Love me some Luke!
The R & E Times
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Luke's 3-month Photoshoot
Yes, I realize this is about 6 months after the fact, but I just came across Luke's 3-month photo shoot (pictures taken by my SIL Brittany, who is amazing!).
Love me some Luke!
Love me some Luke!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Breast Pump Saga
We interrupt this monthly "Luke's First Year" post series with the following story....
Before Luke was born, I was looking through my insurance pamphlet. A note about breast pumps caught my eye. "Breast pumps will be covered 100% under the new health care reforms," it read. Too good to be true, right? Those things are really expensive, like $300. I called the Aetna customer service number to get the details.
"Oh it's very easy," the associate said. "Just send in your receipt after you buy the pump and it will be reimbursed 100%. Just make sure it isn't electric grade."
"So, I won't have to pay anything out of pocket, right?"
"Nope, just send in the receipt and we will reimburse you."
Reassured by this response, I bought a very nice Medela breast pump (non-electric grade) at my pediatrician's office a couple of days after Luke was born. A few weeks later I submitted the receipt and forgot about it.
About a month later I remembered that I hadn't heard anything from Aetna. I called in and asked about it...
"It looks like we forgot to process this reimbursement (emphasis added)" the agent said. "We'll get it out to you next week."
Two weeks go by. Still nothing. I call back.
"Oh, it looks like we can't process this because the pediatrician's tax information is on one page, but not the other," another agent responded.
Right. I drive to my pediatrician's office and get another copy of all the information with the tax code on all the pages. I try to fax in the corrected claim, but Aetna's fax is broken for several days. In the end, I just snail mail it in.
Another two weeks go by. I call the office.
"The claim went through [yay!]. We are going to cut you a check for $30," the agent said.
"$30? That barely covers the tax on the pump. I thought you said you would cover 100%."
"No. It's 100% of the negotiated charge with the pediatrician's office. You have to get them to reimburse you the rest of the money."
This morning, I go to the pediatrician's office and explain everything up to this point.
"Oh yes. You signed a waiver saying that you were responsible for any difference between the negotiated charge and the cost of the breast pump," the assistant said.
"I don't remember signing anything like that. Can I see the waiver and where I signed?"
.... Twenty minutes go by as I sit in the office...
She returns. "Um, we're going to have to call you back."
Stay tuned for next installment....
The funny thing is that I heard a story recently on NPR about how insurance companies are increasing premiums quite a bit because of the reforms. Breast pumps reimbursements were specifically mentioned in the report and how they are SO EASY to get reimbursed for. Yeah...
[Note: The frustration with this actually makes me incredibly grateful that all three of us are healthy and we only have to deal with insurance on a very limited basis. But still.]
Before Luke was born, I was looking through my insurance pamphlet. A note about breast pumps caught my eye. "Breast pumps will be covered 100% under the new health care reforms," it read. Too good to be true, right? Those things are really expensive, like $300. I called the Aetna customer service number to get the details.
"Oh it's very easy," the associate said. "Just send in your receipt after you buy the pump and it will be reimbursed 100%. Just make sure it isn't electric grade."
"So, I won't have to pay anything out of pocket, right?"
"Nope, just send in the receipt and we will reimburse you."
Reassured by this response, I bought a very nice Medela breast pump (non-electric grade) at my pediatrician's office a couple of days after Luke was born. A few weeks later I submitted the receipt and forgot about it.
About a month later I remembered that I hadn't heard anything from Aetna. I called in and asked about it...
"It looks like we forgot to process this reimbursement (emphasis added)" the agent said. "We'll get it out to you next week."
Two weeks go by. Still nothing. I call back.
"Oh, it looks like we can't process this because the pediatrician's tax information is on one page, but not the other," another agent responded.
Right. I drive to my pediatrician's office and get another copy of all the information with the tax code on all the pages. I try to fax in the corrected claim, but Aetna's fax is broken for several days. In the end, I just snail mail it in.
Another two weeks go by. I call the office.
"The claim went through [yay!]. We are going to cut you a check for $30," the agent said.
"$30? That barely covers the tax on the pump. I thought you said you would cover 100%."
"No. It's 100% of the negotiated charge with the pediatrician's office. You have to get them to reimburse you the rest of the money."
This morning, I go to the pediatrician's office and explain everything up to this point.
"Oh yes. You signed a waiver saying that you were responsible for any difference between the negotiated charge and the cost of the breast pump," the assistant said.
"I don't remember signing anything like that. Can I see the waiver and where I signed?"
.... Twenty minutes go by as I sit in the office...
She returns. "Um, we're going to have to call you back."
Stay tuned for next installment....
The funny thing is that I heard a story recently on NPR about how insurance companies are increasing premiums quite a bit because of the reforms. Breast pumps reimbursements were specifically mentioned in the report and how they are SO EASY to get reimbursed for. Yeah...
[Note: The frustration with this actually makes me incredibly grateful that all three of us are healthy and we only have to deal with insurance on a very limited basis. But still.]
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Three Months!
Luke turned three months old last week! Time flies with a little one in the house :)
Some fun things happened this month -- Little man rolled over from tummy to back three days in a row leading up to his three-month mark, but has not felt the need to do so since then. He smiles and laughs all the time now (makes having a baby much more fun!).
Also at three months...
Luke Likes:
Luke Doesn't Like:
Some fun things happened this month -- Little man rolled over from tummy to back three days in a row leading up to his three-month mark, but has not felt the need to do so since then. He smiles and laughs all the time now (makes having a baby much more fun!).
Also at three months...
Luke Likes:
- Bathtime!
- Being held
- Looking at pictures (thanks for all the Christmas cards!) and the mirror
- Putting his hands.... and everything else... in his mouth
- Pulling mom's hair and playing with dad's arm hair
- Trying VERY hard, but alas, unsuccessfully to roll from back to tummy
- Seeing new faces and giving big smiles to everyone
- Southern accents
- When dad "eats" his tummy (I suppose I didn't need to put quotation marks around that unless you really thought that Richard eats Luke's tummy)
- Skyping with family (most of the time)
- When dad gets home from work
- Going to the library and reading library books
Luke Doesn't Like:
- His carseat
- His acid reflux medicine -- although he's getting better!
- Taking naps anywhere but his swing
- Not being held
- Tummy time, after about 2 minutes
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Two months!
Sorry, we're a bit behind schedule here in the Peterson household, but Luke turned two months old on Christmas Eve!
At his two month appointment, we found out that Luke is our short chubby boy with a big head. He weighed in at 11 lbs 14 oz (50th percentile), 22 inches long (10th percentile) with a 16-inch head circumference (90th percentile, and obviously a sign that we have a genius on our hands with a huge brain). Luke's cousin was born last week and at birth was the same length that Luke was at two months! He also got some vaccinations at the appointment, which was quite traumatic (mostly for me, he pretty much just went to sleep right after he got pricked).
Here are some fun things about Luke at 2 months (and... a couple weeks):
- The boy has found his hands! He can often be found "scheming" as Richard calls it. He rubs his hands together and looks off in the distance with a shifty look. I have to get a video of it -- it is so funny!
- His nighttime sleep schedule is a bit erratic, which I suppose is normal for this age. Some (very sad) nights, he won't go more than 2.5-3 hours between feedings, but last night he slept for 8 hours! Bless you, child. I hope that trend continues, as his mom his much more fun with a full night's rest than when she is sleep deprived.
- Luke is a total daddy's boy. He always greets Richard with a huge smile when he gets home from work and won't take his eyes of him for most of the night.
- And of course, the question on everyone's lips... how's his poop coming along? Glad you asked! He is pooping more regularly now, going once every day or so. Way to go, L!
Love you, Lukey boy!
At his two month appointment, we found out that Luke is our short chubby boy with a big head. He weighed in at 11 lbs 14 oz (50th percentile), 22 inches long (10th percentile) with a 16-inch head circumference (90th percentile, and obviously a sign that we have a genius on our hands with a huge brain). Luke's cousin was born last week and at birth was the same length that Luke was at two months! He also got some vaccinations at the appointment, which was quite traumatic (mostly for me, he pretty much just went to sleep right after he got pricked).
Here are some fun things about Luke at 2 months (and... a couple weeks):
- The boy has found his hands! He can often be found "scheming" as Richard calls it. He rubs his hands together and looks off in the distance with a shifty look. I have to get a video of it -- it is so funny!
- His nighttime sleep schedule is a bit erratic, which I suppose is normal for this age. Some (very sad) nights, he won't go more than 2.5-3 hours between feedings, but last night he slept for 8 hours! Bless you, child. I hope that trend continues, as his mom his much more fun with a full night's rest than when she is sleep deprived.
- Luke is a total daddy's boy. He always greets Richard with a huge smile when he gets home from work and won't take his eyes of him for most of the night.
- And of course, the question on everyone's lips... how's his poop coming along? Glad you asked! He is pooping more regularly now, going once every day or so. Way to go, L!
Love you, Lukey boy!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
One Month
Luke is one month old today! Even in the last week or so, I've noticed huge changes in him -- he's much more aware of his surroundings and as my sister put it, "more of a baby and less of a newborn." Most of the the time he is a happy baby, and really only cries if he has a good reason to.
Here are a few things that I don't want to forget about Luke at 1 month:
*He's grown out of all of his newborn onesies and is into the 0-3 months clothes.
*He is doing a pretty good job with his sleeping schedule -- he sleeps in 4-hour stretches at night, and usually goes right back to sleep after eating. During the day, he eats every 2.5-3 hours.
*Luke LOVES music (both when we sing to him and when have music playing) and we regularly have dance parties. His favorite song to dance to is, "Life's A Happy Song" from The Muppets soundtrack. Also, white noise will almost always calm him down immediately if he's fussy. I'm the same way -- I've always needed some sort of white noise to fall asleep too, so we have the white noise sound machine run all night long.
*He is learning to like bath time. The first few times we gave him a bath, he screamed the whole time (although he loves when we towel him off after, especially when we use the great towel that Kaylyn made him). Last night though, he was happy for pretty much the whole bath and just stared at himself in the mirror the whole time. Huzzah!
*He does not like to poop -- in fact, he recently had a 5-day stretch with no poops. Our pediatrician said it's okay as long as he is gaining weight and having lots of wet diapers, so we aren't too worried. But we are not going through our baby wipes nearly as fast as we thought we would!
*We like to play the "Hi" game with him, where we hold him close to our face and repeat the word "Hi" (it's not a very complicated game). He watches us very intently and tries to repeat it back to us (I think?). A few times, he's made the "I" vowel sound, although I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or not.
We love our Lukey and are excited to see what changes the next month will bring!
Here are a few things that I don't want to forget about Luke at 1 month:
*He's grown out of all of his newborn onesies and is into the 0-3 months clothes.
*He is doing a pretty good job with his sleeping schedule -- he sleeps in 4-hour stretches at night, and usually goes right back to sleep after eating. During the day, he eats every 2.5-3 hours.
*Luke LOVES music (both when we sing to him and when have music playing) and we regularly have dance parties. His favorite song to dance to is, "Life's A Happy Song" from The Muppets soundtrack. Also, white noise will almost always calm him down immediately if he's fussy. I'm the same way -- I've always needed some sort of white noise to fall asleep too, so we have the white noise sound machine run all night long.
*He is learning to like bath time. The first few times we gave him a bath, he screamed the whole time (although he loves when we towel him off after, especially when we use the great towel that Kaylyn made him). Last night though, he was happy for pretty much the whole bath and just stared at himself in the mirror the whole time. Huzzah!
*He does not like to poop -- in fact, he recently had a 5-day stretch with no poops. Our pediatrician said it's okay as long as he is gaining weight and having lots of wet diapers, so we aren't too worried. But we are not going through our baby wipes nearly as fast as we thought we would!
*We like to play the "Hi" game with him, where we hold him close to our face and repeat the word "Hi" (it's not a very complicated game). He watches us very intently and tries to repeat it back to us (I think?). A few times, he's made the "I" vowel sound, although I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or not.
We love our Lukey and are excited to see what changes the next month will bring!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Luke is Here! Part II
For Part I of the story, click [here]
I was so comfortable with the epidural that I just relaxed for about 3-4 hours and let my body get ready to push. Around 5 pm, my doctor came in and broke my water and I started pushing at around 5:30. Pushing actually was not hard or painful at all (because of the epidural, obviously), which was interesting as that was the part that I was most concerned about. I pushed for about 45 minutes, and after getting an episiotomy (ouch!), Luke came gushing out! He started crying immediately which was the most beautiful sound in the world.
We cuddled with him for a couple of hours and then moved to a recovery room where we stayed for the next couple of days. The rest of the stay was mostly a blur of cuddling, sleeping, trying to learn breastfeeding and eating gross hospital food. One funny thing: I was sleeping when the birth certificate people came by to get Luke's information. The woman asked me for his first name, to which in my groggy state answered, "Luke, L-U-C-K." The woman looked at me like I was crazy, and I couldn't figure out why. Richard quickly chimed in, "L-U-K-E, not L-U-C-K." Good thing he was there, otherwise our child would be Luck Peterson.
We came home Friday night and since then we've had our ups and downs, but we're getting the hang of it! He already looks different than when he was born just a couple of weeks ago. We love our little guy so much!
Here are some pictures that I've taken on my phone (I'm so bad at taking high quality photos on our real camera):
I was so comfortable with the epidural that I just relaxed for about 3-4 hours and let my body get ready to push. Around 5 pm, my doctor came in and broke my water and I started pushing at around 5:30. Pushing actually was not hard or painful at all (because of the epidural, obviously), which was interesting as that was the part that I was most concerned about. I pushed for about 45 minutes, and after getting an episiotomy (ouch!), Luke came gushing out! He started crying immediately which was the most beautiful sound in the world.
We cuddled with him for a couple of hours and then moved to a recovery room where we stayed for the next couple of days. The rest of the stay was mostly a blur of cuddling, sleeping, trying to learn breastfeeding and eating gross hospital food. One funny thing: I was sleeping when the birth certificate people came by to get Luke's information. The woman asked me for his first name, to which in my groggy state answered, "Luke, L-U-C-K." The woman looked at me like I was crazy, and I couldn't figure out why. Richard quickly chimed in, "L-U-K-E, not L-U-C-K." Good thing he was there, otherwise our child would be Luck Peterson.
We came home Friday night and since then we've had our ups and downs, but we're getting the hang of it! He already looks different than when he was born just a couple of weeks ago. We love our little guy so much!
Here are some pictures that I've taken on my phone (I'm so bad at taking high quality photos on our real camera):
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