March 2009 Archives

A friend of mine recently became unemployed and as a result he has lost his family health insurance. He wanted to buy the COBRA insurance through his company, but even with the government supplement that they were giving him, he just couldn't afford to pay the premiums. With his unemployment check, they will barely be able to get buy, but when he went to social services to apply, they said that he had too many assets because he owns a van, which by the way they need to get their family around town, and they are counting the value of the van, even though he didn't pay for it, someone at his church gave it to him and his family as a gift. In any case, he is still looking for a family health insurance policy, and although there is insurance agent marketing all over the place telling you that they have the best prices this insurance is still out of their range.

Last week his daughter became sick, and was running a fever and he was very concerned. He said he had to wait and see how she was before deciding to take her to the doctor's office, because he really couldn't afford it. His wife told me on the side, that he has been extremely depressed and frustrated and has been out looking for a job every day, trying to take care of his family. She said that they never used their health insurance that much, but it was nice to know that if they needed it, it was there for them. She said she could take anyone in the family to the doctor for only a $5 co pay and that was worth the peace of mind of being able to get them checked out and know that they were okay. She said when she called her doctor's office and told them that they didn't have insurance any more, they told her that she would have to pay cash at the time of the visit and that the office visit alone was $70.00. She says they don't have any savings left and she is worried that if John doesn't get a job soon, that they are going to go under.

I have just found out that I am pregnant and one of the first thoughts I had was how to turn our spare bedroom into a nursery. When you are having a baby there are many things to think about, after all just the items they will need during the first year of life can be extremely overwhelming. My mother offered to buy us a pushchair because she knows they can be very expensive, but since she said that I began thinking that maybe I can't really afford to decorate a nursery. My husband will be taking on another job to help pay for it, but I know that I don't want to over do it, because there will be higher priority needs for a baby besides what their room looks like. Since I am not too far along yet, I will plan to do the work early in my pregnancy, because from what I hear some people start not feeling well by the end, and I had a friend who had to spend the last 3 months of her pregnancy in bed, so I really don't want to wait til the last minute.

Today, I went online and found some nursery wallpaper really cheap. It is a yellow paper with ducks, which I like because I don't want to know the sex of the baby in advance, or anything like that. Some of the nursery decor that I came across was a little too over done, and I really wanted something cute, so this duckie paper will be perfect. I also found the cutest nursery decoration. It is a duck mobile, with all different color ducks on it. It plays Brahms Lullaby, which is my absolute favorite. It is just the cutest little accessory and it must be meant to be since it plays my favorite lullaby and matches the great inexpensive wall paper that I got, then it is definitely meant to be.

I am so looking forward to becoming a mom, but there is a lot of work to be done before this baby comes, and I know that these next 7 months will fly right by.