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| Days Inn we called "Home" when we first moved to Savannah |
David quickly got to work trying to find us an apartment plus he had to get busy with the school quarter that was starting. We started looking for an apartment in Georgetown, a small community just south of Savannah, which we had heard that it was a safer part of town.
I, being about 5 weeks pregnant, started my search for an OB/GYN so I could get in to try and figure out why, even though I had been taking progesterone, I was still bleeding. The first Sunday there we went to church at the congregation in Georgetown where we thought we would be living. During the last hour of meetings I noticed a woman holding a small infant. After the lesson was over I approached the woman and asked who her doctor was and if she would recommend them. With her high recommendation I decided to try and get in with this doctor. I also did research online and checked reviews for other OB's in the area. The next day I called the doctor recommended by the woman. If I recall correctly, the dr. wasn't currently accepting new patients. So I started calling other ones that had good ratings online. All the ones I called were either not accepting new patients or didn't accept medicaid, which we had planned on applying for. I was so discouraged and worried. I had gotten another blood test after we got to Savannah and the results were sent to my doctor in Utah. They confirmed that my HCG levels were still rising but since I was still bleeding it was recommended that I have an ultrasound ASAP. I was desperate to find a doctor and try to figure out what was going on.
Meanwhile the search for an apartment wasn't going well either. One place we had our eye on had some ridiculous forms to fill out. They also were going to require us to pay multiple months of rent in advance. They said since we were unemployed and David was a student that they wanted to be sure we were capable of paying the rent. We weren't really keen on this but were willing to do so. After the apartment complex found out were were expecting, however, they informed us that we would be required to get a two bedroom apartment instead of one. Since this would have been more expensive we decided to go a different route. It seemed like our streak of bad luck was continuing. Things were still not going our way.
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| Our Tiny Apartment |
Finally our luck started to turn around when one morning David happened to check the apartment postings on Craigslist. He found a listing that had just been put up that morning and he contacted the phone number listed. The apartment had just opened up and David set up a time to view the apartment that day. The apartment was closer to downtown Savannah and to the college campus. David looked up the address on a website that checks the safety rating of the area and found that it seemed to be a safe enough area so we decided it was worth a try. David checked out the place first but told the landlord that I would have to view the place before he could give a decision. I was so ready to be done living in a hotel that I quickly agreed to say yes to the tiny one bedroom, which was really more like a studio apartment.
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| http://themidwifegroup.com/ |
Our luck also changed in regards to our search for a doctor for me to see. One morning (it may have even been the same day that we found the apartment) David told me that while doing some research online he came across a midwife center that we could try. He said they even had a discounted self-pay option for those without insurance. This would be a good option just in case we weren't approved for medicaid. We called and they set up a time for us to view the center and see if it would be a good fit for us. I was relieved that we at least had an option.
The time before the tour was spent buying a mattress(so we would at least have something to sleep on in our new place), a futon, and some other household items. David was kept quite busy trying to get us settled and starting his new school schedule.
The day of the tour finally came. A midwife showed us around the facility and discussed their different methods and delivery techniques. She informed us that they did have an OB/GYN who worked out of their office who sometimes took over deliveries that ended up needing to be finished up at the hospital. During the tour the midwife asked how far along we thought I was and what type of insurance we had. We told her that I was about five weeks along but that I had been on progesterone because I had been bleeding. We also told her that we didn't have insurance but that we planned to apply for medicaid. She said that they usually don't see ladies until they are six weeks along but since I was bleeding they should get me checked out as soon as possible. She did recommend we apply for medicaid first and then call to set up an appointment. She also told us that we had a good chance of getting approved because of our current employment situation. They had me do a urine test to confirm that I was indeed pregnant and gave me a signed form that I would need when I applied for medicaid.
We told her that we would go apply the following Monday morning and then get an appointment scheduled. We felt really good about the center after we left. The facility was nice and the midwife was very kind. I was ready to finally figure out what was wrong and I felt that this was the right place for us to go.
Monday morning came and we went to the medicaid office. I nervously filled out the forms and was checked out by a nurse. We were nervous that we might not be approved since we did have a bit of money in savings. We were surprised to find out that the form did not require us to list how much we had in our account. It only asked for our employers and current monthly income. Since David was a student, I was unemployed, and we didn't have any income coming in (except a large amount of student loans) it appeared that we were pretty much approved on the spot. (Which you will soon find out just how much of a blessing this was.) Afterwards we called the midwife center and scheduled an appointment for the following morning.
Since David had class, I went to the appointment alone. It was hard to wait in the lobby while watching ladies with their perfect newborns and ladies farther along in their pregnancies carried healthy babies. Finally it was my turn. Right after the midwife started examining me she exclaimed, "Wow, there's a lot of blood." The following comment was even more terrifying. "It looks like there is a hole in your uterus," came the reply. She said that I would need to have an ultrasound so they would have a better understanding what was going on.
After checking with the front desk she informed me that they would have to get an ultrasound approved with medicaid first and that I would have to come back in the morning to get it done. She also said something like, "I'm not sure exactly what is wrong but whatever it is it isn't good." She thought that I may even miscarry during the night.
A feeling of sheer panic consumed my entire body. It was one of the worst feelings I have ever felt in my life. I was in complete fear and I'm sure I was trembling. I was also feeling faint. Sensing I wasn't feeling right (I must have been pale) they asked if I had eaten anything that morning. I hadn't eaten in a while and they told me to go drink some juice and sit down in a room where they have birthing classes. I remember drinking the juice, lying curled up across a couple of chairs, and quietly sobbing. It felt like I was free falling head first into a dark abyss without a rope or a bungee cord to catch my fall.
