Insurance Jumble

For the past year or so, Paige and I have been self-insured because it saved us a lot of money. Jason gets insurance through his employer, but it was very expensive to add Paige and me. With Eli coming soon, we had to reevaluate our insurance situation. We can only imagine that personal insurance premiums for Eli will be through the roof, if he is even insurable at all. We knew that open enrollment for Jason's employer was in the fall sometime, so when we asked, we were relieved to find out it was November. Our plan was to re-enroll Paige and me into his insurance and add Eli when he is born. This would give us the flat premium through his employer, and not the variable HIGH premium privately.

When we initially looked into adding us, his employer said they didn't think they could add me, because I have a previous medical condition (I'm already pregnant). Uh-oh! Now we were up a creek! We would have to pay BOTH premiums for a year until next November! No way could we afford that!

Jason called Blue Cross directly to see if this was the case. Come to find out, Paige and I were never actually dropped from his insurance! What? Yep! We have been double covered this entire time. What ended up happening was Jason submitted the paper work to drop us, but accounting never stopped paying the insurance company to officially drop us. Nothing has been pulled out of Jason's checks, so we have been double covered for free! Lucky mistake for us.

What does this mean? That I don't have to worry about my previous health condition! Woo-Hoo! Jason signed the paper work today to add Paige and me back onto his insurance. We are insured by his employer and will be able to add Eli when he is born.

Not only are we insured, but now I can submit all the paper work on all the deductables that I've already paid out this year. In theory, we should be repaid all that money back!

God is good.

A Broken Heart

There are many things that create a foundation. One of the foundational pieces of our life is our understanding of how God works. God is in control of all. Everything that happens, therefore, is orchestrated by God. God does things for his own glory. Therefore, anything that happens, anything that is, was intended to bring glory to God. Regardless of how terrible, unfair or just plain pointless something may look as you're facing it, its grand scheme value is in the glorification of God.

This is why we continue to live.

About a week after our 20 week ultrasound, I got a call from my doctor. He reported that because the baby was breech, they didn't get a good view of the heart. He referred me to Fresno Community, for a second ultrasound on the baby, using better equipment.

I went to Fresno Community on October 17th, for the second ultrasound. During the procedure, the tech got an echocardiogram which shows the way the blood is flowing through the heart. The tech and OB/GYN there concluded that there was a defect in the heart and thought it might be Truncus Arteriosus or Transposition of the Greater Arteries. They also found the baby has a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), or a hole in the heart. The VSD is a common finding with major heart defects. They referred me up to Children's Hospital Central CA (CHCC) for yet further clarification.

Our appointment at CHCC was November 11th. Jason had the day off, so he was able to go too. Our ultrasound tech is specifically trained in congenital heart defects, making him specially suited for this type of situation. He quickly concluded that our baby didn't have Truncus Arteriosis nor Transposition of the Greater Arteries. He spent over an hour taking measurements, capturing video and echocardiograms, all while taking the time to explain it to us step by step. He told us what he saw, then called in a cardiologist to verify his findings and share with us in more detail.

It turns out our little baby has a variation of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). HLHS is a very serious heart defect. Without a series of surgeries the baby will die in the first four months of life. More information on HLHS is found here.

Because of these recent findings, we have decided to learn the gender of the baby. We wanted to be able to put a name out there for people to be praying. It's a boy! His name is Eli Ryan.

Right now our little guy is completely safe inside the womb. Since I am doing all the oxygenation for him, he is in no danger. The complications begin as soon as he is born. He will most likely have open heart surgery in the first week of life, then another at about 2 months, and a third before his fourth birthday. Until then, I am being closely monitored by a new OB/GYN in Fresno. We also will have several more ultrasounds and consultations with the Pediatric Cardiologist and Surgeons at CHCC.

We will be sure to blog any updates we are given as soon as possible.

We also understand that we have a huge network of people who surround us in love and support. Please know that if we do need anything, we will be sure to let you know. For now, the thing we are asking for is prayer.

Prayer requests:

• That the mitral valve enlarges
• The inadequacies found in the arteries and valves further down the line open and develop

Praises and thanksgiving:

• That the defect was found before birth.
• That we live so close to a top notch Children's Hospital
• That God would choose us to see His glory fulfilled

To God be the Glory,
The Wedehase family

An old friend, redisovered

I got a Dirt Devil Broom Vac for Christmas last year and used it quite often then. It works great for quick sweeps of dirt, dog hair and dropped food from a toddler's lunch. For whatever reason, I stopped using it.

Thankfully I have rediscovered a new treasure in my house. Lately I have been having to sweep my kitchen daily. We are re-landscaping the backyard, so a LOT of dirt is being tracked in. Shelby, our large dog, has been sleeping in the kitchen at night because it's beginning to get cold again. Paige is now sitting in a booster chair instead of a highchair and tends to drop a lot of food.

All this dirt, dog hair, and food makes me sweep constantly. Or at least it feels like it. I'm at the point in my pregnancy that I don't bend so easily to pick things up, so that makes sweeping all that much more of a chore for me. Today, I busted out the Broom Vac again, and don't see myself going back to the broom for quick sweeps.

It really does a good job getting the small and larger stuff. It may take a little longer for it to actually suck up some food or larger items, but it's worth it to me! I don't have to bend over anymore! :) Now I only have to use the broom for more serious cleaning. The Broom Vac fills the void between those times, though.

Hit the ground running

There is nothing like coming home from a relaxing vacation to a tornado at home! We had a great time in Pismo. We did a whole lot of nothing, but were able to have a great time as a family of 3. I'll have to post some pictures of our vacation when we get our home computer up and running again.

Paige got to experience a lot of my favorite memories of Pismo from when I was a kid. She fed the ducks, played at the beach, went to the zoo, to the pumpkin patch, walked out on the pier, and even got her first scoop of ice cream from The Scoop. It was so much fun to pass on my traditions to my daughter.

On our way home from Pismo, we soldified plans for Grandma and Grandpa Salt to come for a weekend visit. They arrived on Wednesday evening and stayed until Monday. As soon as we got home from Pismo, the next 2 days were spent unpacking, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and getting ready for our guests. We were racing to get everything done!

Our visit with Grandma and Grandpa Salt was great. Paige didn't skip a beat with them. They actually stayed home with her on Thursday morning, while I was at a doctor's appointment. She was letting them know the routine and told them where to find everything. It's great now, because she's so honest, but I know I can only expect that for so long! Before long, she'll be tricking them into things that Mommy and Daddy "let" her do, but not really.

We really enjoyed our vacation and visit. I know I am looking forward to having a somewhat normal routine again, whatever that is! :)