Insurance Nightmare

I'm not going to bore you with every single detail, but Blue Cross is a thorn in my side and the cause of ALOT of frustration, worry, and tears for me and Jamie... well the tears part applies to me, not Jamie. Basically, our BCBS insurance only allows for Noah to have 30 combined visits of physical, occupational, and speech therapies per year. I discovered today that Noah only has 10 visits left for the remainder of 2010, then we get the pleasure of paying 100% out of pocket. Since we've been going to Huntsville, he's been receiving all 3 therapies at one facility so it's only filed as 1 visit each week. However, I'm trying to get him set up to receive his therapy in Florence. The kicker is that there isn't a place in the Shoals area that offers all 3 services, so I'll have to take him to 2 seperate facilities. Each of the places will file individually, so he'll be using up 2 visits per week and with only 10 visits left, that only allows Noah to receive therapy for 5 more weeks for the remainder of 2010. UGH!!! I had also hoped to get Noah in the Spider Program at Children's Hospital one more time before the baby's arrival, however, that would use up 12 visits (for each day he gets therapy) so looks like that's out of the question for 2010 (unless we arrange to pay out of pocket, which is probably out of the question b/c of how expensive it would be)... maybe we can do it in 2011 when our 30 visits are renewed. I'm pretty heart-broken over this.

I made the huge mistake of calling BCBS to find out why we didn't run into this problem in 2009(running out of visits before year end) and she told me she would have to look into it and call me back. I was under the impression that his visits had been filed differently in '09. Reason being that periodically throughout the year, I always call to check on how many visits we have used up. Last year, they told me he had not used any (which is why I was under the impression it was filed differently.) She called me back the following day to inform me that we had indeed, exceeded our 30 visits last year and they had not caught it at the time. So since she has now discovered this, she has to report it and we will be getting a bill for all the visits we exceeded!!! WHAT?!? I pretty much lost it, I was SOO livid.

As trying as it can be at times having a child that has special needs, I think without a doubt, the most difficult part is dealing with the insurance and financial part of it. It causes so much stress and anxiety for me... mainly because half of the time I don't understand all of the insurance talk but also because I want any and everything for my child and insurance limits what they will provide for him. As parents, we want to say that money isn't an object when it comes to the well-being of our child, however, when therapy costs around $200 per visit at twice a week, it adds up QUICKLY.

30 visits per year is great for someone who has suffered an injury and needs rehab to heal, however, it's not enough for a child with a delay or condition that inhibits them from doing the things that typical kids do. It doesn't even allow him to go 1x week per year, when it actuality, he needs it 2x week. Even if our doctor writes a request for an extension of visits due to Noah's condition, BCBS won't grant more visits.

Last week, we reached a solution that will get us through at least 10 weeks of therapy. By that time, school will have started back and he'll begin receiving his therapy through them, and I'm assuming we will discontinue private therapy. I'm still hoping that some way, we can make it work to get him back in the Spider Program. I'm just turning it over to God and hopefully something will work out!

I apologize for the ranting. I try to keep my posts (especially the ones concerning Noah) positive and hopeful, however this is part of the stuff we are dealing with, too. I'm not wanting sympathy by any means, I guess more so just to vent. We all know us girls need to that every now and then!

It's a .......

BOY!!! I really kept going back and forth between thinking girl or boy, but that morning, I felt like it was a girl and Jamie was adament majority of the time that it was a boy. My aunt started the ultrasound and found the head first but then moved the ultrasound thing and immediately found the bottom. There it was, plain as day, 2 legs and boys parts! I said, "it's a boy!!" kind of in disbelief, before my aunt said anything. Jamie said, "WHERE?!?" as excited as any man finding out his gaining another son, could possibly be. My aunt checked out the rest of the baby to make sure that structurally, he was developing okay and everything checked out great. His spine was closed, his brain looked good, and he's got 10 tiny fingers and 10 tiny toes.

We are beyond ecstatic about having another son and I'm so excited that Noah's getting a little brother. I think it will be GREAT for Noah to have a brother to play with and to share the same interests with him. If Noah is still having delays, I think it will be wonderful that his brother can get out in the yard and play with him and show him how to do things that a sister probably wouldn't be as willing to do with him. We are over the moon and can't wait to meet our little guy at the end of October!

Of course, being the planners that we are, we alreaady had names picked out for both a girl and a boy and feel confident that we won't change our minds. Therefore I'm okay with announcing his name! Here are some pictures of our soon-to-be son, Jamieson Collier Brink (whom we will call Collier). Jamie's name is actually Jamieson so that's where Collier's first name comes from.

Blue or Pink???

On Friday, we will be finding out the sex of Baby #2! My aunt does ultrasounds at UAB so we are heading to B'ham so she can let us know what it is. She did an ultrasound at 15 weeks to tell me what Noah was so I'm very hopeful that this baby will cooperate and let us get a good shot! We are very excited to see if we'll be welcoming another little boy or little girl. Majority of the pregnancy, I've felt like it was a girl, mainly because this time my symptoms have been much stronger and quite a bit different from my first pregnancy... although I know that's not really an indication of gender. However, the last 2 weeks, I've been leaning more towards it being a boy. I guess we'll see come Friday morning!

3 Year Stats Are...

Weight : 35lbs : 75%
Height : 39" : 98%

Holy Cow!!! As you all can see, I have one long, heavy kid. My back is begging and pleading ya'll to pray with me, "Lord, PLLLEEEAAAASSSEEEE allow Noah to begin walking as soon as you possibly can." Thanks! :)

April 30, 2010

Friday, April 30th marked Noah's actual 3rd birthday. Last year I started a tradition of taking Noah's picture first thing when he wakes up on his birthday. Ater a brief photo session of the birthday boy with his morning bedhead, we headed to the kitchen where I had intended to make pancakes in the shape of #3's. I soon realized that the night before, in a pregnancy moment, I drank the last of our milk (something I don't ever drink when I'm not pregnant.) So we loaded up and headed to McDonald's to pick up some pancakes. Jamie decided to take half the day off so we could spend the afternoon together and that's exactly what we did! We went to Spring Park with my mom and had a picnic lunch, played on the playground, and fed the ducks bread. I think Noah's favorite part were the ducks... I'm pretty sure he would have dove in the water after the ducks if I would have let him. We spent the rest of the afternoon at my parent's house with my parent's, Lindsay, and Derrick, where my parents grilled steaks for us. We had a fun day with family! I honestly can't believe 3 years have gone by since Noah entered our lives!