Numbers

Numbers numbers, everywhere this week.

Parker had his 4 month appointment on Thursday, which was great.  All is as it should be-- 27 inches long and 16 lbs 4 oz.  That puts him in the 95+ percentile for length and the 60th percentile for weight.  Big boy!!  He's actually BIGGER than Jeremiah was at four months-- half an inch longer and TWO POUNDS heavier.  NICU baby?  What????

Speaking of...  so many things have come to light this week regarding Parker's hospital stay.  As we start to sift through all the paperwork and specialist reports from Parker's doctors, all kinds of news is emerging.  For instance, I didn't know until I read his discharge summary that the cord was wrapped around his neck when he was born (didn't make one bit of difference as I never went into labor).  Nor did I know that Parker's veins failed the night after he came off ECMO and now his jugular is in several pieces.  There are many things in his records that I either a) didn't know, b) knew but forgot, or c) didn't fully understand until now.  All of them are really rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but fascinating nonetheless.  Reading the narrative of his stay makes me physically sick to my stomach.  It's easy for me to forget how much that little booger went through.  How much we ALL went through, I guess. 

The most interesting piece of information popped up on his swallow study paperwork-- it was the first time I ever saw the severity of his hernia quantified.  We heard "significant" and "severe" throughout pregnancy, and on the day of his surgery it was "worse than expected."  Turns out that Parker had only 25% of his diaphragm.  I was floored.  We always thought eh-- maybe half at the worst.  For him to be missing three-quarters of it and to have come out this well on the other side is nothing short of astounding.  Look at this picture.

He had ONE QUARTER of that.  (Am I weird because anatomy graphics make me weepy?  Probably.  I know I am mental when, whilst enjoying one of my favorite web pages EVER, I saw this and my first thought was, not "Dear heavenly Lord help us!" but, "Oh look!  A CDH cake!"  Get a grip, Abs.)

In other news-

The final tally for the 90 days we were there came to $850,000 *excuse me while I vomit on my shoes*.  Given the amount of extra testing and specialist visits we will be making during this first year, not to mention the Synagis shots that start next month, it is entirely possible that we will far surpass the million mark in our first year.

It's funny, because our deductible rolled over July 1st, right smack dab in the middle of our stay, and I got our first bill that we have to pay any part of today.  I actually had the nerve to be upset about having to pay it, and then I realized that Cigna has paid 2500 times more than that and I moved on right quick.  Smooches, insurance company!!  Seriously, they have been an absolute dream during this whole debacle.  I do not often have pleasant things to say about insurance companies, but throughout my pregnancy (another $60k) and Parker's ordeals, they have been wonderful. 
I could take this opportunity to go off on a tangent about healthcare, but instead I will just say

BEST ALMOST MILLION DOLLARS EVER.