In case anyone was wondering, the total cost for Veronica's stay in the NICU was over a million dollars. ( $1, 077, 585 to be exact). I had no idea it would cost that much. Thankfully, from what I can tell, our insurance is covering all of it. I can't say I ever really followed the national health care debate but I can't imagine what this NICU experience would have been like had we not had health insurance. And I suddenly have a deeper appreciation for having a job which provides decent insurance.
In other news, we had a visit this week from our county's early intervention folks. They stayed for a few hours, observing and asking questions. The good news is that Veronica was assessed to be functioning at the newborn to 1 month age level, which of course is right there with her adjusted age. Because of Veronica's extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and the high probability of a developmental delay of some sort, she automatically qualifies for early intervention services. So for now, the plan is for a physical or occupational therapist to come to our home once a month to check in and assess how Veronica is developing. At any point additional services can be added.
Something that surprised me during the visit was that I was brought to tears when I was asked to share Veronica's birth story. I was not expecting this after all of these months and being so happy to have her home. It was just a reminder of how traumatic that day was. I often wonder how I will feel on Veronica's birthday every year. For our other children, their birthdays are filled with joy and we frequently look at baby pictures or videos of them when they were just born. Will it be the same for Veronica? I am already planning what we will do on August 15, (the anniversary of her coming home); but how will we celebrate April 18th, one of the most traumatic days of our lives? It makes me sad that I will always remember her birthday in that way. But on the other hand, I suppose we will just have to look at that day and remember how far she has come, which is something we do everyday anyway.
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| Our milllion dollar baby. |
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| Josephine holidng Veronica, take 1. |
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| Josephine holding Veronica, take 2. |
It was hard to deal with when my twins' birthday rolled around. It's bittersweet because I was still traumatized but at the same time so joyous. It was very strange for me. Josephine is so cute holding Veronica. She's holding her nice and tight in the second picture. So cute!
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