How it all came to be....

About a week after Sydney was born (about May 18th), I was sitting in rounds with the doctors/nurses/dietician/etc when one of the doctors asked the case worker what we were doing about getting Sydney transported back to Texas.  She looked up and said, "Nothing."  He asked me if that was something I was intersted in.  I told him that I definately was, but only if the insurance company would pay for it.  The case worker, Maryann, said that it was a slim to none chance of the insurance company agreeing.    Jeff and I talked about it and we saw pluses and minuses on both sides.  Since it was going to be a "NO" from the insurance company, I put it on the back burner in my mind.  I needed to concentrate on her here and now in Utah.

Another week went by and I got a call from Laura who worked as a contract worker for our insurance company.  She is a NICU nurse and basically looks at all the charges the hospital submits along with Sydney's chart and determines if the charges fit the care that Sydney needs.  She is also the insured's advocate.  I had no idea she existed, that the job existed, etc. until about May 25th when she called.  She asked me if transport back to Texas was something I wanted.  I told her "YES!"  We talked a bit about the difficulties/stress/etc of going through this whole experience without your husband there to support you.  I do have my brother, his wife, and their kids as a sounding board/distraction, but it was not the same thing as a husband. (I love you Aaron, Rebecca, Matthew, Josh, Daniel, Sarah, and Noah!!!!)  I told her that Sydney was an IVF baby - our 3rd attempt - she was frozen for 4 years - we have been "trying" for 11 years and married for 14 years - her Dad needs to be able to enjoy her as well and how difficult/stressful it has been on him not to be there for her.

On Friday (May 28th)  Laura called again.  This time she had a little bit different tune .... She told us that the insurance company was doing a cost analysis on this situation.  McKay-Dee was an out-of-network hospital for them, which means that they do not have a contract with them that limits the amount they charge for services. Since it was an emergency for me to go to the hospital, I would be charged my in-network deductible. (My bill for the 14 day stay was about $45,000 and Sydney's stay (3weeks 3 days) was $145,000.)  What the insurance company was looking at was how much they estimated Sydney to be in the hospital, how much the out-of-network was going to charge them, how much the in-network hospital would charge them, and how much the transport cost.  She said that because of the holiday, we probably wouldn't hear back from them until Tuesday at the earliest.

I was a nervous wreck all day Tuesday (June 1st).  I just sent Jeff back home the day before and I was back to being "a single parent" again.  Late Tuesday I got a call from Laura.  I had been talking to Jeff about everything when she called.  I don't think I have ever hung up on Jeff as fast as I did right then!  She asked me how I was doing - I said, "Good."  She then said, "Well, you will be doing even better when I tell you my news..."  I started crying!  We were going HOME!!!  I thanked her for all she did to pull off this miracle!

Wednesday (June 2nd) was a day of coordination.  I went to rounds again that day and everyone was excited and amazed!  What needed to happen now???  They needed to call the new hospital, Medical City, and make sure that they had a bed available for Sydney.  They needed to find a physician who would accept Sydney.  They needed to see when the air ambulance team would be available for transport.  A final stamp of approval needed to come from the insurance company once everything was in place.  The other question was about me, how was I going to get to Dallas?  Would the company let me fly with my daughter or was I going to need to book a flight?  If I had to fly by myself, I had planned on not making plans until I made sure that Sydney was in Dallas at the hospital.  The last thing I needed was to get to Dallas and find out that she never made it out of Ogden!  Luckily we didn't have to worry about that.  The air ambulance team would allow one extra passenger to ride along.  With all this beauracracy, I expected to have to wait another week till I could come home, and pray that Sydney would still be "stable" enough to transport....you can never tell what these little NICU babies might do - one day they are fine and off all breathing help, and the next they have a vent tube down their throat. (but who can blame them? they are still suppose to be cooking!)

You can imagine my shock when Wednesday evening I got another call from Laura telling me to pack my bags - we were leaving on Thursday!  (time to be determined)  I shoveled my dinner down, ran downstairs and started evaluating.  After 9 1/2 weeks here I had a lot of stuff!  The curtains I was working on when I went into pre-term labor were still not finished...I had figured that if I had hurried and finished them, then I wouldn't be going home, but if I still needed to work on them then I would have a betther chance of going home! (Murphy's law or rather Jill's law it seems!)

Rebecca and I went up to see Sydney.  Rebecca got some last snuggles in.

I decided to stay up all night and finish the curtains - I was sooo excited about everything I just knew that there was no way I would be able to sleep!  After I got done packing, straighting out everything, cleaning the bathroom, etc.  I was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!  Josh's curtains are now in the stack of stuff that my parents will bring home.  I promise to finish them first thing and mail them back up to you, Rebecca!!!!

What a trip!