The Very Traumatizing Week

I was hoping the girl from the eye doctor would email me the photos we took on her camera so you could see Reese's marathon doctor week, but she didn't yet, so you'll have to take my word for it that he went. You already know he went to the eye guy on Monday and needs glasses. That was kind of devastating. But Tuesday we woke up to the sound of the tree cutting truck! Yippee! I don't believe I've mentioned the tree before. When we first moved in Kyle wanted to chop it down, but I wanted to keep it. Finally around June it got some greenery on it and then it just started dropping its non-stop debris. So much that I don't how the mailman made it to the door without tripping. So in June we hired a tree man to cut it, but then he realized it was in the power lines and said the power company must trim it out of their lines first. My first request went in on June 27. They said that counts as an emergency and they'd come in within 24 hours. HA! About 9 or 10 calls later and irate rants our tree was finally cut December 18. Now it looks ridiculous but we can hire the tree cutter! YEah!! Apparently the people never bothered to do their job correctly and forward the info to the appropriate people. We have to go to Tacoma to Mary Bridge's Childrens Hospital for Reese's RSV shot. They said it would take about 15 minutes, so I made the appointment at 1pm thinking Kyle can make it to work on time unrushed. Turns out he had to call out for the day.

Here is Reese sitting in his window crib waiting for the shot. He had to strip down to get weighed since the shot is administered based on weight. Good marketing since you are probably still unsure if your 2 pound baby will survive and may be less willing to spend the money on the shots, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So they bring in the paperwork that essentially says your baby will probably die this cold and flu season without these shots and a form to sign authorizing the shot and another agreeing to pay $1000 per injection. That is our 20%, so our insurance company is paying $4000. I said "oh no, no, no! My letter says $340, which is obscene, but $1000 is not happening." So after 2 hours and hysteria and melt down and tears we leave without the shot. The woman whose job it is to tell people they are authorized for the shot and how much it costs, said "oh sorry but those letters aren't gold." She actually had the audacity to say those words to me. Like the difference between $340 and $1000 is a slight variance since our price quote wasn't etched in stone. Another example of people collecting a pay check but not doing their job. My pediatrician's office is working another angle to see if we can get the shot cheaper from another provider, however the doctor herself said she doubts it will be cheaper. We said we could finagle $500 per but no more since he will need 5 or 6 shots depending on the season. Check your budget do you think you could scrape up $1000 with 30 seconds notice? And keep doing it every month until spring? It's ridiculous, since normal people do not have a pile of cash under the mattress--you guys don't do you? So the other option (we actually have a flyer from Mary Bridge recommending this) is to avoid crowds like family gatherings or stores. Avoid other children. Anyone who MUST come in contact with the child must wash with soap and water before touching him. Sanitize all doorknobs and light switches and toys and crib railings and faucet handles etc etc etc frequently. FUN!
I am LIVID. I understand pharmaceutical companies must recoup the billions they spend on research but it's pretty pathetic that our country allows them to recoup their money off the backs of already at risk infants. Had Kyle and I just moved in together and had babies out of wedlock Reese could get his shots free since I would officially be a no income household. Gotta love how the family values spouting government penalizes actual tax paying families and really encourages irresponsibility. So I am working on my new political campaign to get some help for actual working families. Obviously I don't want to take away assistance for children in families who make less money than we do, but we are regular working class folks, not money bags and deserve some options too. I'm not shopping at Nordstrom you know. HOWEVER since I am too irate to write like a rational, intelligent person I will revise for a week or so before I start my letter writing campaign. AND last night I got a phone survey call from a paid employee (as opposed to a campaign volunteer) to quiz me about my political stance on gay marriage. I don't really care if you agree with it or not but I am angry that they have money to spend on that kind of nonsense but not to help make my baby's shots within the realm of a doable price. I am not even asking for a reasonable price! Like somehow if my neighbor's spouse is the same sex that will affect me at all, but my child's inability to get medical treatment affects me a whole bunch. Frustrating!!!!

It's election year so decide what matters to you and vote accordingly!

On the plus side I am no longer crying over glasses because my brain can simply not process both days of crappy news simultaneously.

Wednesday Reese got a flu shot from his regular pediatrician. Here he is sitting on the scale....15 pounds 12 ounces!! He is at -3% on the regular weight chart, yes that is negative 3%, ha ha. But compared to other 29 week preemies he is between 25th and 50th percentile for weight. He is between 50th and 75th percentile in height. He's a pee wee still but she is satisfied with his rate of growth. And he is hitting his milestones in an acceptable fashion, so it's all good. Plus we get more bang for our buck from our exersaucer and jumperoo and bouncy seat and car seat. Which reminds me the car seat straps are as tall as they can go so I think we will have to move to a tall boy seat before he gets to the weight limit.

Then on to the glasses hunt. This is the smallest pair at Kitsap Optical. Reese did NOT like it. They are ordering 2 pairs for us to try out with no obligation to buy. So we'll go back after Christmas to try some plastic frames. On Friday I will go to our eye doctor's Bainbridge Island shop to check their selection. With frames and lenses Kitsap Optical estimates about $235 before tax. Needless to say I am price comparison shopping because who knows how quickly he'll outgrow the glasses. Our insurance only covers exams, no hardware, bummer.

If you had a healthy, normal pregnancy and a healthy, normal baby you should stop right this second and thank your lucky stars and give your baby a big hug.

I have to go cook dinner now...we're going on the top ramen diet.