In Valid Logic

Yesterday, I’d posted about my son’s birth the following Friday. One thing that really irked me about the experience was the hospital ruining the moment after my son was born.

Shortly after Josh was born I was in the nursery watching the nurse bathe him, one of the other nurses came in and said the front desk was asking me to come down to handle my deductible/copayment. Josh was born at 9:34pm and my receipt was timestamped 10:13pm. So when my son was 39 minutes old, they were already wanting their money.

I couldn’t believe it, and my family was standing there asking “where you going?”

When my first son was born, I don’t remember the hospital asking me to pay the whole time we were there. I think they just sent me the bill. If I did need to pay there, it wasn’t 30 mins after he was born, it would have been later at a insignificant time to where I wouldn’t even remember it.

Sure hospitals have been hurting for money, but they could be a little more sensitive. Gee, you just welcomed a new life into the world, your going to be there for 3 days… there is plenty of time in there to have me pay rather than right afterwards.

Last Friday, on July 10th, 2009, was pleased to welcome a new life into this world. My second son, Joshua David Robertson, was born at 9:34pm weighing 8lbs 5oz and 19.5″ long. He was originally due for July 22nd, though Trish had a c-section scheduled for Monday, July 13th (our last son was a c-section, it is hospital policy to always give c-sections after you’ve had one).

Friday night we were getting ready for dinner when Trish started feeling some strong contractions. She called her doctor who recommend we go in to hook her up to some monitors. Low and behold, she was at 7cm already and they were rushing to get her ready for the c-section before her water broke. It was kind of crazy as there were 4-5 nurses in the room getting everything hooked up and ready to go. All and all, it was 2 hours from when we were sitting at home and Josh was born.

Initially, Josh was on the observation table for the first 12 hours. He took a gulp of fluid on his way out, so they had to suction his stomach a couple of times and watch to make sure his lungs cleared up. Apparently, it is common with c-sections. He was ok by the next morning and was hanging out in the room with Trish from then on.

On top of that, he had a true knot in his cord. This is where he wiggled his way around and developed a knot in the cord. If he had been in there longer, or if they tried a normal delivery, it could have easily tightened and cut him off. He was very lucky.

Trish and Josh came home on Monday and we’ve been doing very well. He is adjusting well, Nick (our 1st son, 22 months old) is getting used to him and likes helping out. Josh is a pretty good sleeper, though still has his days and nights slightly off.

This time, taking advantage of some state programs for family leave, so taking a full 6 weeks off. So I’m now one week in, my inbox is overflowing, but been enjoying it so far. Have 5 weeks left, though I don’t think I’ll be able to make it much longer without doing some sort of dev work. I’ve already chimed in on a couple email threads that I couldn’t resist. Will definitely enjoy the remaining time.