM."

Just wonderful. A completely wasted trip to the Department of Justice.

I called them, and the earliest they can see me is July 5th. 😲

I mean, seriously, couldn't they have just taken the blood and urine samples while I was already standing there?! I am genuinely curious to see what my doctor is going to say next week when I show up without having done any of this...
I just don't get how everyone within the same Department of Justice facility can be so disconnected and uninformed. It’s not like I’m the first pregnant patient he’s sent for an OGTT; surely he knows the protocol. Unless, of course, I'm just some special case where they decided to implement this annoying appointment rule just a few days ago 🙄

I am honestly losing my mind over this washing machine—it’s making this incredibly bizarre noise.
On top of that, I’m dealing with a husband who jumps the second his father even breathes in his direction, yet when I ask for the exact same thing, I have to nag him for days on end.
For instance, ever since we got back from our trip, I’ve been asking him to mow the lawn. It’s been dragging on for about ten days now. Then, his dad calls him this morning, basically tells him to get out of bed and come over to mow the yard, and suddenly he’s up and ready to go instantly. It drives me crazy! I asked him why he reacts so fast when his dad calls, but when I suggest doing something around our own house, it takes forever. His response? That his dad just wants to get things done! Good grief... if that's the case, why don't you feel the need to "get things done" with me so we can actually finish our chores too???

I haven't quite managed to catch up with my friend yet because she's dealing with some major chaos... but I finally sat down to look through what my policy actually says.

Well, here we go—Article XIV states: "Upon the expiration of the one-year insurance period, the contract shall be deemed valid for the subsequent one-year insurance period under the conditions set forth in these General Terms, unless the insured party/policyholder provides written notice of their intent not to renew at least 60 days prior to the end of the agreed period."

Long story short—it’s a total mess. I did sign the paperwork, but I honestly didn't realize they changed things this year compared to how they handled it last time...

Regarding the cancellation, the lady over at Medicare (she was incredibly rude, so I just call her "the old hag"—which, let's be honest, fits) seems to be pointing toward Article XII: "The policyholder may terminate the contract with a three-month notice period, during which they are obligated to pay the corresponding premium."

However, there is also Article XI, which says: "If the policyholder fails to pay the due premium by the agreed deadline, and neither they nor any other interested party does so, the Agency will terminate the contract 30 days after the policyholder receives a certified letter from the Agency reminding them to pay the overdue premium. (...) In any case, the contract is terminated if the premium remains unpaid within 90 days of its due date."

In my view, this means I don't necessarily have to formally request a termination; I could just stop paying for a few days... then settle those three months of premiums and send them a formal notice stating that the contract has been terminated per the terms once that 90-day window closes. I'm going to try heading back there on Tuesday to clear this up. When I went the other day, I was just too angry and in such a rush to make sure I had all these details studied properly.

The whole mortgage application process and all the endless bureaucratic nonsense attached to it is a nightmare. It’s been dragging on for weeks, and it looks like I’ll be stuck in this loop for at least another month, if I'm lucky.

I'm about to lose my mind. 🙂😵

Honestly, this whole thing caught me totally off guard and it’s driving me absolutely insane:
bloating and gas😁🙂
all three of us—me, my wife, and even the kid—are probably gonna pass out at this rate, seriously🙂🙂🙂
🤦🤦🤦

thank god at least methane isn't actually toxic, I guess😁

Bryan Wilson33 said:Honestly, this whole thing caught me totally off guard and it’s driving me absolutely insane:
bloating and gas😁🙂
all three of us—me, my wife, and even the kid—are probably gonna pass out at this rate, seriously🙂🙂🙂
🤦🤦🤦

thank god at least methane isn't actually toxic, I guess😁

🤣

Right now, my absolute worst struggle is the whole process of waking up and actually getting out of bed. To start with, I feel completely stiff and achy because I can't seem to find a comfortable position—I don't sleep on my side, nor my back, but rather somewhere awkwardly in between—and this started back in late July. (I truly cannot fathom how I manage to do this, considering when I'm awake, I can't stay still for even a single minute.) It takes me several minutes just to work through the stiffness... Then, once I finally sit up, I get this dizzy spell where my vision goes all blurry, so I have to wait for things to settle down. If it isn't one of those particularly rough days—like today, for instance—I actually deal with nosebleeds, so I'm constantly hovering my hand there to make sure I don't drip blood all over the floor. 🙄 Luckily, I've "only" got about seven and a half weeks left until the baby arrives. 🙂

It’s driving me absolutely insane that I can't feel the baby yet.

I know, I know—it's still early. It's my first pregnancy, the placenta is anterior, and I've got a pretty thick abdominal wall... but I just want to feel those little kicks. 😢

I swear, reading this kind of "news" gives me an instant stomach ache... 🙄

🤦

Anthony Watson35, I really have to agree with you there.
On another note, I’ve been feeling a bit anxious about my blood pressure lately—it’s been hovering around 140/80. I know the main thing is keeping that diastolic number under 90, but I guess that higher systolic reading is still weighing on my mind quite a bit.

Anthony Watson35 said:I swear, reading this kind of "news" gives me an instant stomach ache... 🙄

🤦

Well, yeah—and apparently, they spend their nights solving complex calculus problems just to wind down, because otherwise, sleep simply won't come... though, if I’m being perfectly honest, that might just be my own jealousy talking. 😉

It feels like my stomach acid is just sitting right there in my throat. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and then the nausea hit. So, I tried to drink some water to settle things down, but as soon as I laid back down, I realized I could feel the water trapped in my throat, and I was right on the verge of throwing up... Now it’s 3:00 AM and I’m just sitting here at my computer. I can't even focus on anything productive because I'm feeling so weak and shaky; I'm just waiting for this water to finally move through my system so I can hopefully get back to sleep...
I think I'll head over to the living room and turn on the TV—hopefully, something mindless will help me drift off...

I married an idiot. I know, sounds harsh, but honestly? What else am I supposed to call him?
Like, why on earth would I need a baby bathtub? It’s totally useless because he thinks it's perfectly fine for Domagoj to give Marina their little girl a bath in the big tub—where he basically holds her with one hand (!!!😲!!!) while rinsing her with the shower head (🤦) (she's barely three months old, btw)
Seriously, what am I even supposed to say to him at this point...
He spends all day talking shop with his "genius" buddies and relatives, yet somehow manages to never actually listen to a single smart thing anyone says. It's exhausting 🙄

Jeffrey Barnes16 said:Well, yeah—and apparently, they spend their nights solving complex calculus problems just to wind down, because otherwise, sleep simply won't come... though, if I’m being perfectly honest, that might just be my own jealousy talking. 😉

Exactly. And then you get some clueless reporter writing stuff like, "She picked up the languages from her parents and is now mastering them." 🤦
Give me a break. Seriously? "Mastering" things at three years old? Give me a freaking rest...
I mean, sure, if you grow up with parents who have these issues, she might pick up a few basic words—roughly the same level as any kid here in the States—and now *that's* front-page news? It’s always depressing seeing these insecure losers try to fix their own baggage through innocent kids. And man, my heart goes out to the daycare workers; don't even get me started on what those teachers deal with on a daily basis... 🙄