House of Swank

Month Seven

Dear Hedgehog,

Today you are seven months old.

This last month has been a relatively uneventful one in terms of your development and growth.  I'd say we're in the calm before the storm, although there's not much calm about you at the moment.  You are getting so close to so many things:

• You roll like crazy, but can't quite get up on your hands and knees to start crawling
• You can sit on your own for a good amount of time, but when you're done sitting you just fall backwards rather than executing a proper exit from the sit
• You are oh so very close to having teeth.  The gums have broken for the first one to arrive, although the tooth is still below the gumline, it is on its way

You still weigh the same as you did last month (well, did as of last Thursday, I think you may have put on a few ounces in the meantime), but you have grown around an inch since that time.  It sure seems like our early predictions are going to come true and you will be a long, lean one like your daddy.

We took you to Vegas a couple of weeks ago for your first Fantasy Football draft.  We were staying with your Grandma and Grandpa of Swank in a timeshare condo of theirs.  The plan was that they would babysit you while your Dad and I got to go experience Vegas as it was meant to be experienced.  Of course, you chose that weekend to suffer from some MAJOR separation anxiety, so we couldn't so much as walk into the next room if the other one wasn't present.  We were able to adapt quite well, as apparently the law in Las Vegas is that infants are allowed in bars as long as they are not physically at the bar.  I'm not sure if that's REALLY the law, or if that's what the sports bar claimed the law was so that we'd watch our NFL opening Sunday games there, but it worked for me.  I don't know that you've ever slept so hard in your life as you did during those opening games.  In a bar full of football fans who would yell and scream when the really big plays went down.  I'm not sure if this means you are so comfortable with sports that you can relax in their presence (your second best naps being bottom of the ninth inning rallies at baseball games) or if you are so incredibly bored you can't stand to keep your eyes open.  For your sake I hope it's the first one.

We also took you to Circus, Circus for what I referred to as "Baby Gambling."  You might not be able to play the slots, but at least you can win prizes.  You won two.  One your dad won for you at a game called "Touchdown Football" that entailed knocking a beach ball off an air stream.  The second prize you won for being cute at one of the race games.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the months ahead with you.  You are oh so very close to oh so many exciting things in your development, and I can't wait for you to put them all together.

Love,

Mama

Months 5 and 6

Dear Hedgehog:

I apologize for the delay in your monthly letters, but there is something you need to realize about the routine of your year:

1. Your father is a school teacher
2. You live in the Pacific Northwest

This means that once summer starts we hit the ground running, filling our days with fun and activity, and don't let up until fall descends upon us once again.  We don't have time for things like blogging, we're too busy doing stuff.

If this year is any indication, you'll take to this routine just fine.  You've now been to 9 different states (in order: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois), with two more to be added in the next week (Utah and Nevada).  If we were to continue traveling at this rate (unlikely, unless we win the lottery) you will make it to all fifty states before the age of three.  If we were to start traveling at such a brisk pace you would take it all in stride.  You are an excellent traveler, and when frustrations arise it's usually pretty easy to appease you.  One important lesson we've learned through all this:  Daddy excites you and makes you want to play.  Mama calms you.  Which is why I get to be the one in the back seat when you're frustrated during a car trip.

Part of what makes you a great traveler is that you are such an undeniable flirt.  When you catch someone's eye you can't help but smile at them.  It sure does make having you out in public a pleasure.  Although it is a bit frustrating when you are upset as can be in the car, but as soon as we take you into a store you just turn on the charm.  Although I have used this to my advantage as well.  You're rolling a LOT now.  Distance rolling.  And sometimes you bonk your head, most likely on your Great Great Uncle Charles' chair.  Best way to get you to stop complaining?  Get you to see yourself in the mirror above the fireplace.

You've also started eating in the last couple of months.  It took a while for you to get into the idea, but now that you know what's going on you love it.  You generally want to help with the spoon of whatever it is you're eating or, when possible, feed yourself.  Your favorite foods thus far seem to be green beans and asparagus - proving that you are, indeed, your mother's son.  You're also working on your first teeth in earnest.  Once those cut through I'm sure the adventures in food will increase exponentially.

In all of your developing and exploring and learning one of the  most magical things to watch has been your friendship with Samson as it develops.  I sort of figured that Samson would go into hiding once you showed up in the house (which he did) and then never come out again.  He's not a cat who likes chaos.  However, quite the opposite has happened, as you and he have become close friends.  When you are playing on the floor he will frequently come up to you to give you the opportunity to pet him.  And he doesn't seem to mind that your "petting" often involves grabbing.  I keep a close eye on you to, but he really is gentle with you.  And your face just LIGHTS UP when he enters the room.  Not quite as broad as for me or your Daddy, but he is definitely high on your list.

But now summer is over, and we've got to get back into the routine of daily life.

Love,

Mama

A Different Perspective

The more I read about the health care debate the more my blood boils and I've just got to get this out there before my blood pressure goes through the roof.

Here's my basic opinion:  The health and welfare of me and my loved ones (And my loved ones loved ones.  And their loved ones.  And any other loved ones you might want to put onto the list) should NOT be determined by a profit motive.  Because then the decisions are going to be made based on what will earn the company money rather than what will help maintain your health and well-being.

Sweetie and I have insurance.  Damn good insurance.  When we moved to the 'couv we signed up for the Cadillac of insurance plans available to us.  We knew we'd be working on the hedgehog, and wanted to make sure we were covered for that.  We pay to get the Cadillac.  We consider it money well spent.

Not many people know this, but the Hedgehog is actually Hedgehog v3.0.  I suffered two miscarriages prior to this pregnancy.  That's part of the reason we signed up for the Cadillac of insurance plans, because we didn't know what type of care would be required in order to keep the Hedgehog in there for the duration.

When we arrived in Vancouver I went through tests.  Usually they don't want to start with the tests until you've suffered three miscarriages, but because I am old (by pregnancy standards) they let me cut in line and start with the tests after two miscarriages.

Thanks to the tests (all covered by our insurance without question) we came up with two potential issues that could have been causing the problems, and a plan of attack for both of them.  One of the issues is potentially low progesterone levels.  This is an easy treatment, you just take progesterone supplements from the moment you discover you are pregnant through the end of your first trimester.  (The other issue is not treated quite so easily as it requires a daily injection of blood thinners, but that's another story for another day).

So, I get myself knocked up with the Hedgehog and I get a prescription called in for the progesterone.  When I go to pick it up at the pharmacy I'm told that insurance isn't covering it at this time, that there's some paperwork that needs to be completed by my doctor's office before insurance will foot the bill.  Which I don't have a huge issue with, except it's Friday afternoon and the Doctor is gone for the weekend and so they won't be able to get the paperwork completed until Monday morning.  

And I'm sorry, but when you've been through two miscarriages and the drug that could prevent your third miscarriage is sitting on the other side of the pharmacist's counter from you but they won't let you have it for three days because a piece of paper needs to be filled out... yeah, that doesn't quite work.  So I called the insurance company to ask "Hey, if I pay out of pocket for the first batch of the drug will you reimburse me for it later, once we get all this paperwork sorted out?"

The answer was not only a resounding "NO" but "Don't bother with the paperwork, we will NEVER cover that drug for you.  Because it is a fertility drug."

The drug costs $400/month.  Money we don't necessarily have sitting around - in part because we are paying for the Cadillac of insurance plans.  And my insurance company doesn't want to pay for this drug because they won't pay for fertility treatments.  Except I'm not having fertility treatments.  Know why I'm not having fertility treatments?  Because I'm already knocked up.  I even have the test results (both at home and at the doctor's office) to prove it.

Want to give a pregnant woman a nervous breakdown? Throw that scenario in front of her.  Thankfully I have a saint of a husband who knows when to step in and take over the reins AND knows how to deal with customer service.  And he basically fought his way through the system until he found a person who agreed to cover the drug.  No need for the paperwork from the doctor now, by the time you get to the pharmacy everything should be taken care of.

The kicker?  The labeled use of the drug is for regulation of the menstrual cycle.

So, to quickly review:  My VERY GOOD insurance policy did not want to cover a drug that is manufactured to help women regulate their menstrual flow, that my doctor had prescribed to help preserve my pregnancy because there are women out there who use it as a fertility drug and my insurance policy does not cover fertility treatments.  And the only reason they DID cover the drug was because my husband works well with customer service AND does not like it when his wife is in near hysterics, so he just plowed his way through the system until he got someone to agree to cover it. 

I'm sorry, but vulnerable people should not have to fight for things they are entitled to because someone tries to find a loophole to get out of their obligations.  And as long as the insurance companies are out there trying to make a profit for their stockholders that's what they're going to do as long as they are permitted to do so.  Because for every person like me who fights until she gets what's appropriate there are probably scads of other people who just acquiesce and just pay the $400/month.

If I won the lottery and had the financial ability to sign up everyone in the nation for my very good, non-governmental insurance plan the system would still be broken because they would be more interested in all the profits those new subscribers were interested in rather than helping provide us with medical care.

THAT is why I support health care reform, and why I think you should support it, too.