Saturday, April 17, 2010

Feed Me!

So Nyx has been eating solids for a while now and it's going well. We tried that whole pureed food/rice cereal thing but it was a disaster. With every spoonful of goopy bland puree, Nyx exhibited an expression of pure loathing and hatred. Dave and I tasted that jarred grossness and realized it was disgusting. And we even bought that expensive organic stuff so it wasn't like it had been sitting on the shelf for ten years or something.

Dave and I were at a loss until we remembered reading about Baby Led Weaning/Baby Led Solids during our breastfeeding class. We did a little research and decided to just dive in head first. And you know what? Best decision we ever made.

With this method you basically skip all that nasty jarred goop and go straight to "people" food. Nyx's first food was fork mashed Russet potatoes. Within a few weeks, she was eating peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, avocados, carrots, pears, plums, steel cut oats, bananas and homemade apple sauce (no sugar.) Her first meat? Texas style ribs straight outta the crockpot. LOL. Kid loved 'em. She's fond of chicken too but hates pork. Lately she's developed a love for whole wheat pasta. Odd but there it is!

And, no, she has no teeth yet. But this child can gum with the best of 'em.

With Baby Led Solids, you encourage your baby to feed herself. She's 7 months old and eating straight off her tray or plate. Sure, she makes a mess but so what? It's all part of the learning process. Don't get me wrong. There are meals where she demands we finger feed her and that's okay too. I think she likes the interaction and gets some kind of power trip out of opening her mouth like a little bird and gesturing toward her food of choice. She does something similar with her sippy cup. She's getting better at picking it up herself but still needs a little help.

I guess this method isn't for everyone. I mean, you have to be okay with the sight of your baby gagging and be confident in your ability to help your baby if she chokes. We've been doing BLS for almost two months and we've had one choking incident and that was because she laughed while she had a piece of plum in her mouth. It was no biggie. She actually cleared it herself and just kept right on laughing.

What can I say? Nyx laughs in the face of danger.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Serenity NOW!

You know that old Seinfeld episode where George's dad, Frank (Jerry Stiller,) screams, "Serenity NOW" every time he's angry and his blood pressure is skyrocketing? Yeah. That's my new mantra.

The claims for Pumpkin's surgery are starting roll in so you can guess what kind of mood I've been in lately. First of all, I'm stunned by some of these charges. You'd think after racking up nearly half a million in medical bills between September and December of last year, I'd be used to these ridiculous and obscene amounts but no...not so much. The anesthesia used on Nyx--just the anesthesia and equipment, not the actual doctor--was $7300.

Hey, wanna know something else really funny? Our policy doesn't cover most of that anesthesia. Isn't that fantastic? Apparently they expected Pumpkin's surgeon to pull a Turk (Scrubs) and operate on her while she's under hypnosis. I mean, seriously, what the flying fuck.

So now I'm waiting for the bills to come so I can compare the billed charges to the insurance claims. Then I can figure out if it's a coding issue or if it's a policy thing. I'm hoping against all hope that it's just a coding problem. If not, we're already on the line for the 5K max for the out-of-pocket portion of our policy and then about 20K so far in not covered/denied charges.

And they still haven't processed any of the claims for her ICU stay (the last one was $125,000 for three-and-a-half days of room and board and meds,) step down stay, the emergency chest tube to reinflate her lungs, the multiple doctors who visited in the ICU and on the 15th floor, the medications, the operating room, the anesthesiologist and so on and so forth.

On top of all this poo, I'm buried in deadlines. I've been working until one or two in the morning. Nyx likes to wake up at six. Luckily she's shifted her last nursing session to midnight or one so once I get her popped off the boob she sleeps for four or five hours. It's exhausting but that's just life I guess.

I keep reminding myself this is just one season of my life. Giving up sleep to care for my sweet little Pumpkin, advance my career and bring in enough income to cover these outrageous medical bills is all worth it in the grand scheme of things.

And when that doesn't work I just throw my head back and scream, "Serenity NOW!"