The following experience is solely based on my own account with my designated hospital. I am writing this to inform first time parents of what they can expect and how they may avoid an experience like mine.
I never knew such joy and love could exist with my newborn baby boy. I never imagined loving a little human being so much. I am truly grateful to my God for blessing our family and I will never take it for granted. I couldn’t imagine my life without him and I love him so much.
I also never knew that the experience throughout it all would be quite the opposite feeling. My water broke at 2:00AM and we were headed on our way to the hospital. I was in labor for almost 20 hours before I delivered my baby boy within 40 minutes. He was a healthy, full-term baby weighing at 7lbs and 8oz. The NICU was there to make sure he was crying when he was delivered because he had a bowel movement while I was in labor. Thankfully, everything went well and we were expected to leave the hospital in 24 hours. We were wheeled into the postpartum recovery room and had two nurses tend to us. Three hours in and one of the nurses voiced their concern for my baby’s body temperature. It was 97 and they needed it at 97.5 and called for the doctor. My husband and I looked at each other with such worry that we didn’t even know what to think. The doctor came in and told us that they will need to take him into the NICU to raise his temperature and run some tests. They also told us that because his temperature was low, he couldn’t eat and that made his blood sugar low so that was another reason to take him into the NICU. My baby wasn’t even a day old yet and they’re taking him from me! I cried because I didn’t know what to do so I sent my husband with them to protect our child. The next time I saw my baby boy, he had wires all over him and they put an IV in his hand. They did this to my baby because his temperature was low and would rather not just put him under a heater to bring his body temperature up. I couldn’t stop crying because I couldn’t be with my baby and he was already in pain that I couldn’t shelter him from. Our baby was a healthy, full term baby and yet, they took him to the NICU. The NICU was mainly for babies that were preemies. Our baby was the only full term baby there, I didn’t understand it.
The NICU experience was a horrible nightmare. They pricked his feet every hour to check his blood sugar and it made both of his feet turn purple after 2 days. They also did it when he slept so he would wake up screaming. The IV in his hand kept scratching his face and I felt so helpless. They had fluids running through his IV every 3 hours, I wondered if his body could withstand it. We couldn’t leave for two more days because the lab tests wouldn’t come back until then. Thankfully, I wasn’t in too much pain and my husband was able to wheel me back and forth from the recovery room to my baby’s NICU room. Everything that was normal was no longer normal and it seemed like the hospital staff was finding every excuse to keep my baby there. After two very long days in the hospital, all the tests came back negative. We were finally able to go home but not without repercussions. For weeks at home, my baby would wake up crying and screaming, just like he did when they would prick his feet when he was sleeping at the hospital. The experience for me was horrifying, I forgot that it was traumatizing for him as well barely being a few days old. I was just so glad to have him home where I could protect him.
Just when I thought it was all over, the bills started coming from the hospital. It wasn’t too bad at first, it was about $1,500 after insurance which I expected and I thought that was the end of it. A few weeks later, I received another bill from the hospital for my recovery room stay and it totaled $19,000 after insurance! There was no way so we re-submitted to my insurance to review and they eventually paid $14,000 leaving us with $5,000 – which was still way more than we anticipated so we paid that and thought it was all done. Not even a week later, we received a bill for my baby! It was for his NICU room charges and that total $21,000! We spoke to insurance and they paid $16,000 of it leaving us with $5,000 to pay. It was insane! We looked at the total breakdown of all the bills and it was the rooms that costs the most! They were 90% of the bill! It was no wonder they wanted to keep us and baby there. We paid more than $10,000 out of our own pockets and I have no more hope in the medical systems.
I write this to all first time parents to challenge what the doctors at the hospitals tell you. Please choose a pediatrician before you go into labor because they will help give you a second opinion at the hospital – they can be trusted. I don’t want anyone to go through what I did – physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.
Yours Truly,
Melissa Lee